The Sooner Athletic Conference unveiled its 2022 volleyball All-Conference list on Friday night as Mid-America Christian had five players receive accolades, including sophomore right side hitter Miriam Nardi being selected as the league's Newcomer of the Year.
Junior setter and right side hitter Lena Stockhammer was the lone Evangels player to earn First Team honors while Nardi joined sophomore libero Marlee Hunter on the Second Team list.
Freshman setter Casady McKinney and senior middle blocker Vanessa Moreira were tabbed as All-SAC Honorable Mention recipients.
Mid-America Christian is currently entering the Sooner Athletic Conference Semifinal with a 19-13 overall record and finished fourth in the league standings with a 12-8 conference mark.
A transfer from Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.), Nardi has been one of the most effective hitters in the SAC as she is boasting a .234 attack percentage at the completion of SAC Tournament play. Nardi ranks third on the team with 257 kills as well as fourth on the squad in blocks with 47 on the season.
The Verona, Italy native recorded 12 double-digit kill matches during the regular season with her best match coming in an 18-kill effort on a blazing .517 attack percentage in a 3-1 defeat to Kansas Wesleyan on Aug. 26.
Primarily playing as a right side hitter and most recently an outside hitter, Stockhammer was an impact player all over the court as she ranked in the in the SAC in total kills with 379, tallying the fifth-best per set rate in the league 3.08 while notching the second-most assists with 517.
Stockhammer has recorded five triple-double matches this season with her best career match coming in a 3-1 home win over Oklahoma City on Sept. 8 when she tallied 17 kills on a .263 attack percentage while also dishing out 27 assists and shoveled a career-high 20 digs.
In her first season with the Evangels, Hunter is putting together a historically great season as the team's starting libero. With 652 digs, the Del City, Okla. product ranks third on MACU's NAIA Era single-season digs list and currently sits just 86 scoops shy of Maegan Plunk's 2021 program record of 738. Hunter's 5.3 per set average is also currently the second-highest in the book, sitting just behind Plunk's 2020 mark of 5.59.
Another first year player with MACU, McKinney has made a stellar impact from both the setting position and the service line. McKinney is the team's assists leader with 737, averaging 5.99 assists per set while currently pursuing the program's single-season service aces record. With 55 on the season, the Yukon, Okla. native needs just three more to tie Hanna Luedtke's single-season record. McKinney has also produced well defensively as she ranks third on the team with 320 digs, averaging 2.6 per set.
Rounding out the honorees, Moreira was named an All-SAC Honorable Mention selection for the second straight year. The 5-9 blocker is one of four MACU players with more than 200 kills (220) and is the squad's most efficient hitter with a .327 attack percentage. The Uberlandia, Brazil product has also been the team's leading blocker at the net with 67 rejections with a 0.54 per set average.
Not only did Mid-America Christian put together its best finish in Sooner Athletic Conference play by finishing tied for fourth in the standings with a 12-8 mark, but the Evangels also hosted their first ever SAC Tournament game on Nov. 8. In that match, MACU put together a dominant performance against Oklahoma Panhandle State as the Evangels swept the Aggies in straight sets, 25-12, 25-22, 27-25 to earn the program's first ever SAC tourney victory.
Unfortunately, the Evangels saw their SAC Tournament run come to an end on Friday as the Evangels lost in three sets to top-seeded and nationally-ranked Southwestern Assemblies of God, the team that went on to win the SAC title on Saturday.
Despite suffering the loss, Mid-America Christian will continue postseason play as the Evangels will be the Central Region representative at the NCCAA Division I Volleyball National Championships in Point Lookout, Mo. from Dec. 1-3. The Evangels are qualifying the NCCCAA nationals for the fourth straight year and will be seeking their first Division I title after advancing to the championship match last season.
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