Women's Volleyball 11/18/2025 10:00:00 AM

Bronchos Ready For MIAA Tournament

No. 8-ranked UCO Opens Against No. 24 Emporia State Thursday Night

ST. JOSEPH, Missouri – Central Oklahoma moves to the postseason this week when the No. 8-ranked Bronchos take on No. 24 Emporia State at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the first round of the MIAA Volleyball Championship at Civic Arena.

UCO is the No. 4 seed in the eight-team tournament after finishing the regular season with a 26-4 record, including a 12-4 mark in league play. The Hornets are 21-6 overall and also went 12-4 in the conference, with the Bronchos earning the fourth seed by virtue of a five-set road win over ESU last week.

No. 3 Nebraska-Kearney (26-3), No. 7 Washburn (25-3) and No. 16 Missouri Western (21-6) shared the league title at 13-3. The Lopers are the No. 1 seed and will face eighth-seeded Fort Hays State (16-12) at 6 p.m., while the second-seeded Griffons meet No. 7 Pittsburg State (13-14) at 12 p.m. and the third-seeded Ichobods play No. 6 Central Missouri (20-7) at 2:30.

Friday's semifinals have the MWSU-PSU and WU-UCM winners playing at 5 p.m. before the UNK-FHSU and UCO-ESU victors meet at 7:30 p.m. Saturday's finals are set for 6 p.m.

The winner of Saturday's finals earns the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship, with that full 64-team national tournament field to be announced Monday.

"We're in the toughest conference in the country, so we know it's going to be an incredibly tough weekend," head coach Edgar Miraku said. "We have to take it one match at a time and the first thing to do is get past a really good Emporia team.

"We had a great battle with them last week and it's going to take our best effort to beat them. Our players are excited about the challenge ahead of us and we want to keep our season going as long as we can."

UCO rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Hornets in five sets last Thursday in Emporia, Kansas. The Bronchos have a 27-12 lead in a series that started in 1988.

Central captured its first-ever MIAA Volleyball Championship title last year, beating Emporia, Missouri Western and UNK on consecutive nights before going on to win the Central Regional crown in advancing to the national quarterfinals.

The Bronchos have qualified for the MIAA Volleyball Championship every year since joining the league in 2012 (no tournament was held in 2014 and 2020) and have a 9-10 record in the conference tourney. UCO will be facing Emporia in the first round for the second straight year.

ABOUT THE BRONCHOS: UCO has won 25-plus matches for the 15th time in program history, including the eighth time – and third straight – under Miraku, who took over the program in 2012.

The Bronchos went 11-2 at home, 9-2 on the road and 6-0 in neutral site matches during the regular season.

UCO is the national leader in team digs per set with 20.23 while ranking seventh nationally in total digs (2,084) and attacks per set (40.11).

Kaitlyn Parrott has led Central's defensive efforts, having dug up 595 opponent attacks this season for a 5.78 per-set average that leads the MIAA and ranks fifth nationally. The junior libero has had 15 matches with 20-plus digs this season and also leads the team with 45 service aces.

Lindsey Houran sets up the UCO offense from her setter position and ranks 10th in Division II with 11.19 assists per set. The senior captain has dealt out 1,000-plus assists in each of her four seasons and ranks third in career assists with 5,011, having had 58 matches with at least 40.

Houran has enjoyed a stellar all-around season, having also accumulated 358 digs, 72 kills, 27 total blocks and 25 aces.

Three players have 200-plus kills for the Bronchos, led by Mikiah Perdue. The senior middle blocker is hitting .292 with 301 kills (2.92/set) while also topping the team in solo (29) and assisted (60) blocks.

Sydney Huck has 263 kills despite missing several matches to injury and her 3.81 kill per-set average leads the MIAA. The senior outside hitter has had double-digit kills in 75 matches and ranks ninth in career kills at UCO with 1,396, needing 10 more to move into eighth.

Kedron Burk has knocked down 207 kills (2.41/set) on the season with a .279 attack percentage. The senior middle blocker is also second in solo (312) and assisted (43) blocks.

ABOUT THE HORNETS: Emporia State is 21-6 on the season, the most wins for the Hornets since 2011.

ESU is led by Nyla Anderson, who has 303 kills (3.16/set) along with 302 digs, 26 total blocks and 18 aces. Lavra Krizanic has 226 kills (2.66/set) and 49 blocks, while Delaniee Dexter has 178 (1.82/set) with 46 blocks and 40 aces.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

#9 Kaitlyn Parrott: DS/L; 5' 5"; Junior

#15 Mikiah Perdue: MB; 5' 9"; Senior

#3 Kedron Burk: MB; 6' 2"; Senior

Players Mentioned

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

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

#9 Kaitlyn Parrott
: 5' 5"; Junior
: DS/L

#15 Mikiah Perdue
: 5' 9"; Senior
: MB

#3 Kedron Burk
: 6' 2"; Senior
: MB