KEARNEY, Neb. -- Central Oklahoma's postseason nemesis struck again Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Central Regional at the Heath and Sports Center.
The No. 11-ranked Bronchos had their season ended for third time by Concordia-St. Paul, with the No. 6 Golden Bears claiming a 25-11, 25-22, 25-23 sweep. CSP also eliminated UCO in the 2015 and '17 playoffs, going on to capture the national championship both times.
"Congrats to Concordia," head coach Edgar Miraku said. "They took a lot of things away from us and didn't make many mistakes. We struggled to get going in the first set, but kept battling and gave ourselves a chance in the next two and just couldn't get it done."
"We had a lot of hurdles and challenges this season. We didn't have the same lineup for five consecutive matches because of injuries and that's not an excuse that's just the way it was. I thought we responded to those challenges the right way and making it to the regional again was a great accomplishment."
UCO finished 27-6 in making it to the national tournament for the eighth time, including the second straight. CSP (27-5) moved on to Friday's semifinals against No. 7 Washburn of the MIAA.
The Bronchos hit just .121 in the match while making 18 attack errors, eight of those coming in the lopsided first-set loss.
Sydney Huck led UCO with 12 kills while adding six digs and two assisted blocks. The senior outside hitter finished her stellar career with 1,439 kills, which ranks seventh on the school's all-time list.
Mikiah Perdue added seven kills and two assisted blocks, with Lari Migliorino chipping in five kills, Myla Unterweger four and Sawyer Franz three.
Lindsey Houran handed out 27 assists to go along with 12 digs, two kills and a block. The splendid senior setter and team captain ended her sensational career third in all-time assists with 5,108.
Kaitlyn Parrott had another big defensive outing on the back row in digging up 23 CSP attacks. The junior libero moved into 10th place on UCO's single-season list with 643 digs.
UCO led 2-1 in the early stages of the first set after back-to-back crosscourt kills by Huck and it was a 3-2 advantage following Migliorino's shot off an attempted block. The Golden Bears followed with a 3-0 run to take the lead for good at 5-3.
The Bronchos were within one after Franz's deep shot and it was a 9-7 deficit following another Franz kill. But CSP took charge after that, reeling off nine straight points to go ahead 18-7 and UCO had no answer.
Central had a 3-1 lead in the early stages of the second set behind a pair of Huck kills and it was 5-3 after Riley Roberts' crosscourt shot. But once again CSP came back with a big run, this one a 12-2 spurt that gave the Golden Bears a 15-7 cushion.
It was a 17-9 deficit when UCO began to chip away. Perdue ended a long rally with a kill at the net to pull the Bronchos within 18-14, with another Perdue shot and Houran's dump kill making it 20-17.
The Golden Bears went up 23-18, then Huck knocked down two shots in a 4-1 run that got UCO within 24-22 before CSP ended the set with a kill to put the Bronchos on the cusp of elimination.
Central trailed 4-3 in the third set when Houran's kill started a 4-0 scoring spree that ended in combined block by Burk and Roberts to give the Bronchos a 7-4 lead.
Unterweger and Perdue had two kills apiece to keep UCO in front by three, the last time at 11-8. It was a 12-11 lead when consecutive kills by Huck, Unterweger and Burk put the Bronchos ahead 15-11.
Unterweger scored again to keep the lead at four (16-12), but CSP came back with seven unanswered points to surge in front 18-16. It was a 20-17 deficit when Perdue got hot, knocking down three kills in a 5-1 run that ended on a Huck shot to give UCO a 22-21 edge.
The Golden Bears scored two straight to go ahead 23-22, Huck tied it at 23 with a deep shot and then CSP ended Central's season with back-to-back kills.
It was the final match for six UCO seniors – Houran, Burk, Migliorino, Huck, Perdue and Andrea Coady. That group helped lead the Bronchos to 110 wins over the past four years.
