CENTRAL OKLAHOMA GIVES TWU FIRST CONFERENCE LOSS

EDMOND, OK—Eleven points separated Texas Woman’s University (15-17, 8-1 LSC) from clinching their first Lone Star Conference North Division title since 1997 as Central Oklahoma (21-6, 7-2 LSC), led by senior Tori Walker’s 25 kills, handed the Pioneers their first conference loss of the season, 1-3 (28-30, 27-30, 30-27, 27-30). The difference in the match proved to be kills as the Bronchos recorded 76 while TWU finished with 67. The Pioneers need a victory over Cameron tomorrow afternoon to win the North Division championship and sew up a No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.

"This was a close match that could have gone either way. We were up in game two, but they got four kills in a row and the momentum changed for the rest of the match," head coach Shelly Barberee said. "We fought hard the entire match, but we didn’t come out on top. Central Oklahoma was fired up because it was senior night and their fans were very loud. I think if we would have played at home, the outcome would have been different."

TWU’s match with UCO was close on the floor as well as in the statistics. The four-set marathon lasted two hours and two minutes, with the Pioneers hitting .210 with 67 kills on 200 swings while the Bronchos hit .221 with 76 kills on 226 swings. UCO took game one by the score of 28-30 by hitting 19 kills and only four errors while TWU committed seven hitting errors. In game two, the Pioneers actually out-hit UCO .234 to .214, but the Bronchos had two more kills which proved to be difference in a 27-30 loss. TWU recorded a match-high 22 kills and a .405 attack percentage to take game three, 30-27, but the Bronchos held on for a 27-30 win in game four to take the match.

"All of the kids wanted to win this match very badly, but it was difficult to beat UCO tonight on their home court. The main thing right now is our team can’t get down because we need to rebound and beat Cameron tomorrow," Barberee said. "There is some pressure on us after losing tonight, but we have to realize that we are still in first place in the North Division. If we play tomorrow like we did tonight, I think we can beat Cameron."

Four Pioneers finished with double digits in kills with Jenny Madrid (Panama City/ Hill College) leading the way with 18. Melanie Pabalate (Fort Worth, TX/Navarro College) recorded a season-high 16 kills while Marci Brinkman (Carrollton, TX/ Newman Smith H.S.) and Courtney Lewis (San Antonio, TX/Panola College) each chipped in with 12. Carley Messmer (Garland, TX/UT-San Antonio) rebounded from her injury to record a double-double with 52 assists and 15 digs.

Up next, the Pioneers play Cameron University in their final match of the 2003 regular season in Lawton, Okla. on Saturday, Nov. 8, starting at 2 p.m.