Women's Volleyball 12/2/2024 6:00:00 AM

Bronchos Ready For National Tourney

No. 6-ranked UCO Travels To Minnesota For Rugged Central Regional

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Central Oklahoma will make its seventh appearance in the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship this week when the No. 6-ranked Bronchos head to St. Cloud, Minn. for the rugged Central Regional.

UCO, 30-2 on the season, is the No. 2 seed and will take on No. 7 seed and 15th-ranked Southwest Minnesota (23-5) at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

"We're excited about being back in the national tournament and are looking forward to the challenge," head coach Edgar Miraku said. "This is the toughest regional in the country, so we will have to be at our best.

"I'm really proud of our players for everything we've accomplished this season. They've worked hard all year and are a very resilient group."

Other first-round matches at Halenbeck Hall on the campus of tournament host St. Cloud State have third-seeded and No. 5-ranked Nebraska-Kearney (30-2) playing No. 6 seed Washburn (20-7) at 11 a.m., fourth-seeded and No. 9-rated Concordia-St. Paul (23-6) meeting No. 5 seed Missouri Western (23-7) at 4:30 p.m. and the top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Huskies (27-2) going against No. 8 seed Ouachita Baptist (22-9) at 7 p.m.

Semifinal matches Friday will have the UNK/WU-UCO/SMSU winners playing at 4 p.m. and the CSP/MWSU-SCSU/OBU winners meeting at 7 p.m. The semifinal winners collide for the regional title at 4 p.m. Saturday.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL TOURNEY: Sixty-four teams earned bids into the single-elimination national tournament, with eight-team regionals to be held at eight different sites around the country this weekend.

The regional champions advance to Sioux Falls, S.D. Dec. 12-14 for the Elite Eight. Cal State-LA beat West Texas A&M in last year's finals.

UCO IN NATIONAL PLAYOFFS: The Bronchos are 3-6 in six previous national tournament appearances. UCO first qualified in 1994, beating West Texas A&M in the first round before losing to Central Missouri in the finals of the South Central Regional.

The Bronchos lost to Nebraska-Kearney in the first round of the Southwest Regional in 2002 and fell to Abilene Christian in the opening round of the 2005 Southwest Regional.

UCO swept Fort Lewis in the opening round of the 2007 Southwest Regional before losing to UNK in four sets in the semifinals.

The Bronchos made their first Central Regional appearance in 2015, sweeping UNK in the opening round and losing to Concordia-St. Paul in the semifinals.

Central last made the tournament in 2017, falling in three sets to eventual national champion Concordia-St. Paul

UCO VS. NATIONAL FIELD: UCO has played seven teams in the national tournament field this year, owning an 8-1 record against those teams.

The Bronchos beat Angelo State (3-2), Embry-Riddle (3-1), Nova Southeastern (3-0) and Flagler (3-0) in the first two weeks of the season before going 4-1 against MIAA rivals Nebraska-Kearney, Missouri Western and Washburn.

Central split with MWSU, losing in the regular season before winning in the MIAA Tournament semifinals. The Bronchos beat the Lopers in the regular season and again in the MIAA Tournament finals and swept Washburn in the regular season.

SEASON RECAP: UCO bolted out of the gate in record-setting fashion with a best-ever 18-0 start. The first nine of those wins came in neutral-site or true road matches, including victories over four national tournament qualifiers.

The Bronchos suffered their first loss on Oct. 12 at league rival Missouri Western.

Central went 12-1 at home, highlighted by a sweep of regular season MIAA champion Nebraska-Kearney. The lone loss was to Arkansas-Fort Smith, though the Bronchos avenged that defeat with a road sweep three days later to start their current 10-match winning streak.

UCO went 3-0 to claim its first-ever MIAA Tournament title, sweeping Emporia State in the first round before edging MWSU in five sets in the semifinals and taking down UNK in four in the finals.

ABOUT THE COACH: The Bronchos are under the direction of 12th-year head coach Edgar Miraku, who enters the regional with a stellar 299-92 career record.

