Women's Volleyball 9/16/2019 10:44:00 AM

Bronchos Host Southeastern Wednesday

Central Oklahoma plays its final non-conference match of the season Wednesday when the Bronchos host intrastate rival Southeastern Oklahoma for a 7 p.m. contest at Hamilton Field House.

UCO is 7-2 after going unbeaten in four matches at the Southeastern Classic last weekend. The Savage Storm were 1-7 going into their Great American Conference opener at Oklahoma Baptist Tuesday.

Central has dominated the rivalry, holding a huge 31-2 advantage in the series. The Bronchos have won the last 10 meetings.

"We made a lot of progress last weekend and need to continue moving forward," said head coach Edgar Miraku, who is 189-57 in his eighth year at the UCO helm. "This is a young team that's still finding its way, but I like the way they're working and how excited they are about getting better."

UCO dropped just one set in going 4-0 at the Southeastern Classic, sweeping East Central, Cameron and Arkansas-Monticello while beating Southern Nazarene in four sets.

Sophomore Amanda Desch led the way, hitting .329 with 37 kills to go along with 67 assists, 30 digs and six blocks. Freshman Kaeli Robinson saw her first extended action of the season and responded, hitting .353 with 29 kills and just five errors in 68 attacks.

And senior Dominique Lipari continued her back-row brilliance with 96 digs, averaging 24.0 per match and 7.38 per set.

The Bronchos have featured a balanced offensive attack all season, with five players having accumulated at least 40 kills.

Desch tops that list with 78 and is hitting .323. Freshman Bailey Combs has 68 kills, junior Malia Kaaiohelo 57, sophomore Lauren Jenkins 53 and freshman Courtney Lake 44. Kaaiohelo leads the team in blocks with 20.

Lipari is averaging 6.42 digs a set for the season, which ranks 10th nationally. She has 199 for the season and has moved into third place on the school's all-time digs list with 1,877.

Southeastern earned its only win of the season and the tournament it hosted last weekend.

The Savage Storm are led by Aleksandra Rodic (66 kills, 77 digs), Malaysia Burns (61 kills, 14 blocks) and Hannah Grant (53 kills).

UCO beings its 20-match Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association schedule with back-to-back home matches this weekend, hosting Pittsburg State at 7 p.m. Friday and Newman at 2 p.m. Saturday.

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Players Mentioned

#15 Amanda Desch: S; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#10 Lauren Jenkins: OH/RS; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#7 Malia Kaaiohelo: MB; 6' 1"; Junior

#1 Dominique Lipari: DS/L; 5' 1"; Senior

#2 Bailey Combs: RS/OH; 5' 10"; Freshman

#9 Kaeli Robinson: OH/RS; 5' 7"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#15 Amanda Desch
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: S

#10 Lauren Jenkins
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: OH/RS

#7 Malia Kaaiohelo
: 6' 1"; Junior
: MB

#1 Dominique Lipari
: 5' 1"; Senior
: DS/L

#2 Bailey Combs
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: RS/OH

#9 Kaeli Robinson
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: OH/RS