Mid-America Christian University

PLAINVIEW, Texas – The MACU Volleyball team was able to take two of the first three sets, but the Evangels were unable to hold of Wayland Baptist over the final two sets as they dropped a five-set heartbreaker to the Pioneers inside the Hutcherson Center on Saturday afternoon.
 
SCORE

• Wayland Baptist 3, Mid-America Christian 2 (18-25, 25-19, 18-25, 25-19, 15-7)
  • Mid-America Christian (5-5, 1-3 SAC)
  • Wayland Baptist (7-5, 3-1 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Marcela Nalin – 13 Kills, .190 ATK%
• Seyi Atolagbe – 12 Kills, .265 ATK%, 4 Blocks, 3 Digs
• Madi Trayler – 10 Kills, .296 ATK%, 7 Digs
• Jasmine Liongco – 19 Assists, 13 Digs
• Kristen Straughn – 17 Assists, 13 Digs
• Gracelyn Skaggs – 30 Digs, 4 Assists
• Rhyan Carle – 20 Digs

MATCH SUMMARY

• Set One
  • The two sides were relatively even through the first 11 rallies before a Mia Benson kill from the left side ignited an 8-2 Mid-America Christian run as Marcela Nalin's termination doubled up the MACU lead at 14-7.
  • Wayland Baptist scored five of the next seven to close the gap to four before a pair of WBU errors and a Nalin kill stretched the advantage back to 19-12.
  • The Pioneers took advantage of three MACU attack errors and a Deniz Yileri service ace to bring it to within three at 19-16, but the Evangels closed out strong, scoring six of the final eight by getting kills by Madi Trayler and Morgan Cross as well as a pair of assisted blocked blocks by Seyi Atolagbe with Cross and Nalin before a WBU setting error finished it out at 25-18.
• Set Two
  • Wayland Baptist started the second set with all of the momentum, scoring the first five points as Martyna Lewinska's setter dump kill made it a 5-0 WBU advantage.
  • Despite getting back-to-back kills from Atolagbe to close the gap, the Pioneers countered with a 6-1 run to take a commanding 11-3 lead near the midway point on Yileri's kill.
  • With the Pioneers maintaining their edge over the next 14 rallies, the Evangels strung together a little momentum by scoring four in a row, getting a kill apiece from Nalin and Atolagbe to make it an 18-14 contest.
  • With WBU still maintaining its advantage, the Evangels made one last push, utilizing a 5-2 run to close the gap to 23-19 on back-to-back terminations from Nalin and Trayler, but the Pioneers closed it out on a Yileri kill and a MACU attack error to draw the match even with the 25-19 win.
• Set Three
  • Both teams went run-for-run through the first eight rallies of the third set before Nalin's side-out slam ignited a 5-1 surge to double-up the MACU lead at 10-5.
  • Wayland Baptist managed to trim the lead down to 12-10 at the midway point off an Evangels attack error, but MACU expanded its lead out to 17-10 as Atolagbe's kill capped a 5-0 MACU streak.
  • The Pioneers made one last push to close the gap down to four on the 34^th rally, but the Evangels finished strong, outscoring WBU 6-3 as Kristen Straughn's setter dump kill on set point secured the 25-18 result in MACU's favor.
• Set Four
  • Wayland Baptist utilized an early 4-1 run to secure the advantage early in set four before rattling off another five-unanswered as a co-op block on Nalin's swing made it a 10-4 Pioneers edge.
  • Mid-America Christian struggled to put together any sort of run to chip away at the Pioneers lead, but were finally able to score three in a row late off a kill from Atolagbe with two WBU miscues making it 24-19.
  • However, MACU could not survive a fourth set point as Alaina Baran's kill capped off a 25-19 win for the Pioneers.
• Set Five
  • In the decisive fifth set, Wayland Baptist captured the early command utilizing a 5-1 run after the Evangels scored the opening point with Brooklyn Bundy's kill making it 5-2.
  • A Morgan Cross kill and a Kaetlen Schier service ace briefly closed it to a one-point game, but the Pioneers once again surged forward by taking seven of the next nine rallies to secure a commanding 12-6 advantage.
  • Trayler's termination was unable to stop the bleeding the Pioneers scored the final three points to seal the 15-7 result.

MATCH NOTES

• Mid-America Christian struggled in the attack, mustering 51 kills, but committed 25 errors for a .119 hitting percentage while Wayland Baptist tallied 64 kills with 26 miscues for a .162 attack rate.
• The Evangels narrowly missed breaking into its top five single match digs record book with 114 shovels for the match, the most since tallying 117 against Columbia International in the NCCAA National Semifinal on Dec. 2, 2022.
• Marcela Nalin led three Evangels into double-digits with kills with a team-high 13 on 42 swings to go with a pair of blocks for 14.5 points.
• Seyi Atolagbe was MACU's top scorer for the match after punching down 12 kills on a .265 attack rate to go with four blocks for 15 total points.
• Madi Trayler broke into double-digits for the first time this season with 10 terminations on a solid .296 attack rate to go with seven digs.
• The MACU setter duo of Jasmine Liongco and Kristen Straughn each turned in a double-double for the match as Liongco dished out 19 assists with 13 digs while Straughn turned in 17 assists and 13 shovels as well.
• Gracelyn Skaggs continued to be a workhorse in the back row as the libero tallied 30 digs, the second time she's eclipsed 30-mark this season while Rhyan Carle also impressively dug out 20 in the back row as well.

UP NEXT

• After being on the road for its first 10 matches of the season, Mid-America Christian will finally get the chance to take the court inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Friday, Sept. 18 as the Evangels host Central Christian for a 6 p.m. first serve.