Mid-America Christian University

OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Volleyball team fought hard against Sooner Athletic Conference leaders and undefeated Nelson but came up short in a straight-set loss to the Lions on Saturday afternoon inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 0, Nelson 3 (16-25, 13-25, 17-25)
  • Mid-America Christian: (10-9, 6-7 SAC)
  • No. 17 Nelson (Texas): (17-4, 13-0 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Mia Benson: 5 Kills, .050 ATK%, 2 Digs, Block
• Seyi Atolagbe: 3 Kills, .214 ATK%, 3 Blocks
• Katie Stafford: 3 Kills, .286 ATK%, 3 Blocks, Dig
• Kristen Straughn: 7 Assists, 4 Digs
• Jasmine Liongco: 6 Assists, 6 Digs, 2 Aces
• Gracelyn Skaggs: 12 Digs, Assist

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • Nelson hurled out to a quick 4-0 lead until a service error put the Evangels on the board, followed by Mia Benson with her first attack of the contest. However, the Lions kept the pressure on and extended their lead to 10-4 through the opening few rallies.
  • The Evangels won five of the next six rallies to pull close with service aces coming from Madison Lee and Ava Stewart. But once again, Nelson had the answer and restored its seven-point advantage through the media timeout at 16-9.
  • MACU struggled to slow down Nelson's potent attack through the latter stages of the opening set. Benson led the way for the Evangels with three kills, but it was the Lions who claimed the set 25-16.
• Set Two
  • Much like the opening set, Nelson dominated from the first rally with a quick 8-3 advantage. A couple of good blocks from Seyi Atolagbe and Marcela Nalin sparked the Evangels back within four at 12-8.
  • After the media timeout, the Lions ripped off five consecutive points to lead 20-11. The Evangels used their own timeout but were unable to jump start the offense. Katie Stafford saved the first set point at 24-13, but Nelson made no mistake on the next rally for a 25-13 set two win.
• Set Three
  • The Lions continued to dominate in the third set with a quick 10-1 lead. The Evangels showed fight headed to the midway point as Ava Stewart joined the MACU attack to cut the lead to 15-6.
  • As the Evangels trailed 19-6, they completely switched the momentum to pull within five towards the end of the set at 22-17. Kaetlen Schier had a good spell of serving with an ace during the Evangels seven-point rally. Atolagbe recorded three kills, while the Evangel front line started the momentum switch forcing attack errors out of the Lions.
  • Nelson regained control to close out the match with the final three points of the contest and a set three outcome of 25-17.

MATCH NOTES

• MACU struggled on the offensive end with a season-low 17 kills, -.022 ATK%, and only 16 assists. Nelson excelled with 39 kills, .267 attack percentage, and 31 assists.  
• For the second consecutive game, sophomore Mia Benson led attacking efforts with five kills. Katie Stafford and Seyi Atolagbe added three each on .286 and .214 ATK%.
• Kristen Straughn led MACU in assists for the first time this season with seven, while Jasmine Liongco backed her up with six.
• On the defensive end, Gracelyn Skaggs had 12 digs, followed by Liongco with six. Stafford and Atolagbe split blocking efforts with three a piece.
• MACU dropped to 6-7 in Sooner Athletic Conference play, holding onto the eighth and final playoff spot with three weeks remaining in the regular season.
• Mid-America Christian fell to 7-47 all-time against the prolific Nelson program.

 
UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian is set for its penultimate conference weekend inside the Gaulke Activity Center as the Evangels host Wayland Baptist on Friday night for Senior Night for a 6 P.M. first serve. MACU will play Oklahoma Panhandle State on Saturday afternoon at 1 P.M.