EDMOND – Georgia Ahlert and Sawyer Franz combined for 30 kills, Myla Unterweger sparked a fifth-set run and Riley Roberts had another stellar all-around outing as Central Oklahoma staved off upset-minded Fort Hays State Friday night at Hamilton Field House.
The No. 23-ranked Bronchos prevailed 25-23, 17-25, 25-20, 22-25, 15-13 in a grueling two and one-half hour slugfest for their eighth straight win and 11th in a row at home. UCO, now 18-5 on the season and 5-2 in the MIAA, is back on the court at 2 p.m. Saturday to take on No. 6 Nebraska-Kearney in the home finale.
"It was a battle," head coach Edgar Miraku said. "Fort Hays has a tough team and the match could have gone either way, but fortunately we made just a few more plays than they did. Now we have to turn around and play one of the best teams in the country, but I know our girls will be excited about the challenge."
Ahlert led UCO's offensive assault, hitting .324 with a season-high 16 kills to go along with three blocks and a service ace. Franz continued her comeback after missing most of the season to injury, finishing with 14 kills.
Unterweger had four of her nine kills in the final set, including three during an early surge that put the Bronchos in front to stay. Kate Wells chipped in eight kills and four blocks, while Brylee Moore added six kills.
Roberts did a little bit of everything from her setter post. She senior handed out 47 assists, made a season-high 24 kills, knocked down eight kills, served up one ace and also blocked a shot.
Kaitlyn Parrott was outstanding in the back row, digging up 30 FHSU attacks. UCO also got 14 digs and four aces from Morgan Manning and 12 digs from Emma Halstead.
The match was a back-and-forth struggle from the start, with the first set featuring nine ties and four lead changes.
Central trailed by four at 13-9 and was down 17-15 when Manning dropped in back-to-back aces to help tie it at 18-all. It was deadlocked again at 19, 20, 21 and 22 before Wells hammered down a kill at the net to put the Bronchos ahead for good.
A Fort Hays error made it 24-22 and Franz finished off the set with a shot down the middle.
The Tigers jumped on top early en route to taking the second set, then UCO claimed another thrilling battle in the third. No more than two points separated the teams throughout the set until the Bronchos pulled away at the end.
UCO broke a 19-19 tie – the 13th deadlock of the set – on an Unterweger kill, then a FHSU error and Franz kill had the Bronchos up 22-19. The Tigers scored to make it 22-20 but Franz smacked a kill off a would-be blocker, Roberts dumped the ball over the net for another point and Ahlert delivered a set-sealing ace.
Fort Hays overcame a five-point deficit to win the fourth set and led 2-1 in the fifth when Unterweger took over.
The sophomore outside hitter smashed down two straight kills, joined Wells for a block and then hit a bullet down the line to cap a 4-0 run to put UCO on top to stay at 5-2.
The Bronchos led by five twice, at 9-4 after a Franz kill and 12-7 following an error, before the Tigers rallied to get within one at 13-12 and again at 14-13. But UCO finally ended it when Moore took a perfect Roberts pass and blasted a shot off a FHSU player.
The Bronchos recognized their four seniors – Franz, Halstead, Parrott and Roberts - before the contest.
