No. 17-ranked Central Oklahoma continues a lengthy Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association road swing this weekend with a pair of matches in Missouri.

The Bronchos, 21-3 overall and 12-2 in the league, travel to Joplin Friday for a 6 p.m. contest against Missouri Southern (12-11, 5-9) before moving on to Warrensburg the next day to meet Central Missouri (15-7, 12-2) in a 2 p.m. showdown.

UCO and the Jennies are tied atop the conference standings with each having six matches remaining, while the Lions are seventh. The top eight teams in the final standings qualify for the MIAA Tournament, which is set for Nov. 16-18 in St. Joseph, Mo.

"Every match in our conference is big and it's no different this weekend," head coach Edgar Miraku said. "We've played pretty well the last couple of weeks to put ourselves in a good position, but there is no letup in our schedule.

"Missouri Southern played us really tough the first time around at our place and Central Missouri beat us the last time, so we know the challenge that's ahead of us."

The Bronchos wrap up their five-match MIAA road swing next week at Washburn and Emporia State before finishing the regular season at home Nov. 10-11 against Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri.

ABOUT THE BRONCHOS: UCO ran its winning streak to eight in a row Tuesday with a sweep of Newman to open the road trip. It was the 14th sweep of the season for the Bronchos, including the seventh against league opponents.

UCO leads the nation in team assists (1,182) while ranking second in kills (1,271) and fifth in digs (1,661).

The Bronchos have featured a balanced offensive attack all season and four players enter the weekend with 200-plus kills – Addison Wimmer (270), Sydney Huck (253), Jenna Karp (245) and Mallorie Koehn (204).

Karp is hitting a league-leading .348 with just 50 errors in 560 attacks while also topping the team in solo (17) and assisted (46) blocks. The junior now ranks eighth on UCO's career list for solo blocks with 54.

Jaedynn Evans continues to lead Division II in digs per set (6.36), having racked up 471 in 74 sets. The returning All-American has been named MIAA Defensive Player of the Week five times this season, including the last four in a row.

Lindsey Houran ranks fourth in the league with 737 assists (10.24/set). The sophomore has already moved into ninth place on the school's career assists list with 2,137.

Koehn tops the team and is second in the MIAA in service aces with 38.

ABOUT THE LIONS: Missouri Southern enters the weekend on a four-match losing streak.

Fernanda Canedo leads MSSU with 277 kills, while Amelia Neels has 153 kills, 72 blocks and 35 aces and Jaryn Benning 153 kills.

UCO beat the Lions in four sets on Sept. 30 in Edmond to increase its lead in the series to 26-9.

ABOUT THE JENNIES: Central Missouri takes a three-match winning streak into a Friday match with Pittsburg State before taking on the Bronchos.

The Jennies are paced by Kersti Nix (314 kills), Elinor Engel (200 kills, 82 blocks) and Grace Southern (150 kills, 74 blocks).

Central Missouri prevailed in a wild 22-20 fifth-set battle to win this year's first meeting between the two on Sept. 29 in Edmond, increasing its series lead to 21-5.