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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Team
1
Central Okla. CentOK 13-1,3-1 Mid-America Intercollegiate
3
Winner Neb.-Kearney UNK 12-1,3-1 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Central Okla. CentOK
13-1,3-1 Mid-America Intercollegiate
1
Final
3
Neb.-Kearney UNK
12-1,3-1 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Central Okla. CentOK 19 25 17 23 (1)
Neb.-Kearney UNK 25 22 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

UCO Suffers First Loss To No. 8 UNK

KEARNEY, Neb. (Sept. 17) – Central Oklahoma fell from the unbeaten ranks Saturday afternoon, but it wasn't without a fight.

No. 8-ranked Nebraska-Kearney beat the Bronchos 25-19, 22-25, 25-17, 25-23 in a two-hour Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association battle at the Health & Sports Center. UCO fell to 13-1 on the season and 3-1 in league play, while the Lopers improved to 12-1 and 3-1.
 
"I'm really proud of the way we battled today," head coach Edgar Miraku said. "We competed at a high level and had a great chance to force the match to a fifth set. There's no such thing as a good loss, but I did think we showed that we can play with the top teams in the league."
 
UCO's 13-0 start equaled the second-best in school history, trailing just the 2015 team that opened the season 15-0. And the Bronchos went toe-to-toe with UNK before coming up short.
 
Mallorie Koehn led the way, hitting a blistering .438 with 16 kills and just two errors in 32 attacks. Sydney Huck had another productive outing with 15 kills and 18 digs, while Jenna Karp added 11 kills and four blocks.
 
UCO also got 49 assists, 14 digs and three kills from Lindsey Houran and 28 digs from Jaedynn Evans. Hannah Barry chipped in four blocks and three kills.
 
The Bronchos fell behind 6-3 in the first set before Karp knocked down three straight kills at the net to tie it. It was deadlocked again at 9-all after a Koehn kill, but UNK went on a 7-1 run to claim a 16-10 lead en route to taking the win.
 
UCO overcame an early 4-2 deficit in the second set, scoring three straight points to move in front and then going up 10-6 on a combined block by Barry and Courtney Lane. Huck had two kills and Evans a service ace as the lead grew to 13-7.
 
The Lopers scored two straight points before Huck recorded three kills in a 6-0 run that left the Bronchos with a 19-9 cushion. UNK used a 12-2 spurt to get within 22-21, but Koehn had the last three kills for UCO to close out the set.
 
The Bronchos had a 6-3 lead in the third set after a Josie Thomas ace and were up 8-7 following a Karp smash. The Lopers reeled off five unanswered points to grab the lead and never trailed again in taking a  2-1 lead in the match.
 
It was a back-and-forth battle throughout the fourth set. Back-to-Back Koehn kills had UCO on top 19-17 and it was still a two-point lead at 21-19 after a Huck kill.
 
UNK scored the next two points to make it 21-all and it was tied again at 22-22 before Huck's shot down the line gave the Bronchos a 23-22 lead. But the Lopers would deny UCO's bid to extend the match, scoring the final three points to claim the set.
 
Central returns home next week for a pair of MIAA matches, hosting No. 2-ranked Washburn at 6 p.m. Thursday and Emporia State at 3:30 p.m. Friday.
 
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