JOPLIN, Mo. (Sept. 6) – A balanced offense sparked Central Oklahoma to a pair of wins at the Missouri Southern Invitational here Saturday. 

The Bronchos topped Northwest Missouri 26-24, 25-17, 25-22 (Box Score) in the morning before coming back with a tense 19-25, 30-28, 25-23, 25-20 triumph over Drury (Box Score) to finish 3-1 in the two-day event in bouncing back from an 0-4 start to the season.

"We came out today and played well in both matches," UCO coach Jeff Boyland said.  "We played with a lot more consistency and did a much better job of passing.  It was a good weekend for us and we're making progress."

The Bronchos, now 3-5 on the season, go to Oklahoma City University Tuesday for a 7 p.m. match.

Freshman Mary Wendell led the Bronchos against NWMSU with a match-high 10 kills, making just two errors in 18 attacks in hitting .444. Meaghan Wedberg added eight kills and 30 assists, while Kristen Wilson had seven kills and Jessica Legako and Courtney Whitlow six apiece. Legako added a career-high five service aces. 

UCO trailed 22-20 in the first set, but two Legako aces and kills by Wedberg and Wilson put the Bronchos in front 24-22 en route to taking the early lead in the match.

Legako and Wilson had 14 kills each in the win over Drury, with Legako adding five assisted blocks and Wilson 16 digs and three blocks.  Wedberg hit .524 with 12 kills and just one error in 21 attacks to go with 36 assists and 12 digs.

UCO also got 10 kills from Madi Serratt and 19 digs from Megan Hammond.

The Bronchos were close to falling behind by two sets twice against Drury, but came back to pull out the 30-28 second-set win as Legako and Wedberg had clutch late kills.

Legako and Wilson had back-to-back kills to break a 22-22 tie and give UCO the third-set win and the Bronchos led all the way in the fourth set to close out the match.

Legako and Wilson were both named to the all-tournament team.