After a quiet week that saw Central Missouri defeat Emporia State in their only match, the Jennies hold their place from last week, at No. 7 in the latest AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll. The Jennies received 621 points, up from 602 a week ago. The Jennies have now tallied 45 straight weeks in the top ten, dating back to 2009.

Southwest Minnesota State held on to the top spot in the poll, receiving 28 of a possible 32 first-place votes. MIAA rival Washburn also held steady at No. 3. Nebraska-Kearney improved up spot from a week ago, moving up to No. 4. Truman, who debuted in the poll for the first time this season at No. 20 last week, moved up three spots to No. 17.

The NCAA Central Region, which includes the MIAA, is home to the most ranked programs in the poll. Six of the top seven teams in the poll are in the Central Region. Nine Central teams are ranked this week, including No. 1 Southwest Minnesota State, No. 2 Concordia-St. Paul, No. 3 Washburn, No. 4 Nebraska-Kearney, No. 5 Minnesota-Duluth, No. 7 Central Missouri, No. 14 Minnesota State, No. 17 Truman, and No. 18 Wayne State (Neb.).

National Rankings

As a team, the Jennies boast one of the most efficient offensive attacks in Division II. Nationally, Central Missouri ranks 17th in kills per set, with a 13.94 average. Led by junior All-American Julia Bates, the team averages 12.69 assists per set, ranking 23rd in the nation. Their .241 hitting percentage ranks 31st in Division II, while they boast an .800 winning percentage, good for the 31st-best record in the country. 

Individually, senior hitter Bradye Peniston is in the top 100 in the nation, in a number of statistical categories. The Wichita, Kan. native has the 28th-best hitting percentage this year, at .360. She also ranks 76th in points per set, with a 3.93 average, and 88th in blocks per set, at 0.97. Finally, her kills per set average of 3.28 ranks 104th in Division II.

Junior Julia Bates is again among the nation's best setters, averaging 10.36 assists per set, good for 33rd on the national leaderboard. As a freshman, Annie Reilly has made an immeiate impact, ranking 50th in the country in digs per set, with a 4.81 average. Among first-year players, Reilly ranks 4th in the country in digs per set.

Senior Hillary McCormick ranks just outside the top 100 in a pair of categories as well. The Overland Park, Kan. native is averaging 0.90 blocks per set, good for 130th on the national leaderboard. She also ranks 135th in hitting percentage, with a .303 average.

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 9.97 digs per set, 60 of the team's 99 service aces, and 2.65 kills per set.

Sojka is one of four Jennies averaging over two kills per set, with a 2.63 average and a .214 hitting percentage. She also has collected 3.05 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. Against Emporia State on Wednesday, Sojka was one of three Jennies in double figures, recording ten kills and a .292 hitting percentage. She also picked up five digs, and was a perfect 14-of-14 on serve receptions. The Blue Springs native has now recorded double-digit kills in three straight matches, and in nine matches overall this season.

Reilly is the team leader in digs, with 4.83 per set, ranking her fourth in the MIAA, and first among league freshmen. Reilly has reached double-figures in digs in 19 of the team' 21 matches so far this year, and has put together ten 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 25, ranking 13th in the MIAA. Last week against Emporia State, Reilly picked up 16 digs and received 22 serves without an error; she has committed only two reception errors in her last five matches (.982).

Monachino has strengthened the back line play this year, averaging 2.09 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 #4 Washburn. Against the Hornets, Monachino collected nine digs while dealing out her 25th service ace of the year. 

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 another strong performance against Emporia State last week, recording seven kills and five digs in the straight-set win. She also recieved 13 serves without committing an error, and picked up a block and an assists in the win.

Opponent Preview

Missouri Southern

The Lions continue to search for their first win of the 2012 season, with matches this week against UCM, Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri. Missouri Southern have forced a fifth set only twice this season, claiming victory in a total of eight sets on the year. They are led on offense by sophomore hitter Katie Politte, who is averaging 2.7 kills per set. Two Lions are averaging over two digs per set, with junior Sydney Potts leading the team with a 2.75 dig per set average; Politte has collected 2.4 digs per set as well. The Jennies hold a 33-match win streak over Missouri Southern, and lead the all-time series 57-1-1. UCM is a perfect 23-0 at home against the Lions

Southwest Baptist

The Bearcats come to Warrensburg coming off a four-set loss to Fort Hays State. Southwest Baptist holds a 1-11 conference record this season, with their lone win coming against Missouri Southern. Junior Jordan Nedbalek leads the team with a 2.11 kills per set average and a .284 hitting percentage. Nedbalek is also among the conference leaders in blocks, averaging 1.03 per set. Defensively, freshman libero Katelyn Allison is averaging 4.15 digs per set. Central Missouri will go for its 57th consecutive win over Southwest Baptist, a win streak that dates back to 1977. The Jennies are 24-1 at home against the Bearcats.

Lindenwood
One of the newest members of the MIAA, Lindenwood has struggled in its first season of conference play, holding a 3-7 MIAA record before taking on #20 Truman and Northwest Missouri before hosting the Jennies on Saturday. The Lions are looking to end a three-match slide, falling on the road to #5 Nebraska-Kearney and Central Oklahoma, and at home against Pittsburg State.

Senior Erin Anselman leads the team with 2.65 kills per set, ranking 14th in the MIAA. Sophomore Emma Brydels is fifth in the league in assists, averaging 9.91 per set. Senior Kaila Schrimpf is 5th in the MIAA with an average of 4.76 digs per set, while freshman Kayla Guyot is one of just seven players in the MIAA to average over a block per set (1.04, 5th in MIAA). The Jennies have taken on the Lions just twice in program history, with a pair of straight set wins at home, coming last season and in September of this year.

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 two weeks ago, with her 11-point performance against #4 Washburn. Peniston has totaled 1,401 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 Emporia State, Peniston became just the fourth Jennie in program history to reach the 1,400-point mark. The Wichita, Kan. native is only 104 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 a 3.09 career average, and tenth on the Jennies' all-time hitting percentage list, with a .337 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 391 digs on the year, just 221 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 4.83 ranks tenth on the single-season list, and will rank second on the career list after she passes the minumum of 750 career digs.