Mid-America Christian University

LANGSTON, Okla. – Even though Langston battled back from an 18-9 deficit in the fourth set to force it into extras, the MACU Volleyball team persevered with a 30-28 win in the fourth set to come away with a 3-1 road victory at Langston inside C.F. Gayles Fieldhouse on Tuesday night.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 3, Langston 1 (25-27, 25-13, 25-11, 30-28)
  • Mid-America Christian (12-10, 8-8 SAC)
  • Langston (3-16, 2-17 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Mia Benson – 15 Kills, .211 ATK%, 2 Digs
• Marcela Nalin – 14 Kills, .440 ATK%, 2 Digs
• Seyi Atolagbe – 13 Kills, .440 ATK%, 3 Blocks
• Jasmine Liongco – 32 Assists, 5 Digs
• Gracelyn Skaggs – 25 Digs
• Madison Lee – 20 Digs, 2 Aces

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • While the two teams were relatively even through the first 16 rallies, Mid-America Christian gained some breathing room midway through as a 5-1 Evangels run made it a 16-12 MACU edge as all five points during the surge came on a pair of kills by Seyi Atolagbe and a termination apiece for Marcela Nalin, Mia Benson, and Katie Stafford.
  • With MACU holding a 19-15 advantage, a service miscue swung the momentum completely in Langston's favor as the Lions rattled off a 7-1 streak with Leah McCall's ace bringing it to 22-20.
  • It looked as though MACU might rally back to take the set when it scored four of the next five to bring it to set point at 24-23 on back-to-back Benson kills, however, the Lions closed out with a 4-1 run of their own to steal the set away 27-25 on a pair of Chandler Thomas kills over the last three rallies.
• Set Two
  • Mid-America Christian asserted its will right out of the gate in set two after losing the opening set in frustrating fashion, opening the set by outscoring the Lions 15-4. During that 19-rally sequence, the Evangels utilized a string of seven unanswered with Ava Stewart closing it out with a kill.
  • The Lions briefly cut their lead to single digits on a pair of occasions at 15-6 and 16-7, but the Evangels scored five of the next seven with Jasmine Liongco scoring a setter dump kill to extend the advantage to 21-9.
  • Langston was unable to knock the deficit down to under double-digits the rest of the way as MACU capped off the set by Stewart smashing a kill before Thomas hit a ball long for an attack error to wrap-up the 25-13 win.
• Set Three
  • MACU held a slim one-point edge through the first seven rallies before Nalin's side-out termination jumpstarted a 5-1 surge to give the Evangels a comfortable 9-4 advantage.
  • While the Lions did chip two points away after six-straight side-outs with Ayanna Moore scoring a kill before Megan Anderson teamed up with Triniti Allen on Nalin's next swing to make it 11-8.
  • Nalin got some revenge on the ensuing rally, scoring the side-out kill to ignite a dominant eight-unanswered run that ended on a Moore hitting miscue to set the score to 19-8.
  • Following five-straight side-outs, MACU finished the set on a high note, rattling off the final four rallies with Katie Stafford bashing down the set-point kill to wrap-up the 25-11 final.
• Set Four
  • While the first 11 rallies saw tons of side-out scoring, a block by Stewart and Stafford on Moore's attack on the 12^th fired off a dominating 10-2 surge that Nalin's finish brought the Evangels' edge out to 16-7.
  • After trading a pair of two-point rallies, Langston found its stride in a massive way, rattling off a massive 13-3 run of its own to incredibly capture the 22-21 advantage on another Moore termination.
  • The Evangels scored three of the next four to put the Lions on the brink a block by Atolagbe and Benson bringing it to match point at 24-23. Langston survived a pair of match points before back-to-back LU points on an Allen kill and a Benson attack error threatened to take the set from MACU with Langston leading 26-25.
  • MACU continued to scrap as Benson's kill and Woodson's attack miscue once again made it match point. Langston once again survived two more match points, making it their fourth in the set, but the Evangels finally closed it out on back-to-back LU attack errors with Morgan Cross teaming up with Atolagbe to score the match point block at 30-28.

MATCH NOTES

• Mid-America Christian was effective in its attack, scoring 64 kills with 24 attack errors for a .247 hitting percentage while the Lions tallied 41 kills and committed 27 miscues for a .092 attack rate.
• The hitting trio of Mia Benson, Marcela Nalin, and Seyi Atolagbe put together outstanding evenings in the attack. Benson led the team with 15 kills on a solid .211 hitting percentage.
• Both Nalin and Atolagbe were incredibly efficient in their attack, as Nalin scored 14 kills while Atolagbe added 13 kills while each finished with a blistering .440 hitting percentage. Atolagbe also led the blocking efforts with three rejections to match Katie Stafford.
• The reigning SAC Setter of the Week Jasmine Liongco continued to put up incredible distribution numbers as she turned in 32 assists, averaging an astonishing 8.0 per set average in MACU's 6-2 setter rotation while adding five shovels.
• The back row duo of Gracelyn Skaggs and Madison Lee both went over the 20-dig mark as Skaggs shoveled 25 on a 6.25 per set average while Lee came away with a season-best 20 to go along with a pair of service aces.
• With the win, MACU completed the series sweep over Langston after the Evangels came away with a 25-17, 25-12, 25-13 win inside the Gaulke back on Sept. 19.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will have a short turnaround as it will be back in-action on Wednesday night, hosting its last non-conference match of the season against Haskell. The match is slated for a 6 p.m. first serve inside the Gaulke.