Mid-America Christian University

CHICKASHA, Okla. – The MACU Volleyball team overcame a sluggish start inside the USAO Fieldhouse on Tuesday night as the Evangels battled back to take three of the next four sets to come away with a crucial 3-2 road win at Science & Arts on Tuesday evening.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 3, Science & Arts 2 (13-25, 27-25, 32-30, 22-25, 15-10)
  • Mid-America Christian (16-11, 11-9 SAC)
  • Science & Arts (19-9, 13-7 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Seyi Atolagbe – 20 Kills, .385 ATK%
• Morgan Cross – 15 Kills, .364 ATK%, 2 Digs
• Mia Benson – 14 Kills, 7 Digs
• Marcela Nalin – 11 Kills, 3 Blocks
• Jasmine Liongco – 32 Assists, 7 Digs
• Kristen Straughn – 20 Assists, 5 Digs, 2 Aces
• Gracelyn Skaggs – 30 Digs, 4 Assists

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • Mid-America Christian found itself in a hole right out of the gate as Science & Arts stormed out to a commanding 10-2 lead as Chloe Conover and Caeli Schaefer combined to score seven kills during the early run.
  • The Evangels tried to battle back by taking advantage of a pair of USAO errors to go with a Kristen Straughn ace and Morgan Cross kill, cutting the deficit in-half at 12-6.
  • The Drovers put together a commanding response, scoring on seven of the next nine to stretch their advantage to 19-8 on Schaefer's termination.
  • MACU did put together a late response by scoring three-straight off a Marcela Nalin kill, a Kaetlen Schier service ace, and a USAO attack error to make it 19-11, but USAO scored six of the final eight points to seal the 25-13 win in the opener.
• Set Two
  • The Evangels opened on a much stronger note to start the second set. Even though the Drovers scored three of the first five, a 5-0 MACU run with a pair of kills from Nalin and Benson, a Straughn ace, and back-to-back Drovers attack errors gave MACU the 7-3 advantage.
  • After taking a timeout, Science & Arts scored seven of the next 10 to it up at 10-all before the Evangels countered with a 3-1 run of its own with Atolagbe annihilating a pair of kills with a Nalin termination to make it 13-11 at the midway point.
  • Just before the technical timeout, the Drovers scored a pair of points to tie it, but an Atolagbe put-back on the overpass and a co-op block by Katie Stafford and Nalin made it 15-13 MACU at the break.
  • Over the next nine rallies, USAO cut the deficit down to one on a pair of occasions, but the Evangels held off each run as a service error and attack error by the Drovers pushed the MACU edge back to 20-17, forcing a Drovers timeout.
  • Out of the timeout, the Drovers put together an overwhelming response, scoring five-straight points to grab the 22-20 lead, however the Evangels answered right back with three in a row with a pair of Atolagbe hammers and Nalin's kill off the block to retake the edge.
  • After Atolagbe scored another kill to bring it to set point, following a service error, there was four-straight side-outs before Mia Benson went cross court for the kill to once again bring it to set point before Victoria Wright hit it long for USAO to give MACU the 27-25 win in the second set.
• Set Three
  • While Science & Arts opened the third by scoring five of the first seven, the Evangels battled back following five-straight side-out points as the Evangels as a service error by the Drovers started a 6-1 Evangels run capped off on a powerful Cross kill down the left sideline to make it 11-9, forcing USAO to call a timeout.
  • The Drovers regained the momentum before the technical timeout, rattling off six of the next nine to hold the 15-14 edge at the break off the Conover kill.
  • While MACU managed to tie it twice on a Katie Stafford kill and a USAO attack error, back-to-back hitting miscues by the Evangels allowed the Drovers to seize an 18-16 edge, forcing Head Coach Holly McKamie to call a timeout.
  • Despite committing a setting error right after the break, the Evangels strung together a massive response, scoring eight of the next 10 points to put the Drovers at the brink with an Iyahna Hibbler attack error bringing it to set point at 24-21.
  • Even though Science & Arts scored the next four to put MACU at the brink 25-24, MACU withstood in extras with seven-straight side-out points before back-to-back kills by Cross and Nalin brought set point back to MACU at 30-29.
  • The Drovers scored three of the next four to move set point back to their favor, but the Evangels finished strong a Benson kill and USAO attack error allowed Benson to score the set point kill to finish off an incredible 34-32 victory.
• Set Four
  • Mid-America Christian opened the fourth by scoring five of the first eight before the Drovers rattled off a dominant 8-1 run to seize an 11-6 advantage on a co-op block on Benson's attack attempt.
  • The Evangels tried to chip their way back by scoring three of the next four on kills by Stafford, Benson, and Ava Stewart, but the Drovers, scored three of the next four to hold a 15-10 edge at the technical timeout.
  • After six-straight side-outs, MACU surged back by tallying three consecutive kills from Stewart, Cross, and Atolagbe to close the gap to 18-16, forcing the Drovers to take a timeout.
  • The Evangels eventually closed it to a one-point game at 20-19 on Kaetlen Schier's service ace and once again at 22-21 on back-to-back kills by Atolagbe and Benson, but the Drovers scored three of the final four to force a fifth set as Trinity Williams' set point termination finished the 25-22 result.
• Set Five
  • The Drovers put together an early 3-1 run that was countered by a three-unanswered Evangels streak as back-to-back terminations from Stafford and Cross made it a 6-4 MACU edge.
  • Science & Arts strung together a 4-1 surge to take back an 8-7 advantage on Hibbler's kill before the Evangels answered right back with three in a row with Atolagbe's side-out tap over and Stewart's scoring an ace before Schaefer put an attack in the net to make it 10-8 MACU, forcing the Drovers to call a timeout.
  • The Evangels continued to keep the run going as back-to-back attack errors by USAO and another Stewart ace made it 13-8 before committing a service miscue.
  • After Atolagbe was called for a net violation on the attack, cutting it to 13-10 and prompting a MACU timeout, the Evangels put together a strong response with Atolagbe redeeming herself with a kill to make it match point before Nalin powered down the match point kill to give MACU the 15-10 victory.

