After a 1-1 weekend, including a loss to then-No. 4 Nebraska-Kearney, the Central Missouri Jennies slid two spots, down to No. 8 in this week's AVCA Division II National Coaches Poll. The rank matches UCM's lowest of the season, as they were ranked eighth through a three-week stretch during the month of September.

Five-time defending national champion Concordia-St. Paul took over the top spot in this week's poll, receiving 28 of a possible 32 first place votes. Last week's No. 1, Southwest Minnesota State, slipped into a tie for second with Nebraska-Kearney; both the Mustangs and Lopers received one first place vote. Behind Washburn at No. 4, BYU-Hawaii made it's debut into the top five of the poll, tying Minnesota-Duluth for the fifth spot.

The NCAA Central Region holds the top four spots in this week's poll, as well as ten teams in the top 25 overall. Outside of the top four, the Central Region is represented by No. 8 Central Missouri, No. 13 Truman, No. 16 Wayne State, and No. 23 Arkansas-Fort Smith, and No. 24 Minnesota State. As an 11th team from the Central, Great American Conference member Harding recieved four votes but did not make the top 25. With ten regional teams in the AVCA top 25, there remains a distinct possibility that one or more teams that finish the regular season nationally ranked will miss out entirely on the NCAA Tournament.

The Jennies also are ranked third in this week's NCAA Central Regional rankings, down one spot from their No. 2 rank last week. The Jens are ranked just behind defending champs Concordia-St. Paul, and Southwest Minnesota State, and are the first of four MIAA teams in the poll. The Regional Rankings are used to determine the field for the NCAA Tournament.

National Rankings

As a team, the Jennies boast one of the most efficient offensive attacks in Division II. Nationally, Central Missouri ranks 14th in kills per set, with a 14.11 average. Led by junior All-American Julia Bates, the team averages 12.91 assists per set, ranking 19th in the nation. Their .236 hitting percentage ranks 41st in Division II, while they boast an .828 winning percentage, good for the 25th-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 50th-best hitting percentage this year, at .335. She also ranks 78th in points per set, with a 3.92 average, and 107th in kills per set, at 3.27. Finally, her blocks per set average of 0.91 ranks 122nd in Division II.

Junior Julia Bates is again among the nation's best setters, averaging 10.72 assists per set, good for 25th on the national leaderboard. As a freshman, Annie Reilly has made an immeiate impact, ranking 44th in the country in digs per set, with a 4.88 average. Among first-year players, Reilly leads the nation in digs per set.

Defensive specialist Mikalee Monachino made her first appearance on the NCAA leaderboards last week, as she increases her service ace average to 0.38 per set. Monachino ranks 144th in Division II, and is 29th in the nation among freshmen.

Players of the Week

The Jennies have tallied seven 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. 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, then earned her second against the same opponents plus Northwest Missouri two weeks ago.

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 10.76 digs per set, 87 of the team's 156 service aces, and 3.01 kills per set.

Sojka is one of three Jennies averaging over two kills per set, with a 2.99 average and a .216 hitting percentage. She also has collected 3.38 digs per set, the second-highest average on the team. Sojka is the only Jennie to have over two kills and two digs per set on the season. Against Truman on Nov. 3, Sojka set a career high with 20 kills. She also picked up her 11th double-double of the year while leading the Jennies with 18 kills in the MIAA quarterfinal match with Northwest Missouri. Sojka has hit for ten or more kills in ten of her last 12 matches, and has double-digit digs in her last eight matches, matching her career high of 19 digs, which she has recorded four times this season, most recently against Nebraska-Kearney.

Reilly is the team leader in digs, with 4.96 per set, and the national leader among freshman in Division II. She ranks 42nd nationally, and fifth in the MIAA. Reilly has reached double-figures in digs in 28 of the team' 30 matches so far this year, and has put together 19 straight matches with ten or more digs. Against Missouri Western two weeks ago, Reilly recorded 30 digs, reaching the 30+ mark for the third time this season. Earlier this season, she nearly put ner name in the record books, dealing out six service aces against Missouri Southern. Reilly set a career high and came up just two aces shy of the school record of eight, set by Corrie Paul and Mona Davis, in 1991 and 1993, respectively.

Not to be outdone, defensive specialist Mikalee Monachino posted her own six-ace performance two matches later, against Lindenwood. Monachino leads the team in aces with 41, and ranks fourth in the MIAA. She has at least one ace in the last eight of her last ten matches, and has recorded an ace in 21 of the team's 30 matches so far this season. The Jacksonville, Fla. native has strengthened the back line play this year, averaging 2.42 digs per set. Monachino has reached double-digits in digs 11 times this year, and set a career-high with 18 digs in the win over Lindenwood.

Opponent Preview

Washburn

The Lady Blues come into the semifinal round after knocking off Fort Hays State, 3-1 in Topeka. Washburn finished the regular season with a tough home loss to Nebraska-Kearney that decided the regular season title, dropping the match in five sets after winning the first two.

Washburn boasts the second-best hitting percentage (.257) and hitting percentage allowed (.120) in the MIAA. senior Jessica Fey (.369) and sophomore Marissa Cox (.354) are ranked second and third in the league individually, while Fey is also fourth in the MIAA in kills per set, with 3.35. 

Nebraska-Kearney

The Lopers claimed the MIAA regular season title in just their first season in the league with a five-set win over Washburn last week. They come into their semifinal match with Emporia State riding a 13-match winning streak, after defeating Central Oklahoma in the first round of the tournament on Tuesday.

Nebraska-Kearney leads the league in a number of categories, including kills, assists, aces and digs. Junior Katie Sokolowski leads the league in hitting percentage, with a .379 average. Senior Jenna Rouzee also leads the league with her 11.07 assists per set. 

Emporia State

Emporia advanced to the MIAA Tournament semifinals after a 3-1 upset over #13 Truman on Tuesday night. The Hornets will face Nebraska-Kearney, a team that the Hornets faced twice during the regular season; in their last visit to Kearney, Emporia State pushed the Lopers to five sets before falling 3-2.

Senior libero Meg Schwartz has been a leader for the Hornets on the back line this season. She ranks second in the MIAA with 5.30 digs per set. Up front, sophomore Courtney Haring is ranked third in the league with an average of 1.25 blocks per set.

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.

Records & Milestones

Senior hitter Bradye Peniston moved into third place on UCM's all-time points list, with her 9.5-point performance in last week's win at Fort Hays State. Peniston has totaled 1,523.5 points during her career at UCM, and joins her former teammates Allie Huffman and Paula Harris at the top of the list. In the win over the Tigers, Peniston became just the third Jennie in program history to reach the 1,500-point mark. Peniston also currently ranks eighth on the Jennies all-time points per set list, with a 3.14 career 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 560 digs on the year, just 52 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 4.96 ranks tenth on the single-season list, and will rank second on the career list after she passes the minumum of 750 career digs.

Junior All-American Julia Bates moved up UCM's all-time assists leaderboard with her final assist of the night at Lindenwood on Oct. 27. Bates has tallied 3,890 assists in her three seasons with the Jennies, surpassing Kelly Lincoln (1990-93) for ninth on the list. The Leavenworth, Kan. native also ranks second on the Jennies assists per set list, with an 11.11 career average.

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.