CHICKASHA, Okla. – The MACU Volleyball team faced a tough road test in its Sooner Athletic Conference opener at Science & Arts, but the Evangels managed to finish strong in all three sets to come away with a hard-fought 3-0 victory inside the USAO Fieldhouse on Wednesday night.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 3, Science & Arts 0 (25-23, 25-20, 31-29
  • Mid-America Christian (6-2, 1-0 SAC)
  • Science & Arts (6-3, 0-1 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Alica Obusekova – 10 Kills, .292 ATK%, 5 Digs
• Seyi Atolagbe – 8 Kills, .471 ATK%, 2 Blocks, 2 Digs
• Casady McKinney – 32 Assists, 5 Digs, 3 Kills, .200 ATK%
• Ryley Bowden – 15 Digs, 3 Aces, 3 Assists
• Kaetlen Schier – 11 Digs

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • Mid-America Christian was able to get into an early rhythm due to taking advantage of the service line, notching a pair of aces from Madison Lee and Ryley Bowden as Alica Obusekova notched a kill to make it an 8-2 Evangels lead.
  • While the Drovers battled back by with a 5-1 run to close the gap to 10-8, the Evangels got some breathing room back entering the second half behind the serve of Kaetlen Schier. MACU rattled off four in a row off a Seyi Atolagbe and Karlee Siegfried co-op block and Schier's ace before back-to-back terminations from Obusekova and Atolagbe made it a 16-10 MACU lead.
  • After the Evangels held a five-point lead going into the 40^th rally, the Drovers strung together another a five-unanswered run to draw the set even at 22-all on Ytziel Garcia's service ace.
  • MACU took back the lead on a pair of occasions on Atolagbe and Siegfried's block and again on Obusekova's kill to make it set point at 24-23 before a hitting violation called on USAO's Chloe Conover allowed the Evangels to take the opening set, 25-23.
• Set Two
  • While the Evangels captured the first three points, Science & Arts swung back by scoring on seven of the next nine rallies to grab a 7-5 lead on Jaliyah Cox and Giselle Caulderon's block on Mia Benson's attack attempt.
  • After back-to-back side-out scores, the Evangels surged back in-front following a Marcela Nalin kill and consecutive Drovers attack errors to make it 9-8.
  • In the second half of the second set, the Evangels went on a massive run behind Benson's side-out kill, rattling off an 8-1 run capped off on an Obsekova service ace to take a commanding 21-13 lead.
  • Much like the first set, the Drovers put together another strong run to close the gap to 22-20, but the Evangels once again finished strong by scoring the final three on back-to-back kills by Atolagbe and Siegfried before a Drovers ballhandling error wrapped it up at 25-20.
• Set Three
  • While the Evangels managed to grab an early 5-3 advantage on consecutive kills from Obusekova and Benson, the Drovers seized a major command of the set by going on a 10-1 streak as a Samantha Perez termination gave USAO its largest lead of the set at 13-6.
  • Over the course of the second half, MACU chiseled away at the Drovers lead as a crucial 5-1 surge allowed the Evangels to tie it up at 21-all on Perez's hitting miscue before tying it up again at 23-23 on an Atolagbe kill.
  • The Evangels had to overcome three Drovers set point as the frame went into extras as the last USAO lead came on another Perez swing to make it 29-28.
  • Back-to-back Drovers hitting miscues brought match point in favor of the Evangels before Atolagbe put the match away with a vicious kill to wrap-up the 31-29 final.

MATCH NOTES

• Mid-America Christian struggled in the attack against the Drovers' blocking scheme, notching 36 kills with 19 errors for a .145 hitting percentage while Science & Arts tallied 39 kills with 22 missed swings for a .145 attack rate as well.
• While USAO's blocking came away with 10 rejections to six for the Evangels, the service line played a major factor in the result. MACU recorded seven aces and nine errors while the Drovers could only muster four aces with 15 missed serves, allowing for a 22-13 Evangels scoring advantage from the line.
• Alica Obusekova led MACU's hitting efforts with a team-high 10 kills on a .292 hitting percentage to go with five digs on the defensive end.
• The reigning SAC Attacker of the Week continued her efficient hitting ways by bashing eight kills on a .471 attack rate to go with a pair of assisted blocks.
• Casady McKinney led the distribution efforts with 32 assists with five digs while also putting down three kills on a .200 hitting percentage.
• On the defensive side, Marcela Nalin led the blocking effort with three blocks, two solo and an assisted while Ryley Bowden led the back row with 15 digs to go with three service aces and three assists.
• The match was a reversal of fortunes from the last time the two teams played inside the USAO Fieldhouse on Oct. 23, 2024. In that contest, the Drovers came away with their first ever win over the Evangels by winning three sets by three points or less as the match resulted in a 26-24, 25-22, 18-25, 25-23 win for USAO. In this year's contest, MACU was the one to come away with a pair of two-point victories to complete the sweep.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will continue play this weekend as the Evangels will prepare to host a pair of SAC matches. The slate will start on Friday as the Evangels host Central Christian for a 6 pm first serve inside the Gaulke Activity Center.