Lady Bison Outmatched By Bronchos

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Box Score (html)
 
EDMOND, Okla. – A young Lady Bison team, playing four freshmen and three sophomores, showed their youth as they fell 3-0 (18-25, 11-25, 21-25) to the No. 9-ranked Central Oklahoma Bronchos. It was Oklahoma Baptist's first match on Oklahoma soil this season.
 
A slow start doomed the Lady Bison in the first set, as they saw a slim 6-4 deficit expand to 13-5. A service error broke the 7-1 run for the Bronchos, but it wasn't long for UCO to gain control again. Oklahoma Baptist began to find their way into the match towards the end, putting together a couple of three-point spurts, including service aces from Mikayla Watson and Kynnedy Myers before Rachel Richie and Nicole Fleitman a triplet of points for OBU. After closing the gap to 24-18, however, UCO scored match point with OBU holding serve.
 
The second set was much of the same for OBU in the early going, unfortunately finding themselves in an 11-3 hole. Fleitman, Richie and Mikayla Watson all scored kills in the set, but were unable to find the consistency needed to pull level with UCO, falling 25-11 and giving UCO a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
With a 2-0 deficit, the Lady Bison played more competitively in the third set, keeping the Bronchos within arm's length for much of the set. A four-point flurry, highlighted by three straight aces by Fleitman, brought the Lady Bison within a point at 12-11 before UCO created just enough separation to create some breathing room. Darby Maclea stepped in to serve trailing 23-18, and the Lady Bison scored points off an ace by Maclea, an attack error by UCO and a kill by Watson to pull close at 23-21. Unfortunately, a bad set by the Lady Bison gave UCO the serve on match point, and the Bronchos were able to close the match from there.
 
"I thought we showed are youth today," said OBU head coach Anna Howle. "We had some young players really step up, and we saw some good things tonight from them. UCO has a very well-coached team, and we wish them luck for the rest of their season."
 
Richie, had her best match in a Lady Bison uniform, recording a career-high and team-best seven kills, while Watson and Fleitman combined for 11 kills. Myers had 21 assists to go along with 12 digs for her fourth double-double in five matches. Sierra VeraCruz, OBU's libero for the evening, also posted 12 digs.
 
Oklahoma Baptist now travels to Missouri to compete in the Green and Gold Challenge. Their first match of the Challenge will be against Missouri Western State at 10 a.m. in St. Joseph, Missouri.