The Mid-America Christian volleyball team opened the 2022 season with a pair of strong performances in their host tournament, the MACU/USAO Cruisin' Classic on Friday. The Evangels defeated Wiley for the first time in program history by a score of 3-1 before topping Tabor 3-1 in the nightcap.
Mid-America Christian vs. Wiley
SCORE
- Mid-America Christian 3, Wiley 1 (25-11, 20-25, 25-23, 25-23)
- Mid-America Christian (1-0)
- Wiley (0-1)
- Annabeth Fehrle – 12 Kills, .476 ATK%
- Lena Stockhammer – 11 Kills, .240 ATK%, 23 Assists, 6 Digs, 2 Aces
- Marlee Hunter – 11 Digs, 6 Assists, 2 Aces
- Mid-America Christian finished with 53 kills on a .275 attack percentage while limiting the Lady Wildcats to just 39 kills on a .231 hitting clip.
- The Evangels narrowly missed cracking into the program's top five single-game record book in team service aces with 14, led by Ryley Bowden and Miriam Nardi with three apiece.
- MACU featured a balanced attack with five players recording at least seven kills: Annabeth Fehrle (12), Lena Stockhammer (11), Nardi (9), Cloie Mitchell (8), Lauryn Walters (7).
- Stockhammer finished with her 11th career double-double with 23 assists to go with her 11 kills. It was the Austrian native's first double-double that came via the kills and assists variety.
- Head Coach Holly McKamie notched her 50th career victory in just her third season with the program.
- Facing each other for just the fourth time, the Evangels were finally able to pick their first win over Wiley. MACU had lost the previous three matches in straight sets, the last coming inside Abe Lemons Arena on Aug. 19, 2019.
SCORE
- Mid-America Christian 3, Tabor 1 (26-24, 25-19, 24-26, 25-20)
- Mid-America Christian (2-0)
- Wiley (0-2)
- Annabeth Fehrle – 12 Kills, .310 ATK%, 5 Digs
- Lena Stockhammer – 11 Kills, 19 Assists, 9 Digs, 2 Blocks
- Marlee Hunter – 19 Digs, 4 Assists
- Lauryn Walters – 11 Kills, .206 ATK%, 6 Digs
- The MACU defense clamped down on Tabor throughout the match, limiting the Bluejays to just 32 kills on a .045 attack percentage while the Evangels swatted 51 kills on a .156 clip.
- Lena Stockhammer narrowly missed recording her first triple-double, tallying a team-high 19 assists and 11 kills to go with nine digs.
- Despite the Evangels committing 21 service errors in the match, MACU got a spark from senior defensive specialist Faith Foutch, who put down a career-high five aces in the match.
- For the second straight match, junior right side hitter Annabeth Fehrle led the attack with 12 kills on a .310 hitting percentage, bringing her team lead to 24.
- With the victory, the Evangels evened the all-time series against the Bluejays at 3-3, including winning the last two matches after coming away with a five-set result in the KCAC Fall Fling on Aug. 21, 2021.
- Mid-America Christian is off to its first 2-0 start since the 2018 season while marking just the third time MACU has won its first two matches of the year since joining the NAIA in 2007.
- Mid-America Christian will face a strong challenge to wrap-up the MACU/USAO Cruisin' Classic on Saturday as the Evangels will face Oklahoma Wesleyan. The opening serve is slated for 3 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
Original source can be found here
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