No. 19 Bronchos To Host Two MIAA Rivals

No. 19-ranked Central Oklahoma wraps up a four-match homestand this weekend with a pair of key Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association matches at Hamilton Field House.

The Bronchos, 19-2 overall and 9-2 in the league, host No. 8 Nebraska-Kearney (20-2, 10-2) at 4 p.m. Friday before taking on Fort Hays State (9-11, 4-8) at 6 p.m. Saturday.

UNK leads the conference standings, followed by UCO, No. 10 Washburn (9-3), No. 15 Northwest Missouri (8-3) and No. 25 Central Missouri (7-4).

"It's another big weekend for us," said head coach Edgar Miraku, who is 238-80 in his 11th year at the UCO helm. "UNK always has one of the best teams in country and they're great again this year, so that will be a tremendous challenge. And Fort Hays played us really tough the first time we met, so we'll have our work cut out for us."

The Bronchos overcame a first-set loss to beat the Tigers in four sets on Sept. 16 in Hays, Kan., then lost a four-set battle to the Lopers the next day in Kearney, Neb.

ABOUT THE BRONCHOS: UCO enters the weekend with a four-match winning streak and beat No. 15 Northwest Missouri in its last outing last Friday for its third win this season over a top-20 team.

The Bronchos rank in the top five in eight statistical categories in NCAA Division II, leading in digs (19.13) and attack attempts (41.31) per set. UCO is also third in kills per set (14.61), total assists (1,045) and total kills (1,141), fourth in total digs (1,492) and assists per set (13.40) and fifth in total attacks (3,222).

Three players have 170-plus kills for the Bronchos – freshman Sydney Huck (324) and sophomores Mallorie Koehn (230) and Jenna Karp (171).

Huck leads the MIAA and ranks fourth nationally in total kills. She's also eighth nationally in points (4.97) and kills (4.44) per set. The rookie standout is averaging 15.4 kills a match and has had eight outings with 20-plus kills.

Koehn is sixth in the conference in kills per set (3.15) and has had seven matches with 15-plus kills.

Karp has an astounding .545 attack percentage in the last three matches with 20 kills and two errors in 33 attempts, raising her season average to .315. She also leads UCO in solo (15), assisted (44) and total (59) blocks.

Sophomore Jaedynn Evans continues to lead Division II in both total digs (521) and digs per set (6.68). She's averaging 24.8 digs per match and has had 30-plus digs in six matches with a high of 38.

Freshman Lindsey Houran is also a national leader for the Bronchos, topping Division II in total assists (928) while ranking third in assists per set (11.9). She's had 50-plus assists in 10 outings with a high of 64 and is averaging 44.2 assists per match.

ABOUT THE LOPERS: Nebraska-Kearney clipped Fort Hays State in four sets Tuesday night for its third straight win.

The Lopers lead the MIAA in attack percentage (.271), opponent attack percentage (.145), service aces (1.72/set), opponent digs (14.6/set) and opponent kills (11.09/set).

Fallon Stutheit is hitting a league-leading .392 with 172 kills to pace UNK. Emersen Cyza has a team-high 267 kills, ranking second in the conference in both kills (.3.81) and points (4.09) per set, while Bailee Sterling is hitting .359 with 210 kills.

The Lopers have a commanding 20-5 lead in the series with UCO and have won eight of the last nine meetings.

ABOUT THE TIGERS: Fort Hays State had a three-match winning streak ended with its tough four-set loss to Nebraska-Kearney Tuesday night.

The Tigers are led by Riley Tinder (199 kills, 30 aces), Mykah Eshbaugh (170 kills) and Emily Ellis (122 kills, 82 blocks).

The Bronchos have won 11 straight over FHSU to extend their series lead to 23-8.

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Players Mentioned

#6 Jaedynn Evans: DS/LIB; 5' 7"; Sophomore

#7 Jenna Karp: MB; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#4 Mallorie Koehn: OH; 5' 11"; Sophomore

#1 Lindsey Houran: S; 5' 8"; Freshman

#14 Sydney Huck: OH; 5' 10"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#6 Jaedynn Evans
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: DS/LIB

#7 Jenna Karp
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: MB

#4 Mallorie Koehn
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: OH

#1 Lindsey Houran
: 5' 8"; Freshman
: S

#14 Sydney Huck
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: OH