OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University begins the volleyball postseason this week with as many as three games, starting with an opening round game of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament at Mid-America Christian on Tuesday.
 
OCU (16-12) takes on the Evangels (18-11) at 6 p.m.
 
OCU Notebook
Revenge at Home: The Stars lost five first-half road games against Mid-America Christian, John Brown, Wayland Baptist, Oklahoma Panhandle State and the College of the Ozarks. OCU followed up with victories against all five in Abe Lemons Arena by a combined score of 15-4.
 
Recapping the MACU Series: The Stars and Evangels split the regular-season series with each getting a 3-1 homecourt victory. Neither team was pretty in attack percentage. OCU swung at a .118 clip while MACU hit at .178. Each team had 14 total blocks and the teams were nearly identical in total digs. Grace Smallwood averaged three kills per set and Natalie Adams averaged 9.88 assists per set.
 
Scouting the Evangels: MACU dipped to 18-11 with its 3-1 loss at OCU on Saturday. Alica Obusekova leads the Evangels with 3.01 kills per set.
 
Stars on the Road: The Stars are 5-8 this season in true road games. Grace Smallwood averaged 3.95 kills per set. Natalie Adams averages 11 assists and has 21 aces on the road this season.
 
Neutral Courts: OCU is 2-2 on neutral courts this season and gets things done defensively. Marina Kalajdzic averages 1.02 blocks per set in neutral court games.
 
Last Postseason: OCU went 1-1 in the SAC Tournament last season with a 3-0 win at Mid-America Christian before a 3-2 loss against top-seeded Nelson in Fort Worth.
 
Streaking: The Stars have won their last four matches and are one of the hottest teams entering the postseason. Only Nelson, which has won its last eight, has a better winning streak right now. Grace Smallwood has a 4.29 kills per set average in this winning streak and Natalie Adams is averaging 11.5 assists. Maddie Edwards has the hot hand with a .369 attack percentage.
 
Kills Kills Kills: The Stars have three players averaging better than two kills per set, led by Grace Smallwood at 3.84. Kaycie Marshall averages 2.50 and Erin Mack averages 2.16. Smallwood is second in the Sooner Athletic Conference. OCU and MACU are first and second in total kills this season.
 
Digging Deep: Three Stars average better than three digs per set. Grace Smallwood, an outside hitter, leads the team at 3.89. Another outside hitter, Kaylie Marshall averages 3.37 and libero Kate Cleofe gets 3.24 per set.
 
The Set-Up: Natalie Adams averages 10.59 assists per set to lead the Stars and has 1101 assists on the season. She leads the SAC in both categories.
 
Block Party: The Stars average 1.74 blocks per set, led by Marina Kalajdzic at 0.71. Kalajdzi leads the team with 21 solo blocks and Maddie Edwards has a team-high 58 block assists.
 
Aces High: OCU averages 1.88 aces per set this season. Natalie Adams leads the team with 49. Three other Stars have 30 or more: Grace Smallwood (36), Layla Olvera (31) and Ryan Leland (30).
 
Setter of the Week: Natalie Adams again earned Sooner Athletic Conference Setter of the Week honors on Oct. 20. Adams paced the Stars to a 2-0 record last week with 109 assists for an average of 12.11 assists per set. Adams had 60 helpers in a 3-2 victory over Wayland Baptist while adding 49 assists in a 3-1 win over Panhandle State. Adams also added 29 digs over the two matches for an average of 3.22 digs per set. It is the second consecutive Setter of the Week honor for Adams, who has now claimed the honor three times this season. She also was honored on Sept. 15 and on Oct. 13.
 
2K: Natalie Adams had 32 assists in the home win over Langston to bring her to an even 2,000 for her career.
 
On to 300!: Coach Kristen Coventon came into the season with 195 career coaching wins – 109 of those at Oklahoma City. The first Central Christian win this season was career win No. 200 for her. She picked up her 100th win of her Stars era at home against USAO on Sept. 28. Her win total now stands at 211 for her career and 125 at OCU.