Skip To Main Content

University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Lindsey Houran
Lindsey Houran
1
Central Okla. CentOK 19-3,5-3 Mid-America Intercollegiate
3
Winner Neb.-Kearney UNK 20-2,7-2 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Central Okla. CentOK
19-3,5-3 Mid-America Intercollegiate
1
Final
3
Neb.-Kearney UNK
20-2,7-2 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Central Okla. CentOK 16 33 25 28 (1)
Neb.-Kearney UNK 25 35 20 30 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

UCO Drops Tough Battle To Lopers In Top-five Showdown

No. 4 Bronchos Fell in Four Sets to No. 5 UNK

KEARNEY, Neb. – Injury-plagued Central Oklahoma put up a fierce battle, but the No. 4-ranked Bronchos fell short in the end against No. 5 Nebraska-Kearney Saturday afternoon in a MIAA showdown at the Health and Sports Center. 
 
UCO dropped a heartbreaking 25-16, 35-33, 22-25, 30-28 decision to the Lopers in a two and a half-hour slugfest while playing without three starters. Sydney Huck, Kedron Burk and Kamryn Glover have accounted for 60 percent of the team's kills this season, with Huck her second straight match and Glover her fourth in a row while Burk saw limited duty in the final two sets. 
 
The Bronchos fell to 19-3 on the season and 5-3 in the conference. UNK improved to 20-2 and 7-2 in staying unbeaten (11-0) at home. 
 
"I'm proud of the way we fought and scraped today," head coach Edgar Miraku said. "Unfortunately, we were a little shorthanded and that's especially tough when playing a team the caliber of UNK. We battled and played pretty well overall, but we also made a lot of mistakes. It was a tough, hard-fought match." 
 
UCO was hampered by season highs in attack (29) and service (12) errors while finishing with more kills than the Lopers (73-66). 
 
Lindsey Houran led the Bronchos, handing out a season-high 60 assists – the ninth 60-assist outing of her sensational career – to go along with 15 digs, four assisted blocks and three kills. Kaitlyn Parrott came up big defensively, digging up a career-high 36 attacks. 
 
Lari Migliorino hit .318 with a career-high 18 kills while adding three assisted blocks and two service aces. Sawyer Franz knocked down a career-best 17 kills. 
 
Mikiah Perdue added 15 kills and six total blocks, with Riley Roberts chipping in 10 kills, 19 digs and seven assists. Myla Unterweger contributed eight kills. 
 
UCO led briefly in the opening set at 5-4 after an Unterweger kill and trailed just 9-8 following a block by Houran and Perdue. The Lopers pulled away after that, scoring five straight points to take a 14-9 lead and the Bronchos never recovered. 
 
The second set was a classic back-and-forth battle after Central used a 4-0 run to turn a 13-11 deficit into a 15-13 lead. Perdue and Unterweger had kills, with Perdue and Roberts teaming up for a block in that surge. 
 
It was tied at 16, then Migliorino knocked down three straight kills to put the Bronchos on top 19-16. UNK answered with four unanswered points to go up 20-19 and the lead switched hands constantly the rest of the way. 
 
UCO led 28-27 after Migliorino's slam and was serving for the set, but an error tied it again. The Bronchos led again at 29-28 and 30-29, with UNK staving off the final point both times. 
 
The Lopers took the lead at 31-30 and 32-31, with two Perdue kills keeping UCO alive both times. UNK finally ended the drama by scoring the final two points on a Broncho error and a kill. 
 
The gave the Lopers a commanding 2-0 lead in the match, but Central wasn't about to go down quietly. 
 
The Bronchos held a series of three- and four-point leads in the third set and were up 16-13 after a Franz shot. UNK came back to tie it at 18 and it was deadlocked again at 19 before UCO finished with a flurry. 
 
Franz got the closing stretch going with a kill, Jordyn Baker followed with an ace and two more Franz kills put the Bronchos ahead 23-19. Houran and Perdue teamed up for a block to finish off the 5-0 run before UNK stayed alive with a point, but Perdue's dart at the net finished off the clutch win. 
 
UCO appeared ready to tie the match after taking a quick 6-2 lead in the fourth set behind two Houran aces. It was 8-3 after a Perdue kill and the Bronchos still had a five-point advantage at 10-5 following Roberts' kill. 
 
The Lopers reeled off five straight points to tie it at 10-all and the teams were deadlocked again six more times before UNK went up 19-16. Migliorino responded with two kills and a combined block with Houran to pull UCO even at 19 and again the teams went back-and-forth. 
 
The Bronchos had chances to end it after leading 24-23, 27-26 and 28-27 but couldn't put down the winning point, then UNK scored the final three points to finish off the long struggle. 
 
UCO is back on the road at Arkansas-Fort Smith before hosting the Lions next Saturday at 1 p.m.
Print Friendly Version
Skip Ad
Skip Sponsors