UCO volleyball earns LSC Tournament berth

EDMOND (Nov. 4) – Zuela Adom led the way as Central Oklahoma ended a brief losing streak and secured a berth in the Lone Star Conference Tournament with a three-set dusting of Southeastern Oklahoma Thursday night at Hamilton Field House.

Adom hit .400 with a match-high 14 kills and the Bronchos stopped a three-game skid with the 25-20, 25-21, 25-14 sweep, improving to 19-10 on the year and 7-6 in the league.  UCO is tied for fifth in the conference standings heading into Saturday’s Senior Day finale against East Central at 2 p.m.

The eight-team LSC Tournament will be held Nov. 11-13 at the site of the regular season champion, which is still to be determined.

“It was a big match for us and we played pretty well overall,” UCO coach Jeff Boyland said.  “We mixed things up and hit for a high percentage (.282) and did a good job of passing the ball.  Now we want to finish the season strong Saturday and get ready for the conference tournament.”

Alex Richardson added 10 kills for the Bronchos, while Kristen Wilson had nine kills, 10 digs, three assisted blocks and two aces.  Fleming Smurthwaite chipped in five kills and 33 assists from her setter post and libero Tate Hardaker had 23 digs to pace the defense.

Wilson opened the match with an ace and UCO never trailed in the first, with Adom getting three kills and Richardson two as the lead soon ballooned to 9-2.  The advantage grew to 19-12 before SOSU rallied to within 20-19, but the Savage Storm had three attack errors down the stretch as the Bronchos closed out the set.

UCO fell behind 5-1 in the second set and it was a battle throughout, featuring 11 ties and seven lead changes.  The Bronchos finally took the lead for good at 19-18 on a Wilson kill that ended a long rally and featured three saving digs by Hardaker.

Whitlow then sparked a closing surge, teaming up with Wilson for two blocks and Smurthwaite for another as UCO took the set to seize control of the match.

The Bronchos had no trouble in the final set, jumping out to a 5-0 lead as Adom had a pair of kills and cruising the rest of the way.