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Team
2
Central Oklahoma UCO 28-5
3
Winner Missouri Western MWSU 23-9
Central Oklahoma UCO
28-5
2
Final
3
Missouri Western MWSU
23-9
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Central Oklahoma UCO 25 24 28 20 10 (2)
Missouri Western MWSU 23 26 26 25 15 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | | Chris Brannick

Central Ousted In MIAA Semis

KEARNEY, Neb. – The University of Central Oklahoma dropped a close, hard fought, tough to handle, 3-2 decision to Missouri Western Friday night in the semifinals of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Tournament at the University of Nebraska-Kearney.
 
Central Oklahoma, the three-seed in the tournament, looked to avenge its only home loss in two seasons to the No. 2 seed, Missouri Western, which edged the Bronchos 3-2 in Edmond last month. Each set Friday was a clear representation of the match, going back and forth with neither team truly dominating, but in the end it was the Griffons who made the final run and got the win.
 
"That was a tough loss, and not just because it knocked us out of the conference tournament," UCO head coach Edgar Miraku said. "We had opportunities in the second and fourth sets to get a win and we didn't. We executed well in the first and third, but couldn't get it done in those other two. We had a chance in the fifth too, but they were just better tonight.
 
"I'm proud of this team though for fighting to the end. They never gave up. I'm proud of our senior Alexis Washington for what she has brought to this team for two years. And I'm really proud of those juniors who have something like 90 wins in three years. Proud of all of them tonight. This was is just tough."
 
Taylor Bevis led the Bronchos (29-5) as the junior All-American has all year. Bevis had 29 kills and added 22 digs and five blocks. In the third set, Bevis got her 15th kill of the match to reach 500 on the season. She became just the 10th player in school history to reach the milestone.
 
"With Taylor, you keep finding yourself more impressed," Miraku said. "She played through an injury this season and just amazed us all each night out. For her to get to 500 kills, to be the MIAA Player of the Year, I'm just so proud of her."

Jordan Spence continued her run of double-digit kills with 12 Friday. The junior middle blocker added four blocks and led the team hitting .214.
 
McKenzie Fyfe's 60 assists paced the attack for the Bronchos. Defensively, UCO used a concerted effort. Dominique Lipari led the way with 31 digs, Bevis was second on the team with 22. Callie Bangasser (16) and Fyfe (14) also had double-digit digs. Every Broncho had at least two digs on the night.
 
Central got out to a 1-0 lead in the match, as it did last month in Edmond against Western. Spence landed a kill on the first play of the night to put the Bronchos ahead. Karyn Chrisman made it 2-0 moments later. UCO led by as much as 5-1 early before the back-and-forth battle began.
 
The first set soon saw 11 ties before the Bronchos broke ahead 24-23 on a kill by Bevis – her fifth of the opening set. Fyfe landed a service ace to give the Bronchos the 25-23 game.
 
The second set, for a moment, was all Missouri Western. The Griffons jumped out to a 6-0 lead, and led 8-1 before the Bronchos stormed back. UCO got within two points on nine different occasions in the set before finally breaking to within a point at 24-23, again on a kill by Bevis. UCO then tied it at 24, but couldn't finish it off. Western won 26-24 to tie the match at one set apiece.
 
In the third, UCO found itself fighting from behind again. The Bronchos fell behind early, and spent most of the set efforting a comeback. It finally got it on a late run. After trailing 19-17, kills by Spence and Bevis tied it at 19. Then, a Missouri Western attack error gave the Bronchos their first lead of the set. Bevis made it 21-19 with another kill, however, Missouri Western kept coming back.
 
The Griffons took a 23-22 lead, then the Bronchos led 24-23, then the Griffons led 25-24, and 26-25. Haley Deschenes landed a kill to tie the set 26-26 before a pair of attack errors gave the Bronchos the final two points of the set to give UCO a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
UCO led most of the first half of the fourth set. The Bronchos held a two-point lead on a few different occasions, and led by as much as 12-8 when Lipari hit a service ace that forced a Missouri Western timeout. The Griffons scored five of the next six points to tie the set 13-13, then took the lead on the next play before taking control of the set and pulling away with a 25-20 win to tie the match 2-2.
 
Bevis scored the Bronchos' first three points of the fifth set. She gave UCO a 1-0 lead, a 2-1 lead, and tied the set 3-3. UCO had a 5-3 lead moments later, and led 8-7 as the teams trades ends of the court.
 
The Bronchos led 9-8 after a Deschenes kill, and 10-9 after Bevis landed her 29th kill of the night. That kill however, was the last point of the night for the Bronchos, as Missouri Western pulled ahead and away to win 15-10 and get the decisive fifth set.
 
UCO is ousted from the MIAA Semifinals for the second time in as many seasons. The 29-win Bronchos will now await Monday's NCAA Selection Show to find out their postseason fate.
 
 
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