UCO has had six seasons with 30-plus wins in its history and Miraku has been at the helm for three of those (2015, '16 and '24). He's had four other seasons with 25-plus wins.

Miraku has also led the Bronchos to three of its seven national tournament appearances (2015, '17, '24).

OFFENSIVE ATTACK: Central Oklahoma features a potent offense and owns a .268 team attack percentage that ranks 11th in NCAA Division II.

The Bronchos are in the top 10 nationally in four categories -- fourth in total kills (1,635), fifth in kills per set (14.73), fifth in total assists (1,511) and eighth in assists per set (13.61).

UCO has hit .300 or better in 15 matches, including a school-record .446 (49 kills, four errors, 101 attacks) in a neutral-site sweep of Fort Lewis early in the season.

Five players have at least 168 kills on the season, including four with 258 or more.

Senior Addison Wimmer leads the way with 355 kills (3.51/set). Senior Jenna Karp has 305 (3.08), junior Sydney Huck 298 (3.07), senior Mikaela Garvin 258 (2.77) and junior Lari Migliorino 168 (1.91).

Setter Lindsey Houran directs the high-powered offensive attack. The junior ranks eighth nationally in total assists (1,232) and 10th in assists per set (11.41).

DEFENSIVE PRESENCE: UCO also showcases a strong defense, both in the back row and at the net.

The Bronchos rank 10th in Division II in digs per set (18.95) and 12th in total digs (2,103). UCO is 31st nationally in team total blocks with 253.0 (77 solo, 352 assisted).

Five players have 250-plus digs, paced by senior Katie Le with 565. Seven players have at least 25 total blocks, with Karp's 77 (15 solo, 62 assisted) leading the way.

UCO ON THE ROAD: The Bronchos have played 19 of their 32 matches away from home this season with nine neutral-site contests and 10 true road matches.

Central is 9-0 in neutral-site outings and 9-1 on the road, the lone loss coming to Central Region participant and MIAA rival Missouri Western.

ALL-MIAA TEAM: Central Oklahoma had five players earn First-Team All-MIAA honors, highlighted by Wimmer's selection as Player of the Year.

Wimmer was joined on the First-Team unit by Karp, Huck, Houran and Le. Garvin and Migliorino were Honorable Mention selections.

Wimmer, Karp, Houran and Migliorino were all named to the MIAA all-tournament team after UCO's three-match run to the title.

SERIES RECORDS: The Bronchos have met all seven of the other teams in the Central Regional during their history.

UCO owns series leads of 20-7 over Missouri Western, 14-1 over Ouachita Baptist, 1-0 over Southwest Minnesota and 1-0 over St. Cloud State.

The Bronchos trail Concordia-St. Paul 2-0, Nebraska-Kearney 22-8 and Washburn 17-14.

ABOUT SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA: The Mustangs from Marshall, Minn. tied for third in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and are making their 17th Division II national tournament appearance.

SMSU is led by First-Team All-NSIC selection Sydney Thein, who has 1,240 assists (11.59/set), 350 digs, 79 kills and 28 service aces on the season.

Five other players earned Second-Team All-NSIC recognition – Leah Jones (309 kills, 348 digs), Emma VanHeel (307 kills, 113 blocks), Ashley Peltier (280 kills, 79 blocks), McKenzie Tolk (570 digs, 29 aces) and Saari Kuehl (322 kills).

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

#2 Katie Le: DS/L; 5' 3"; Senior

#10 Lari Migliorino: MB; 6' 0"; Junior

#3 Addison Wimmer: OH; 5' 10"; Senior

#21 Mikaela Garvin: OH; 6' 2"; Graduate Student

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

#2 Katie Le
: 5' 3"; Senior
: DS/L

#10 Lari Migliorino
: 6' 0"; Junior
: MB

#3 Addison Wimmer
: 5' 10"; Senior
: OH

#21 Mikaela Garvin
: 6' 2"; Graduate Student
: OH