MATCH NOTES

• Despite Science & Arts outhitting Mid-America Christian with 74 kills and 24 errors for a .267 hitting percentage to MACU's 68 kills and 27 errors for a .216 attack rate, the Evangels were the better side after the first set. After the opening frame, the Evangels finished with 61 kills and 23 errors for a .250 average while the Drovers notched 58 kills and 22 errors for a .229 clip.
• Both teams struggled from the service line as MACU finished with seven aces and 11 errors while the Drovers tallied only four aces and seven miscues, giving the Evangels the slight one-point advantage from the line.
• Sophomore middle blocker Seyi Atolagbe led the MACU attack with a career-high 20 kills on a .385 hitting percentage while freshman outside hitter Morgan Cross also scored a career-best 15 kills on a .364 hitting clip.
• Mia Benson and Marcela Nalin also finished in double-figure kills with 14 and 11 respectively while both pin hitters came up with clutch terminations when the Evangels needed them most. Nalin also finished with a team-high three blocks with a solo and two block assists.
• Jasmine Liongco led MACU's setting efforts with 32 assists to go with seven digs while Kristen Straughn distributed 20 dimes and scored a pair of aces from the line.
• Junior libero Gracelyn Skaggs eclipsed the 30-mark for the second-straight match with an even 30 digs to go with four assists and committed only one reception error in serve receive. Kaetlen Schier also reached double-figures with 15 digs with no receive errors and also scored a team-high three aces in-service.
• With the win, MACU splits the season series with the Drovers with both teams winning on the other's home court and have now won six of the last seven matches heading into the final weekend of conference play.
• The victory also allowed the Evangels to move into a tie for seventh with John Brown in the SAC standings (11-9) and sit only a game back of Oklahoma City and College of the Ozarks in fifth (12-8).

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will now prepare for another crucial contest at home on Friday as the Evangels host Oklahoma City for a 6 pm first serve inside the Gaulke Activity Center.