After a narrow loss to the Washburn Lady Blues on Saturday night, the Central Missouri Jennies held steady at No. 7 in this week's AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll. The Jennies have now tallied 44 straight weeks in the top ten, dating back to 2009.

The Jennies collected 602 points in the poll, up from their total of 595 a week ago, and their highest point total since the opening week of the season.

Last week's No. 1 team, Nebraska-Kearney, slid to No. 5 after suffering a pair of losses over the week. Washburn, improved one spot to No. 3 in this week's poll, and received a first-place vote. 

Southwest Minnesota State claims the top spot after the Lopers dropped back, collecting 26 of a possible 32 first place votes. Tampa, who the Jennies faced early this season, holds steady at No. 2.

A new MIAA side enters the poll this week, as Truman debuts at No. 20 after their upset win over Nebraska-Kearney. With the addition of the Bulldogs, nine teams within the NCAA Central Region are ranked in the top 25 this week, with the Jennies placing sixth among that group.

A Win for the Jennies...

vs. Emporia State

• would be the 6th straight victory over the Hornets ... improve the all-time record to 44-5 over Emporia State ... would improve the Jennies record in the MIAA to 9-1 ... fifth straight home victory over Emporia, dating back to 2008 ... the seventh win over the Hornets in the Flip Piontek era.

A Loss for the Jennies...

vs. Emporia State

• would be the second straight loss for the Jennies, matching the team's longest losing streak this season ... be the first back-to-back MIAA losses since 2008, when the Jens fell to Washburn and Emporia State ... be the second home loss this season, the most home defeats since 2009.

Players of the Week

The Jennies have tallied six MIAA Player of the Week awards so far this season between three different players, including two sweeps of the Hitter and Specialist of the Week awards. Junior setter Julia Bates has earned three MIAA Specialist of the Week honors this season, and seven in her career. Senior hitter Bradye Peniston has been honored as the MIAA Hitter of the Week twice this year, and three times in her career, including the award she won in as a sophomore in 2010. Freshman Annie Reilly won her first career MIAA Specialist of the Week award last month, leading the UCM defense to wins over Missouri Western and Truman.

Freshman Phenoms

Three freshmen have proven to be key components to the Jennies success this season, in outside hitter Carly Sojka, libero Annie Reilly, and defensive specialist Mikalee Monachino. The three first-year players have combined for 9.98 digs per set, 58 of the team's 95 service aces, and 2.61 kills per set.

Sojka is one of four Jennies averaging over two kills per set, with a 2.59 average and a .209 hitting percentage. She also has collected 3.12 digs per set, the second-highest average on the team. Along with sophomore Aubri Renshaw, Sojka is one of two Jennies to have over two kills and two digs per set on the season. Last weekend, Sojka led the team in kills against both Northwest Missouri and #4 Washburn, recording double-digit kills in back-to-back matches for the first time since Sept. 11-14 against Southwest Baptist and Missouri S&T. The freshman now has five double-doubles on the year, after her 17-kill, 18-dig performance against the Lady Blues. She also set a career high in kills in that match.

Reilly is the team leader in digs, with 4.81 per set, ranking her fifth in the MIAA, and first among league freshmen. Reilly has reached double-figures in digs in 18 of the team' 20 matches so far this year, and has put together nine straight matches with 12 or more digs. The Overland Park, Kan. native ranks 50th in the country in digs per set, and has the fourth highest average in Division II among freshmen. She recorded a career-high with 30 digs against #17 Lewis, and has reached 27 digs in two other matches this year, at Pittsburg State and against #10 West Texas A&M. Along with Monachino, Reilly is tied for the team lead in service aces with 24, ranking 8th in the MIAA.

Monachino has strengthened the back line play this year, averaging 2.05 digs per set. The Jacksonville, Fla. native has reached double-digits in digs five times this year, matching her career-high with 15 digs coming against Washburn. Against Northwest Missouri, Monachino picked up five digs, a pair of service aces, and her first career kill, coming on match point and securing the straight-set victory over the Bearcats.

