SHAWNEE – Mistake-prone Central Oklahoma couldn't keep up with unbeaten Oklahoma Baptist Tuesday night, dropping a three-set decision to the Bison at the Noble Complex.
The No. 15-ranked Bronchos committed 24 attack errors in a 25-22, 25-18, 25-22 setback, falling to 3-2 on the young season. OBU – which is receiving votes in the AVCA Division II poll - improved to 5-0 with its second straight win over a top 20 team.
"We just had too many errors and you can't do that against a good team like OBU," head coach Edgar Miraku said. "It's early and we're still trying to figure out what works best with so many new players, which affects our consistency."
UCO hit just .078 in the contest with 34 kills and the 24 miscues in 129 attempts.
Freshman Kate Wells had another solid outing, hitting .359 with seven kills and one error in 17 tries while adding four total blocks. Caroline Clayton and Georgia Ahlert had six kills apiece, with Taylor Fenton and Myla Unterweger adding five each.
Kaitlyn Parrott led the back row defense with 17 digs, Jordyn Baker tied a career high with 10 and Emma Halstead had eight. Taylor Nielsen handed out 17 assists.
UCO scored the first two points of the opening set and was up 7-2 following an Ahlert kill before the Bison used a 5-0 run to get within 7-6. The Bronchos answered with an Ahlert slam and Wells shot to make it 9-6 and the lead was 17-12 on Ahlert's solo block.
OBU came back with eight unanswered points to go up 20-17, with the Bronchos tying it at 21 on Roberts' dump at the net. It was deadlocked again at 22 when Wells rifled a cross-court shot just inside the line before the Bison scored the final three points to take the set.
Central never led in the second set. It was tied 4-all after an OBU service error, but the Bison followed with an 11-3 run to grab a big 15-7 cushion. The Bronchos tried to battle back and get within four at 22-18 on Unterweger's drive down the line, but OBU finished it off with three straight points.
UCO got off to a fast start in the third set, taking a 5-1 lead as Fenton had a solo block and joined Wells for two others. It was still a four-point advantage at 9-5 after Ahlert's cross-court kill and again at 13-9 following an OBU error.
The Bison scored four straight points to tie it at 13 and the lead went back-and-forth before OBU went ahead to stay at 19-18. It was a 22-21 deficit after Ahlert's tip at the net before OBU closed out the match with two kills and one final UCO error.
The Bronchos continue their season-opening nine-match road swing Thursday with the first of four matches at the Texas Woman's Volleyfest in Denton, Texas.
