University of Central Oklahoma

EDMOND (Aug. 23) – Jessica Legako started off how she ended last season and Kristen Wilson was impressive in returning from a year layoff to lead the Bronze over the Blue in Central Oklahoma’s annual intrasquad volleyball match Saturday afternoon at Hamilton Field House.

The two sophomores combined for 33 kills and eight blocks as the Bronze claimed a 25-18, 26-28, 25-15 victory in UCO’s final dress rehearsal before next week’s season-opening trip to the Tampa Classic in Tampa Bay, Fla.

Legako, a middle blocker from Lubbock, Texas who had 353 kills and a Lone Star Conference-leading 143 blocks last year, had match highs in both kills (17) and blocks (six). Wilson, an outside hitter from Moore who redshirted last year because of illness, added 16 kills and two rejections.

The Blue was led by a pair of freshmen, with Mary Wendell and Madi Serratt collecting 14 kills apiece.

“I was pretty pleased with how we played and saw some good things, but there’s obviously still a lot of work to do,” UCO coach Jeff Boyland said. “It’s kind of hard to really tell when you split your team up like that for a scrimmage, but I liked what I saw and I’m encouraged with how we’re coming along.”

Legako had six kills for the Bronze in the 25-18 first-set win, but the Blue stayed alive with a come-from-behind triumph in the second set as Serratt had eight kills. It was all Bronze in the third set, however, as Wilson had eight of her team’s 13 kills.

Sarah Niles led the Bronze team’s defensive efforts with 23 digs and Faith Harmon had 35 assists. Megan Hammond had 14 digs for the Blue.

UCO opens the season Aug. 29-30 at the Tampa Classic, playing two matches each day in that event – including showdowns Saturday against No. 7-ranked Tampa and No. 21-rated Ashland.

The Bronchos, who have seven freshmen and no seniors on the roster, suffered a blow earlier this week when two-year starter Kelsey Reynolds was lost indefinitely with a back injury.

“Losing Kelsey is definitely going to affect us, but we’re just going to have to regroup and move on,” Boyland said. “We’re going to be counting on some of our freshmen to step in and be ready to perform at a high level right from the start."

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