OKLAHOMA CITY — A highly competitive four-set match Saturday afternoon between visiting Oklahoma Panhandle State (15-12, 13-7 SAC) and Mid-America Christian (17-10, 13-7) required extra points but ultimately went against the Aggies, 28-30, 21-25, 25-21, 29-31.
 
The SAC Attacker of the Week for the past three weeks, Elena Kagiali, produced her most heroic effort to date with 33 kills and 24 digs as she tried to will OPSU to victory.
 
In a match that saw well over 200 digs, however, Panhandle State's collective attack did not click quite like it has over the past month, hitting just .133 on the day.
 
Outside of Kagiali, leading performers for the Aggies Saturday included Taylore Alsaid with her career-high six aces and 25 digs.
 
Mia Sanchez also had a strong match with 40 assists and 17 digs, while Winiffer Rodriguez dug out 18 MACU attacks.
 
OPSU's defense at the net was excellent with 11 team blocks, led by a career-high seven total blocks from Emma Coburn and four from Skyla Stark.
 
How it happened: Following a kill from Ava Newby, the opening set of Saturday's pivotal conference tilt gave set point to the Aggies twice at 27-26 and 28-27, but the visitors were unable to put it away as the Evangels took a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
OPSU got out to a strong start in the second frame but faltered late as it went down by two sets in the match. The Aggies staged a comeback in set three trailing 9-3, benefitting off several aces from Alsaid and multiple attack errors by the Evangels to get back in the match.
 
Determined to force a fifth set, Kagiali went on a tear, rattling off an astounding 14 kills in the fourth set alone in the heartbreaking 31-29 set defeat.
 
What's up next: OPSU enters its final weekend of the regular season next week, beginning with a Friday evening match at Nelson (20-9, 18-2).