Mid-America Christian University

OKLAHOMA CITY – After getting a win at Oklahoma City earlier in the season, the Stars returned the favor to the MACU Volleyball team in its penultimate home match of the regular season as the Evangels fell 3-1 on Friday night.
 
SCORE

• Oklahoma City 3, Mid-America Christian 1 (25-13, 22-25, 25-16, 30-28)
  • Mid-America Christian (16-12, 11-10 SAC)
  • Oklahoma City (19-8, 13-8 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Marcela Nalin – 10 Kills, .267 ATK%
• Jasmine Liongco – 21 Assists, 13 Digs, 2 Aces
• Gracelyn Skaggs – 23 Digs, 1 Ace

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • Both teams were even through the first 12 rallies before a Maddie Edwards termination jumpstarted a 10-2 Oklahoma City run through the midway point to double-up its advantage on the Evangels 16-8.
  • Following three-straight side-out points, the Stars continued to step on the gas, scoring eight of the next 11 points to run away with a dominant 25-13 win over Mid-America Christian in the opening set.
• Set Two
  • The Stars seized an early 6-3 advantage through the first nine rallies before the Evangels took advantage of a pair of OCU hitting errors, getting an ace from Madison Lee and a block from Katie Stafford and Ava Stewart before Morgan Cross powered down a kill to make it a 7-6 MACU edge.
  • After four-straight side-out scores, Oklahoma City briefly grabbed the lead on a kill by Bailey Lowder and a missed swing by Cross before the Evangels surged back in-front at 15-10 on five-straight with Marcela Nalin and Seyi Atolagbe each getting a kill mixed in with three Stars miscues.
  • Following up the technical timeout with four consecutive side-outs, Oklahoma City clawed its way back with four in a row to close it to within one. Even though MACU did get an answer on a Stewart slam and an OCU attack error, the Stars banged a couple of kills down from Grace Smallwood to close it to 18-17, prompting MACU Head Coach Holly McKamie to call a timeout.
  • The Evangels responded well after calling their final timeout, scoring four of the next five to put the Stars on their heels. Even though OCU finally surge back to once again close it to one on back-to-back Cross miscues, the Stars committed a service error and an attack error to give MACU the 25-22 win.
• Set Three
  • The first half of the third set was a back-and-forth tug of war that saw seven ties and three lead changes, but at the midway point, Oklahoma City found its offensive mojo by tallying three consecutive kills from Natalie Adams, Edwards, and Smallwood to seize the 14-12 edge.
  • The Evangels pulled it to within one on a pair of occasions over the next three rallies, but the Stars screamed away by scoring seven in a row as Amber Jones powered down a kill to make it 22-14.
  • A Katie Stafford side-out kill could do little to slow down the Stars as OCU scored three of the final four from the service line on an ace and a pair of MACU service errors to wrap-up the 25-16 result.
• Set Four
  • Oklahoma City managed to build out an early 8-5 edge through the first 13 rallies before Mid-America Christian captured the momentum after a service error, rattling off eight of the next nine as Jasmine Liongco tallied a pair of aces in the run to make it a 13-9 MACU advantage midway through.
  • The Stars utilized a 5-1 run of their own to battle back to tie it, but after trading blows over the next six rallies, a Mia Benson kill and back-to-back OCU attack errors allowed the Evangels to grab a late 20-17 advantage.
  • Four-straight scored by the Stars allowed OCU to grab the edge and after trading the next two brought it to match point, MACU briefly grabbed the set point off a Nalin termination and Gracelyn Skaggs ace to make it 25-24.
  • Back-to-back Edwards kills once again gave the Stars match point, but the Evangels refused to go down without a fight, surviving two more match points with Stafford's slam drawing it even for the final time at 28-all.
  • Unfortunately, MACU couldn't keep OCU from ending it as the Stars closed it out on consecutive kills from Kacie Townsend and Smallwood to wrap-up the 30-28 final.

MATCH NOTES

• Mid-America Christian struggled in the attack, mustering just 44 kills and committed 27 errors for a .102 hitting percentage, it's third-lowest rate at home this season while Oklahoma City smashed 57 kills with 18 mishits for a .257 attack rate.
• Both teams struggled from the service line as the Evangels could only notch five aces while committing eight errors while the Stars tallied eight aces to go along with 14 missed serves.
• Marcela Nalin was the only Evangel that was highly efficient in the attack, tallying a team-best 10 kills on a .267 hitting percentage while Katie Stafford was the only other player to hit above .100 with five kills on a .286 clip.
• Jasmine Liongco turned in a double-double effort with a team-high 21 assists to go with 12 digs and also scored two of MACU's five aces.
• Gracelyn Skaggs led MACU's back row efforts with 23 digs to go with three assists.
• With the loss, MACU split the season series against Oklahoma City after getting a 3-2 win inside Abe Lemons Arena early in the season.
• The defeat for the Evangels was a costly one as they will now enter the SAC Tournament as the No. 8 seed and will have to play their SAC Quarterfinal at top-seeded No. 19 Nelson next week.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will at least try to close out its regular season on a high note as the Evangels will take on Southwestern Christian for a 1 p.m. start inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Saturday.