Immediate Impact

In her first year at Central Missouri, sophomore Aubri Renshaw has stepped up to contribute on both offense and defense this season. Renshaw, along with freshman Carly Sojka, is one of only two Jennies to average over two kills and two digs per set on the year. Renshaw had one of her best performances of the year last weekend against #4 Washburn. Facing her former team, Renshaw recorded 15 kills with a .213 hitting percentage, while picking up 18 digs and a perfect 38-for-38 on serve receptions. Her 18 digs matches the season high she set last month at Pittsburg State.

Opponent Preview

Emporia State

The Hornets will come into Warrensburg riding a six-match winning streak, picking up straight set victories on the road against Missouri Southern and Southwest Baptist last weekend. Emporia State will be wrapping up a 10-match road trip, and have played 19 of their 21 matches away from White Auditorium. Emporia State is one of the league's best defensive teams, holding opponents to a .125 hitting percentage, the third-lowest average in the MIAA. They also rank third in blocks, with 2.12 per set, and third in digs, averaging 16.90 per set. Junior Brianna Kaiser leads the team with 2.65 kills per set, ranking 15th in the MIAA, while sophomore Carly Spicer ranks seventh in the league in hitting percentage, at .318. Defensively, senior libero Meg Schwartz is averaging 5.00 digs per set, ranking her second in the MIAA.

The Jennies hold a 43-5 record all-time against the Hornets, and have won the past five meetings. Central Missouri won in straight sets at their last meeting, on Nov. 8, 2011 in Emporia. Julia Bates led the team with 38 assists in the 3-0 win, which was in the middle of an 11-match winning streak that extended through last year's NCAA South Central Regional championship run.

Academic Honors

For the 2011-12 school year, 16 of the 19 Jennies volleyball players were placed on the MIAA Academic Honor Roll, accounting for 84% of the total roster. Five Jennies, including returners Julia Bates and Bradye Peniston, were honored as MIAA Scholar-Athletes. The award is given to all student-athletes who are named to their respective All-MIAA Teams while maintaining at least a 3.3 cumulative GPA. Additionally, senior hitter Hillary McCormick earned the MIAA Academic Excellence Award, given to student-athletes who maintain a 4.0 cumulative GPA. 

To top it all off, the Central Missouri volleyball program was awarded the AVCA Team Academic Award for their work in the classroom. The Jennies are one of only 69 programs in Division II to earn the award, making up less than 13% of Division II programs nationwide. It marks the ninth consecutive year the Jens have claimed the honor, which is earned by maintaining a 3.3 cumulative GPA throughout the entire team.

Jennies on the Air

Central Missouri volleyball can be caught online at www.AmericaOne.com. All home matches as well as select road contests, including matches this weekend, will be availiable.

Fans can catch highlights each week on Central Missouri Sportspage, Thursday nights at 7 p.m., and Saturdays at 5 p.m. on KMOS-TV. Shawn Jones will sit down with Coach Piontek throughout the season to discuss the latest match, as various Jennies will be featured throughout the year.

Jennies fans can also tune in to 98.5 “The Bar” and 1450 KOKO each Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. for Central Missouri Sports Talk, with Greg Hassler and Bill Turnage. The pair will talk UCM athletics, as well as other hot topics in the sports world. Jennies coaches and players will drop in throughout the season as well.

Records & Milestones

Senior hitter Bradye Peniston moved into fourth place on UCM's all-time points list last weekend, with her 11-point performance against #4 Washburn. Peniston has totaled 1,387 points during her career at UCM, and is currently on pace to potentially move into the top three in points all-time. If she does, she would join her former teammates Allie Huffman and Paula Harris at the top of the list. In the win over Missouri Southern two weeks ago, Peniston became just the fifth Jennie in program history to reach the 1,300-point mark. The Wichita, Kan. native is only 118 points behind Becky Haug (2002-05) for third place on the list. Peniston also currently ranks eighth on the Jennies all-time points per set list, with 3.08, and tenth on the Jennies' all-time hitting percentage list, with a career .335 average.

Freshman libero Annie Reilly has shown potential to break into the record books after a strong start to her first season. Reilly has totaled 375 digs on the year, just 237 shy of besting Katie Tarka's 2005 season, where she recorded 612 digs, the tenth-highest total in a single season in Jennies history. Reilly's dig per set average of 4.81 ranks tenth on the single-season list, and will rank second on the career list after she passes the minumum of 750 career digs.