No. 4 Bronchos Head To Texas

Unbeaten UCO Set to Play Four Matches at the Rattler Invitational

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Unbeaten Central Oklahoma goes back on the road this weekend for the Rattler Invitational, with the No. 4-ranked Bronchos set to play four matches in the two-day event.

UCO, 5-0 on the young season, opens against Fairmont State (5-0) at 9:30 a.m. Friday at Bill Greehey Arena on the campus of St. Mary's before facing Texas A&M-International (2-2) at 5 p.m. The Bronchos return Saturday to take on the host Rattlers (1-3) at 10:30 a.m., then finish against Florida Southern (3-0) at 3:30 p.m.

"It's going to be a tough weekend," head coach Edgar Miraku said. "We're going against four good teams and will need to be ready to play every time we step on the court. I'm happy with what we've done to this point, but we're a little short-handed."

UCO returns to Edmond for five home matches next week, taking on Texas Woman's Tuesday and then hosting the MIAA/GAC Crossover Thursday-Saturday.

ABOUT THE BRONCHOS: UCO followed a 4-0 sweep at the season-opening Patriot Classic in Tyler, Texas Sept. 4-6 with a win over Oklahoma Baptist in its home debut Tuesday.

The Bronchos have yet to drop a set in its 5-0 start despite dealing with a spate of injuries.

Senior setter and team captain Lindsey Houran has been the ringleader in the early going. An all-tournament pick at the Patriot Classic, Houran ranks fifth nationally with 11.87 assists per set (178 total) while having also contributed 66 digs (4.4/set), 16 kills and two blocks (one solo, one assisted).

Senior middle blocker Kedron Burk leads a balanced offensive attack with 53 kills (3.53/set) and a .310 attack percentage along with nine blocks (eight solo, one assisted).

Freshman Kamryn Glover joined Houran on the Patriot Classic all-tournament team and has 48 kills (3.2/set) with 33 digs, six service aces and five blocks (two solo, three assisted). Senior Mikiah Perdue is hitting .306 with 42 kills (2.8/set) and 12 blocks (nine solo, three assisted).

Junior Kaitlyn Parrott has come up huge on the back row from her libero spot and currently leads Division II with 7.33 digs per set (110 total). She's had 20-plus digs in each of the last three matches.

Junior Riley Roberts has also been a key contributor, both defensively and offensively. She's hitting .302 with 18 kills and also has 54 digs, 13 assists and two solo blocks.

ABOUT FAIRMONT STATE: The Falcons of the Mountain East Conference from Fairmont, West Virginia are off to a 5-0 start.

Returning First-Team All-Atlantic Region outside hitter Joey Borelle leads Fairmont with 86 kills (4.53/set), 77 digs, nine aces and seven blocks. McKenzi Martin has 75 kills (3.95/set) with seven blocks, while Josie Nobbe has chipped in 41 kills (2.16/set) and 12 blocks.

This will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams.

ABOUT TEXAS A&M-INTERNATIONAL: The Lone Star Conference-member Dustdevils from Laredo, Texas are 2-2 on the young season.

A&M-International is paced by Mia Molina, who has 38 kills (2.53/set), 47 digs and four aces. Sierra Long has added 36 kills (2.4/set) and Danea King has 29 kills (1.93/set) with 11 blocks.

UCO owns a 3-1 lead in the series and this will be the first meeting between the two since 2014.

ABOUT ST. MARY'S: The host Rattlers of the Lone Star Conference went 1-3 in at the Hawaii Challenge last week, dropping a trio of five-set matches.

Laurene Robinson is hitting .354 with 51 kills (2.84/set), 16 digs and nine blocks to lead St. Mary's. Landri Withers has 33 kills (1.83/set), 34 digs, seven blocks and six aces.

The Bronchos have a 7-6 lead in a series that started in 1999. The teams haven't met since 2022.

ABOUT FLORIDA SOUTHERN: The Sunshine State Conference-member Moccasins from Lakeland, Florida started the season 3-0 at their own tournament last week.

Whitney Mall tops a balanced attack with 37 kills (2.64/set) and 11 blocks, while Baili Coles has 36 kills (2.57/set), 51 digs and seven aces. Morgan Ward has contributed 28 kills (2.0/set) while hitting .367 to go along with seven aces and seven blocks.

Florida Southern is up 2-0 in a short series with UCO and this will be the first meeting between the two since 2015.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

#11 Riley Roberts: S; 5' 10"; Junior

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

#7 Kamryn Glover: OH/RS; 6' 1"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

#11 Riley Roberts
: 5' 10"; Junior
: S

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

#7 Kamryn Glover
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: OH/RS