University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

Upset Special

9/19/2014 10:37:00 PM

Barbara Jackson

Box Score

KEARNEY, Neb. (Sept. 19) – Barbara Jackson and Juliette Smith sparked Central Oklahoma to a stunning come-from-behind upset of No. 4-ranked Nebraska-Kearney here Friday night as the Bronchos pulled off perhaps the biggest win in program history.

UCO earned its first win in 11 tries against the Lopers, taking the final two sets to pull out a 25-23, 18-25, 23-25, 25-21, 15-10 victory in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association showdown. The unbeaten Bronchos improved to 12-0 on the season and 2-0 in the league while dropping UNK to 9-1 and 1-1.

"That's a huge, huge win for our program and I can't say enough about how hard our girls played tonight," head coach Edgar Miraku said. "We got down, but we didn't give up and just refused to lose. Everybody contributed and it was a great win, but we have to come back tomorrow and be ready to play again."

UCO moves on to Hays, Kan. Saturday afternoon to take on Fort Hays State at 3 p.m.

Jackson collected 20 kills, 15 digs and eight total blocks to pace the Bronchos, while Smith had eight kills and 13 blocks in dominating play at the net. UCO also got nine kills from Allison Barr and eight apiece from Madison King and Sabetha Young.

Katy Davis had a career-high 54 assists to go with 10 digs and Whitney Gifford added a career-best 30 digs.

UCO never trailed in the deciding set, though it was close throughout. The Bronchos scored the final three points after UNK had made it 12-10, getting two kills from Jackson and a combined block from Smith and Young in closing out the upset.

Central overcame a 22-20 deficit in taking the first set, going ahead 23-22 on a block by Smith and King, making it 24-22 on a Smith kill and winning it on a UNK hitting error.

The Lopers came back to win the next two sets and put UCO on the brink of elimination, but the Bronchos used a 9-3 run to break away from a 6-6 tie in the fourth set and ended it on a Smith kill to set up the fifth and deciding set.

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