Still Perfect

9/12/2014 12:51:00 PM

Barbara Jackson

UCO-TAMIU Box
UCO-ECU Box

ADA, Okla. (Sept. 12) – Barbara Jackson had 25 kills to lead unbeaten Central Oklahoma to a pair of three-set sweeps on the first day of the South Central Classic here Friday.

Jackson had 14 kills in a tournament-opening 25-13, 29-27, 25-16 rout of Texas A&M International and the junior outside hitter added 11 in a 25-16, 25-15, 25-23 romp over East Central.

The Bronchos, now 8-0 on the season, move on to Durant Saturday to complete tournament play against Southeastern Oklahoma and New Mexico Highlands.

"We didn't play our best, but we did what we needed to do," head coach Edgar Miraku said. "We made a lot of correctable mistakes and hopefully we'll come out tomorrow more focused."

Juliette Smith hit .600 in the TAMIU rout with six kills and no errors in 10 attacks while adding four blocks. The Bronchos also got five kills apiece from Sabetha Young, Madison King and Bonnie Vernon, while Katy Davis had 34 assists and Whitney Gifford 16 digs.

UCO never trailed in taking the first and third sets, but needed some late heroics to pull out the second set victory.

The Bronchos had a 23-18 lead after a back-and-forth battle before the Dustdevils scored five straight points to tie it. TAMUI eventually went ahead 27-26 and was serving for the set, but UCO scored three straight points to pull out the win.

Back-to-back kills by Young and King put the Bronchos in front and UCO won it when Smith and King teamed up for a block.

The Bronchos jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first set against ECU en route to taking control of that match and then rallied to win the final two sets in completing the sweep.

UCO was down 8-4 in the second set before going on a 7-0 run to move in front 11-8, taking the lead for good on a Jackson kill and then pulling away from there.

The Tigers had an 11-6 lead in the third set, but the Bronchos used a 5-0 scoring spurt to tie it and it was back-and-forth the rest of the way. It was tied at 23-all when UCO scored the last two points to end the match on consecutive kills by King and Smith.

Jackson's 11 kills were a match high, while Barr hit .571 with nine kills and just one error in 14 attempts. Smith added eight kills and four blocks, Davis 34 assists and Gifford a season-high 22 digs.

Print Friendly Version

Related Videos

Related Stories