September 23, 2022 - Emporia State traveled to Edmond on Friday afternoon for a match against Central Oklahoma. The Hornets fell to the Bronchos in three sets.
In the first set, the Hornets dropped the first four points of the match before immediately cutting the deficit to two. Central Oklahoma was able to pull away from the Hornets throughout the first set as they opened a double digit lead with a score of 18-8 before defeating Emporia State 25-13 in the first set.
The second set started in better fashion for the Hornets as the set was tied 7-7 early on. After a few points being traded between the two teams, the Bronchos led 10-9 before scoring nine of the next 11 points to open a 19-11 advantage over Emporia State. After a Hornet timeout, Emporia State was able to split points with Central Oklahoma for the remainder of the set but were unable to close the gap as the Bronchos took the second set 25-17 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Emporia State was unable to replicate the start from the second set when the third set began. Central Oklahoma rallied from the beginning to score the first eight points of the set. After trailing 11-2 midway through the set, the Hornets were able to stem the tide with a kill from
Shelby Ebert and a pair of kills from
Leah Mach but the momentum was stifled by the Bronchos as they responded with a 7-1 run to open a 19-7 lead over the Hornets. Central Oklahoma was able to maintain the lead as they took the final set 25-14 and the match 3-0 over Emporia State.
Leah Mach led all players with 14 kills while hitting .294 for the match.
Zuzanna Buchnajzer added five kills for the Hornets.
Ainslee Stepp recorded 11 assists while
Riley Bernskoetter added nine of her own.
Megan Stretton led all players with 17 digs in the match.
Emporia State will be back in action on Saturday, September 24 as they will take on the Newman Jets. The match is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m.
