EDMOND – Georgia Ahlert sparked a late first-set surge that propelled Central Oklahoma to a come-from-behind win and the Bronchos went on to sweep MIAA rival Newman Friday night at Hamilton Field House.
UCO scored the final four points – two on an Ahlert kill and solo block – in rallying for a thrilling 26-24 victory in the opening set before rolling to 25-18, 25-11 routs to finish off its 18th straight win over the Jets, including the 10th consecutive sweep.
"We struggled some in the first set, but played well at the end to pull it out," said head coach Edgar Miraku, whose team is now 13-5 on the season and 3-2 in the league. "I thought we came out much more focused in the last two sets. We did a good job running our offense and kept our mistakes to a minimum."
Caroline Clayton paced the UCO offense, hitting .400 with 11 kills and just one error in 25 attacks. Ahlert finished with 10 kills to go along with three blocks and a service ace, while Kate Wells had seven kills and five blocks.
Taylor Fenton and Riley Roberts added five kills apiece, with Roberts also handing out 31 assists. Morgan Manning had another stellar outing at libero in leading the back row, setting a career high for the third straight match with 28 digs.
The Bronchos led most of the way in the first set and were up by as many as five on several occasions. The lead was 19-16 when Newman went on a 7-2 run to move on top 23-21 and the Jets had UCO on the ropes after going ahead 24-22.
But Wells kept Central alive with a slam dunk at the net, Ahlert followed with a hard shot down the middle and Clayton's deep kill made it 25-24. Ahlert then ended it with an emphatic solo block.
Newman led 3-2 early in the third set before the Bronchos reeled off six unanswered points to move in front to stay at 8-3. The Jets were close at 16-14, but Clayton knocked down three kills the rest of the way as UCO pulled away.
The third set was a blowout from the start. Roberts and Wells had two kills each and Roberts added an ace to give the Bronchos a quick 5-1 lead and it was never close.
Ahlert finished with five kills in the set and Wells had four, with Myla Unterweger's ace capping a closing 4-0 run that gave UCO the sweep.
The Bronchos return to action Tuesday with a non-conference rematch against Newman in Wichita, Kansas.
