EDMOND, Okla. – Southeastern Oklahoma State gets tripped up in the final match of the MIAA/GAC Crossover by No. 15 Central Oklahoma.
"Tough weekend against some top teams," head coach
Nicole Solum-Mitchell said. "We had some high highs and low lows that we need to balance out. It's back to conference play this next week, and that's our focus moving forward."
Noelia Rocha paced the attack with eight kills, while
D'Nari Mills and
Ruthie Forson had seven and five, respectively. Forson recorded 20 assists, and
Patience Lewis led the back row with 15 digs.
Southeastern (4-6, 1-0) returns home for its first home match of the season, as SE hosts rivals East Central on Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 6 p.m.
SET ONE
A quick burst of points for UCO had the Bronchos ahead 6-2, but the Storm soon found their footing with kills by Mills, Forson and Rocha to cut the gap to one, 7-6. SE took the lead moments later on a 6-0 run, featuring two kills by Rocha and Forson each to lead 12-10. The two sides traded leads again after a flurry of points from the Bronchos to push UCO ahead 16-14.
Another lead change came in the favor of Southeastern, but a 7-1 stretch by Central Oklahoma gave them a 22-18 edge. UCO scored two of the final three points to win the opening set 25-20.
SET TWO
It was all Central Oklahoma in the second set, as the home side jumped to a 5-1 lead. UCO continued to stretch advantage with a 5-0 run and later a 4-0 burst to extend its edge to 16-6. The Bronchos remained in control to take the second frame 25-9.
SET THREE
Little separated the two sides through the 14 points, with the two teams tied at 7-all. Kills by Rocha and
Faith Kruebbe gave the Storm a 10-8 edge before a 3-0 burst by UCO, and another two points flipped the lead to the Bronchos 13-11.
SE kept within two to three-points of UCO, but a flurry of points from the hosts stretched its advantage to 23-14. The national ranked side would score the final two points of the frame to win the match with a 25-14 set victory.
