#5 Lopers Outlast #4 Bronchos in Four Sets
Keanrey, Neb. – Outside hitters Emilee Lane and Carly Purdy combined for 37 kills and fifth-ranked Nebraska Kearney had 17 blocks and 99 digs to outlast fourth-ranked Central Oklahoma in four long sets (-16, -33, 20-25, -28) Saturday afternoon at the Health & Sports Center.
This was the only meeting between the Lopers (20-1, 7-2) and Bronchos (19-3, 5-3) this year. Last fall, UCO beat UNK in the regular season and the MIAA Tournament finals.
"It was a huge week for us. One of the things we said right after was 'what a difference a week makes'," said Loper head coach Rick Squiers. "We couldn't have felt any lower after the way we competed last week (at Emporia State and Washburn). Not necessarily the results but we just didn't compete very well. And so, we had to regroup, dust ourselves off and even the Thursday match (vs. Arkansas-Ft. Smith) was a hard one to play in. I thought we were tightly wound "
The 'Chos were a bit shorthanded today as All-American outside Sydney Huck missed her second consecutive match due to injury. It took a bit for UCO to get going offensively but eventually senior middle and Loper killer Lari Migliorino (19 kills, .333 pct.), junior outside Sawyer Franz (17 kills, .283 pct.) and senior middle Mikiah Perdue (15 kills, .281 pct.) got going.
The match featured 46 ties and 16 lead changes with UNK taking a 2-0 lead after a donnybrook of a second set. The Lopers were down 19-16 but a Lane (Hays, Kan.) kill made it 24-23. However, the teams literally went back-and-forth from there, fighting off set point after set point. Finally, one of the longer sets in UNK history ended after a UCO service error and kill by sophomore right side Brynn Stowell (Olathe, Kan.).
UCO didn't fold up shop as they pretty much led the third set from start to finish. Franz had three straight kills to make it 12-7 and later added two more right after a Loper timeout. That made the score 23-19 and a Perdue kill made it 2-1 on the scoreboard. UNK erased deficits of 5-2 and 10-5 in the fourth set to have things tied at 10, 15 and 19. An unsuccessful video challenge by UCO on a block by sophomore middle Sydney Davis (Dannebrog) made it 23-21 Lopers. However, the 'Chos forced five more ties before another Davis stuff and Lane kill ended the 2:30 match.
"Having no Sydney Huck hurts them significantly. Credit to them for rallying and showing championship pedigree without their leading hitter," said Squiers. "You kind of game plan for somebody like that and then all of a sudden she's not there. We jumped on them early but all of a sudden they settled in and they still have a good team and found a way to pick up the slack."
Purdy (North Platte) had a match-high 20 kills on 61 swings with Lane at 17 on 56 attempts (.250 pct.). Next, six others were between one and nine kills including Imperial junior Bryn McNair. She appeared in four sets and was 24 for 24 in service receive, dug 11 balls and had four blocks. Davis (five kills, two blocks) also was strong off the bench as was redshirt sophomore setter Julia Davenport (Papillion). The lefty served up several key points and had a dig.
"We needed everybody in this match. Bryn (McNair) came in and had some huge blocks for us. Brynn (Stowell) is a great scorer, and we rode her offense for a while but then it became apparent that was a tough matchup from a blocking standpoint," said Squiers. "So, Bryn and Sydney come in along the front row and get some big blocks and block touches and that kind of gets in their heads a little bit."
Finally for the Lopers, junior libero Ellie Spang (Ft. Wayne, Ind.) had a team-high 25 digs, senior DS Aleena Peterson (Kansas City) added 15 more and was 12 for 12 in serve receive with grad setter Peyton Neff (North Platte) at 54 assists, 17 digs and three kills.
UCO saw libero Kaitlyn Parrott have a match-high 36 digs and go 34 for 34 in the serve game, DS Morgan Manning have 13 digs and go 25 for 25 in serve receive with Perdue at a team-best six blocks.
UNK has just one match next week, a Saturday afternoon affair at Fort Hays State.