Mid-America Christian University

BETHANY, Okla. – The MACU Volleyball team got back in the win column with a hard-fought match inside Pickens-Springer Gymnasium on Friday night as the Evangels grounded out a 25-23, 25-20, 25-23 three-set sweep in its first road match in three weeks.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 3, Southwestern Christian 0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-23)
  • Mid-America Christian (8-7, 4-5 SAC)
  • Southwestern Christian (4-9, 2-9 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Marcela Nalin – 8 Kills, .333 ATK%, 2 Blocks
• Seyi Atolagbe – 6 Kills, .231 ATK%, 2 Blocks
• Jasmine Liongco – 18 Assists, 2 Digs
• Kristen Straughn – 16 Assists, 3 Digs, 2 Aces
• Gracelyn Skaggs – 15 Digs, 2 Assists

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • Mid-America Christian opened the first set strong, scoring on four of the first five rallies with Seyi Atolagbe scoring a pair of kills before Southwestern Christian swung back with three-unanswered run to tie it at 4-4 on a co-op block by Sara Castrillion and Mercedes Ewing.
  • Through the midway portion of the set, the Eagles strung together a 5-1 run to take a 12-10 lead on an Emma Hall service ace, but the Evangels answered back with a 7-1 streak of their own, making a 17-13 advantage on a Marcela Nalin block.
  • Both teams went run-for-run down the stretch as three unanswered Eagles points closed it to 19-18 before MACU put them at the brink behind a 5-1 surge with Morgan Cross' kill bringing it to set point at 24-19.
  • Southwestern Christian made one last push, surviving four set points to close the gap to one before Atolagbe tooled a kill off SCU's block to secure the 25-23 win.
• Set Two
  • The Evangels secured the early advantage in set two, taking five of the first seven with a trio of kills coming from Cross, Bailey White, and Nalin, but starting the 14^th rally, Southwestern Christian went on strong 6-1 run to take an 11-9 lead on Ana Turone's service ace, MACU head coach Holly McKamie to take a timeout.
  • Mid-America Christian briefly got the momentum back before the technical timeout, taking five of the next seven rallies with White putting down a kill to put the Evangels back in-front 14-13. However, SCU did briefly grab the lead back heading into the technical with back-to-back kills by Dani McCampbell and Castrillion making it 15-14.
  • Following a side-out kill by Nalin, the strong service of Kristen Straughn gave the Eagles fits as she tallied a pair of service aces and threw the SCU passing out of sync to give MACU five-unanswered points and a 19-15 advantage.
  • SCU scored two of the next three to stem the tide, but MACU put the Eagles against a wall by scoring three-straight with a Madi Trayler kill and a Mia Benson service ace to bring it to 23-17, forcing SCU to call a timeout.
  • Southwestern Christian made one last push late, scoring three of the next four, but Atolagbe once again wrapped up the set by powering through with another set point kill to wrap-up the 25-20 win.
• Set Three
  • Both sides were even through the first 10 rallies before Trayler's side-out termination started a 7-1 MACU surge as Trayler dropped in a well-placed roll shot kill to double-up the lead at 12-6.
  • The Eagles fought back by scoring four of the next five, trimming their deficit in-half at 13-10 on Jovana Perovic's kill, but the Evangels captured back the momentum just before the technical timeout as Nalin powered down a kill from the middle before an SCU attack error made it 15-10 at the break.
  • Southwestern Christian fought back following the technical, rattling off a 7-3 streak to close the gap to 18-17 on Castrillion and Ewing's assisted block.
  • After five-straight side-out points, the Eagles drew the match even at 21-all on an Emery Hulme kill and a MACU attack error, forcing the Evangels to call a timeout.
  • Mid-America Christian seized the momentum to close it out, scoring four of the final six points as an SCU service error brought it to match point before Trayler and Mia Benson teamed up on Castrillion's attack attempt up the middle for the match-sealing block to wrap-up the 25-23 result.

MATCH NOTES

• Both teams struggled in the attack as Mid-America Christian scored 37 kills with 18 attack errors for a .184 hitting percentage while Southwestern Christian also tallied 37 kills to go with 22 miscues for a .142 clip.
• It was the Eagles blocking scheme that gave the Evangels fits in the attack as SCU finished with 13 blocks on MACU's 18 hitting errors.
• Once again, Marcela Nalin was strong in the attack for MACU, finishing with a match-high eight kills on a .333 hitting percentage while the pin-hitter tandem of Bailey White and Madi Trayler each tallied seven kills.
• Seyi Atolagbe finished with six kills on a .231 hitting clip and was one of three Evangels to finish with two assisted blocks to join Nalin and Mia Benson.
• Jasmine Liongco led the distribution efforts with 18 assists while Kristen Straughn tallied 16 to go with a pair of aces.
• Gracelyn Skaggs led MACU's back row with 15 digs, averaging five shovels per set.
• With the victory, the Evangels have now won 15 of the last 16 meetings dating back to the 2018 season with the last seven coming on three-set sweeps.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will stay in the area Saturday afternoon as it will head uptown to take on Oklahoma City for a 1 p.m. first serve inside Abe Lemons Arena.