University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

UCO Topples No. 15 Jennies

10/11/2014 10:36:00 PM

Whitney Gifford

Box Score

EDMOND (Oct. 11) – Bonnie Vernon came through with four key kills in the deciding fifth set to spur Central Oklahoma past No. 15-ranked Central Missouri Saturday night at Hamilton Field House.

The Bronchos knocked off their second top-15 team of the season and beat UCM for the first time ever in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association showdown, winning 16-25, 25-16, 25-13, 15-25, 15-10.

UCO improved to 18-2 on the season and 8-2 in the league while dropping the Jennies to 11-7 and 8-2.

"That was a huge win for us," said head coach Edgar Miraku, whose team knocked off No. 4 Nebraska-Kearney three weeks ago. "There were a lot of momentum shifts in the match, but we stepped up and some big plays in the fifth set when we needed them."

Vernon made the first of those in the deciding set with a cross-court kill that snapped a 7-7 tie and put UCO in front to stay. Allison Barr followed with a kill at the net and Vernon followed with back-to-back kills down the line to put the Bronchos on top 11-7.

It was 14-9 after a Juliette Smith kill and Barbara Jackson finally ended the upset with a hard shot down the middle to close out the 15-10 fifth-set win.

Jackson ended up with a team-high 15 kills while adding 18 digs and four total blocks. Vernon finished with 13 kills and Barr hit a match-high .348 with nine kills and just one error in 23 attacks.

Smith contributed six kills and seven blocks and Katy Davis had 39 assists, 14 digs and three blocks. Whitney Gifford (21 digs) and Mikayla Bangasser (13) played fantastic defense for the Bronchos as both made several acrobatic saves on hard-hit UCM attacks.

The Jennies never trailed in taking the first set, but UCO bounced back to easily win the next two before Central Missouri stayed alive with a 10-point fourth-set victory that set the stage for the dramatic finish.

The Bronchos return to MIA play Tuesday when they travel to Pittsburg, Kan. to take on Pittsburg State.

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