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WARRENSBURG, Mo. - Freshman hitter Carly Sojka knocked down 18 kills, as the third-seeded Central Missouri Jennies defeated the sixth-seeded Northwest Missouri Bearcats, 25-17, 14-25, 25-21, 25-16, in the first round of the MIAA Tournament. Sojka recorded her 11th double-double of the season, as the Blue Springs native recorded 10 digs in the win.

Central Missouri (25-5) put on a strong effort in the opening set, averaging a .538 hitting percentage, with 15 kills and just one attack error. The Jens also sided out on 16 of Northwest Missouri's 18 serves in the set, holding the Bearcats to just 17 points. Senior Bradye Peniston picked up six kills in the opener, including three in the final six UCM points, helping guide her team to the early win. Peniston's kill gave the Jennies set point at 24-16, then Sojka clinched the win two points later with her kill at 25-17.

Facing the end of their season, Northwest Missouri (15-17) responded in a big way in the second set. The Bearcats took the first six points of the set, and built a 13-4 lead halfway through the game, forcing the Jens to burn an early timeout. Northwest Missouri recorded only 14 kills in the set, the same amount as in their opening set loss, but eight Jennies' errors and a team hitting percentage of .000 helped put the Bearcats in front.

In a close third set, the Jennies used back to back kills from Hillary McCormick to build a narrow 8-6 lead. Northwest Missouri boucned back with a four point run, claiming their own two-point advantage at 10-8. McCormick went back to back again, as her third and  fourth kill of the set tied the score at 11-11, starting a four point run that put the Jens up 13-11. While the score remained close the rest of the way, the Jennies were able to hold off the Bearcats, not giving up the lead again. The Jens finished on a 5-2 run to close out the set, 25-21. McCormick collected seven kills in all throughout the set, while on the back row, freshman libero Annie Reilly dug out 11 Bearcat attacks for her highest single-set total in the match.

After slipping behind early at 3-1 in the fourth, the Jennies took a 5-0 run to regain the lead, and didn't look back. Central Missouri made runs of five, three, three, and six points during the set to build the lead throughout the game. Northwest Missouri would close to within two points at 14-12, but that's as close as they could get, as the Jens pulled away using a six point run, highlighted by three straight kills from Sojka. Junior Taylor Goodness finished off the match, knocking down a solo block at 24-16, then getting the kill at match point to earn the victory.

Along with Sojka, two other Jennies finished in double figures, as Peniston recorded 13 kills, and McCormick collected 10. Reilly finished the match with 28 digs, averaging an even seven per set. Setter Julia Bates earned 44 assists in the win, for an 11.0 per set average.

With the win, the Jennies advance to the MIAA Tournament semifinals, where they will face second-seeded Washburn. The Jens finished a half-game ahead of the Lady Blues in the final MIAA standings, but earned the No. 3 seed in the tournament by dropping the head-to-head match with Washburn. Both semifinal matches will be hosted by top-seed and regular season champion Nebraska-Kearney, and are set for Friday, November 16.