ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Central Oklahoma begins postseason play this week when the No. 24-ranked Bronchos take on No. 13 Emporia State at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the first round of the MIAA Volleyball Championship at Civic Arena.
UCO is the No. 5 seed in the eight-team tournament after finishing the regular season with a 21-7 record, including an 8-4 mark in league play. The Hornets are 24-4 overall and went 9-3 in the conference to earn the No. 4 seed.
"We're in the toughest conference in the country with a lot of great teams, so it's going to be an incredibly tough weekend," head coach Edgar Miraku said. "The first thing to do is try to get past a really strong Emporia team, which will be a great challenge.
"I'm proud of the way our team has fought this season. We have a really young team, but we've grown a lot this year and they're excited about the opportunity to keep the season going."
No. 6 Nebraska-Kearney (27-2) won the league title and is the No. 1 seed, with the Lopers set to face eighth-seeded Fort Hays State (18-12) at 6 p.m. Second-seeded and No. 12-ranked Missouri Western (22-4) meets seventh seeded Northwest Missouri (9-16) in Thursday's opener at noon, followed by third-seeded and No. 18-rated Washburn (23-6) against sixth-seeded Pittsburg State (22-8) at 2:30.
Friday's semifinals have the MWSU-NWMSU and WU-PSU 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 final 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.
Emporia swept the Bronchos in this year's regular season meeting. The Bronchos have a 27-13 lead in a series that started in 1988.
UCO has qualified for the MIAA Volleyball Championship every year since joining the league in 2012 (no tournament was held in 2014 and 2020) and has a 10-11 record in the conference tourney. UCO and the Hornets are meeting in the first round for the third straight year.
The Bronchos captured their only MIAA Volleyball Championship title in 2025, beating Emporia, Missouri Western and UNK on consecutive nights before going on to win the Central Regional crown in advancing to the national quarterfinals.
UCO has won 20-plus matches for the fifth straight season – and 11th time overall – under Miraku, who has a 350-106 career record in his 14th year as the winningest coach in program history.
The Bronchos went 9-1 at home, 6-5 on the road and 6-1 in neutral site matches during the regular season.
Six players have 100-plus kills for the Bronchos, with sophomores Myla Unterweger and Georgia Ahlert leading the way.
Unterweger has 282 kills, ranking sixth in the conference with 3.13 per set to go along with 130 digs, 34 total blocks and 14 service aces. Ahlert has knocked down 272 kills while adding 56 total blocks and 24 aces.
Freshman Kate Wells (183), sophomore Caroline Clayton (147), freshman Taylor Fenton (138) and senior Riley Roberts (114) are also over the century mark in kills.
Roberts directs the offensive attack from her setter post, having distributed 939 assists for a 9.58 per-set average that tops the league. A five-time MIAA Setter of the Week winner, Roberts also has 270 digs and 40 blocks, while her .342 hitting percentage is fifth-best in the conference.
Wells ranks sixth in the league with 1.17 blocks per set, having recorded team highs in both solo (24) and assisted (87) blocks.
Senior Kaitlyn Parrott and sophomore Morgan Manning pace UCO's back row defense in addition to being the top two servers on the team.
Parrott is sixth in the league with a 5.01 per-set dig average (431 total) while Manning is 12th at 3.69 (365 total). Manning's 29 aces top the team, with Parrott close behind with 26.
Emporia State had a nine-match winning streak snapped in its season finale with a five-set loss to Missouri Western.
The Hornets are led by Laura Krizanic, who ranks second in the league in kills per set with 3.48 (338 total). She also has 59 total blocks and 22 service aces
Piper Bahr has 246 kills, while Brooklyn Weaver is hitting .377 (third in the MIAA) with 128 kills.
