MARYVILLE, Mo. - The No. 5-ranked Northwest Missouri State University  volleyball team polished off a couple more firsts Friday night in Bearcat Arena with a 3-0 sweep of the visiting University of Central Oklahoma Bronchos.

Northwest won by set scores of 25-11, 25-19 and 25-15. Northwest is 21-4 overall and 14-3 in MIAA play. Central Oklahoma is 18-8 overall and 11-7 in league action.

It marks the first time that Northwest has defeated Central Oklahoma in Maryville. It marks the first 3-0 victory for the Bearcats against the Bronchos. It's also the first time the Bearcats have completed a season sweep of the Bronchos. Northwest entered the 2021 season having lost 16 of 19 all-time matches with Central Oklahoma. All three of Northwest's previous wins before this season against UCO came on neutral courts (1978 - Wichita, Kan.; 2004 in St. Joseph, Mo.; 2011 in Bolivar, Mo.).

Northwest hit .402 for the match with 47 kills. Central Oklahoma hit .124 with 29 kills. Northwest tallied 66 digs, while UCO had 47 digs.

The Bearcats scored six of the first seven points of the match en route to a 25-11 win in the opening set. UCO head coach Edgar Miraku burned his second timeout of the set with Northwest leading 12-4. UCO climbed to within 16-9, but Northwest closed the set on a 9-2 spurt. Northwest hit .379 in the first set with 13 kills and two attack errors. The Bearcats had a 91% sideout effort in the set.

UCO enjoyed an early 6-3 lead in the second, but an 8-0 run by the Bearcats turned the set around. Following a 13-7 lead, Mirkau has used both of his second set timeouts again. UCO rebounded and took a 16-15 after a 5-0 run by the Bronchos. However, Northwest responded with five straight points to take a 20-16 lead. The Bearcats proceeded to take the second set, 25-19. Northwest hit .324 with 14 kills and two errors, while UCO hit .136 with 11 kills and five errors. Northwest's sideout effort dipped to 57% in the second, but the Bearcats still enjoyed a 2-0 set lead.

The teams split the first 10 points of the third set. Northwest used a small 3-0 run to take an 8-5 advantage. UCO used a timeout trailing 12-8. Following the timeout, Northwest's Kristen Ford had a service error. But the Bearcats did not miss a beat and scored nine consecutive points to build an insurmountable 21-9 lead. Northwest finished off UCO, 25-15. Northwest hit .488 with 20 kills and no errors in the third set. UCO hit .143 with 11 kills and four errors. Payton Kirchhoefer tallied eight of her match-high 13 kills in the third set.

Northwest will return to Bearcat Arena Saturday at 2 p.m. in a Senior Day match against the Newman Jets.

NOTES: Northwest registered 10 service aces for the second consecutive match ... Alyssa Rezac led the way with five aces and added a double-double with 36 assists and 12 digs ... Hannah Koechl netted a match-high 19 digs ... Kelsey Havel recorded a double-double with 10 kills and 16 digs ... Payton Kirchhoefer registered a match-high 13 kills and hit .464 ... Kirchhoefer accounted for a team-high 14.0 points in the match ... Rachel Sturdevant hit .520 with 10 kills and a team-high three block assists ... it is the third time this season Northwest has posted an attack percentage or .400 or better in a match (.512 vs. Emporia State on Oct. 16; .494 vs. Purdue-Northwest on Sept. 11).