EDMOND – Lari Migliorino's season has been hampered by injury, but the Central Oklahoma senior came up big when the Bronchos needed her most Friday night at Hamilton Field House.
Migliorino slammed down three kills – her only ones of the night -- to fuel a frantic rally that saw UCO score five unanswered points to turn a 13-10 deficit into a 15-13 fifth-set victory as the No. 4-ranked Bronchos escaped Northwest Missouri's upset bid.
Central took the first two sets 25-23, 25-18 before the Bearcats tied it with 25-20, 25-13 wins. NWMSU jumped on top 4-0 in the deciding set and had the Bronchos on the ropes with its 13-10 lead before Migliorino's heroics changed the narrative.
"Lari hasn't been able to play much because of her injury, but she really came through for us tonight," said head coach Edgar Miraku of Migliorino, who has played in just eight of UCO's 62 sets this season. "She's getting close to being back to full strength and we definitely need her.
"It was a battle tonight, just like I knew it would be. Our offense was pretty efficient in the first two sets, but we struggled after that and made some other mistakes that put us in a bind. But our players kept battling and we found a way to get it done at the end."
UCO had 21 attack errors in hitting .204 while also making a season-high 14 service miscues. Despite those obstacles, the Bronchos improved to 18-1 overall and 4-1 in the MIAA heading into a 2 p.m. Saturday league contest with Missouri Western.
Sydney Huck paced the offense with a season-high 21 kills – the 14th 20-plus kill match of her illustrious career – to go along with 11 digs and two blocks. Mikiah Perdue had nine kills, while Kedron Burk and Sawyer Franz contributed eight apiece.
Lindsey Houran handed out a season-best 48 assists while adding four kills. Kaitlyn Parrott had a strong outing on the defensive side with 28 digs, with Riley Roberts chipping in 12 and Morgan Manning 10.
NWMSU appeared on its way to pulling off the upset after jumping on top 4-0 and 5-1 in the fifth set and the Bearcats were up 13-10 with a chance to serve for the match.
But the Bronchos had other ideas.
Migliorino got the comeback started with a hard hit at the net off a Houran feed, then followed with another shot down the middle before Burk tied it to force a NWMSU timeout.
It was Migliorino again after the break as the middle blocker flushed down another kill to give UCO its first lead and the Bronchos celebrated the win after a NWMSU attack on set point was too long.
Huck dominated Central's first-set victory, knocking down nine kills in 21 tries. The Bronchos led 17-9 before Northwest rallied to tie it at 22-all, then Huck had back-to-back kills and Burk answered a Bearcat score with a kill to end it.
UCO trailed 10-4 in the second set before going on an 11-2 run to surge in front 15-12. Franz had three kills and Manning served up back-to-back aces to spark that run.
The Bronchos pulled away from there, getting three kills from Burk down the stretch to finish it off and take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
That didn't last, however, as the Bearcats claimed the next two sets to set up the thrilling finish.
