The Mid-America Christian volleyball team put together a strong showing in its first Sooner Athletic Conference home match as the Evangels cruised to a three-set sweep over Southwestern Christian on Tuesday night inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
SCORE
- Mid-America Christian 3, Southwestern Christian 0 (26-24, 25-17, 25-9)
- Mid-America Christian (8-4, 2-1 SAC)
- Southwestern Christian (5-5, 0-3 SAC)
- Lena Stockhammer – 11 Kills, .346 ATK%, 12 Assists, 5 Digs, 2 Aces
- Vanessa Moreira – 7 Kills, .462 ATK%
- Casady McKinney – 19 Assists, 11 Digs, 2 Aces
- Marlee Hunter – 19 Digs, 5 Aces
- First Set
- After Mid-America Christian scored on five of the first seven rallies, Southwestern Christian surged in-front with six straight points, claiming an 8-5 lead on Paige McGee's kill to prompt MACU head coach Holly McKamie to call a timeout.
- With the Eagles leading 12-9 at the midway point, a Miriam Nardi kill ignited a dominant 11-3 Evangels run, pushing the MACU advantage to 20-15.
- After a Ryley Bowden service ace brought the set to match-point at 24-21, SCU rattled off three unanswered to tie it all up at 24 to force extra points.
- Following a Mina Iboni attack error, Lena Stockhammer sealed the set win by tooling a kill off the block from the middle to seal the 26-24 win.
- Southwestern Christian was able to record more kills than MACU in the set, tallying 13 to just 10 for MACU, but the Evangels defense was able to force the Eagles to hit into 11 attack errors for an .043 attack percentage.
- MACU was also able to make up the difference from the service line, recording four aces in the set while holding SCU ace-less from the service line.
- Second Set
- Southwestern Christian kept the set close through the first nine rallies before a Stockhammer kill started a six-unanswered run for the Evangels, increasing their lead to 11-4.
- The closest SCU would be able to cut into the MACU advantage through the remainder of the set was four after a Tessa Ortiz service ace made it a 20-16 game.
- The Evangels rattled off five of the final six points as Lauryn Walters slammed down a kill from the left side toward the right sideline to secure the 25-17 win.
- MACU was much sharper in the attack in the second set, tallying 13 kills on a .250 hitting clip while the Eagles were held to only seven kills on a .062 attack percentage.
- Cloie Mitchell and Stockhammer came up big in the MACU attack as the two players combined for eight kills on a .312 attack percentage.
- Third Set
- Mid-America Christian put together an incredible streak to start the final set as the Evangels scored the first nine points during a 14-1 run. Stockhammer slammed down four kills in the first five rallies while Mitchell chipped in three kills and Marlee Hunter notched three service aces.
- MACU also finished the set strong by scoring on five of the final six rallies to secure the 25-9 victory.
- Mid-America Christian swatted a very efficient .295 attack percentage as 15 of MACU's points came off of kills while limiting the Eagles to a match-worst four kills and five attack errors on a -.028 hitting clip.
- Overall, Mid-America Christian tallied 38 kills on a .189 attack percentage while the Eagles could only manage 24 kills on a .026 hitting clip against the MACU defense.
- The Evangels also put together one of their best matches of the season from the service line and in serve receive. MACU tallied 11 aces and committed just six service errors while the MACU defense allowed only one SCU ace for the entire match.
- Lena Stockhammer boasted one of her best nights of the season on the attack, recording 11 kills on a .346 attack percentage while also tallying her 10th double-double in 12 matches with 12 assists.
- Casady McKinney also recorded a double-double as she tallied a team-high 19 assists to go with 11 digs.
- In the defense, Marlee Hunter recorded a three-set personal best 19 digs while also tallying a career-high five service aces, matching Faith Foutch and McKinney for the most aces in a match this season.
- Cloie Mitchell and Vanessa Moreira also provided a spark in the MACU attack. Mitchell finished with eight kills on a .214 attack percentage while Moreira efficiently tallied seven kills on a .462 attack rate.
- The win over Southwestern Christian was the Evangels' eighth straight win over the Eagles since the 2019 season.
- Mid-America Christian will now prepare for a huge home match on Thursday as the Evangels will host Oklahoma City for a 7 p.m. serve inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
Original source can be found here
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