Jennies vs. Northwest Missouri State
Tuesday, October 15 | 7:00 p.m.
Bearcat Arena | Maryville, Mo.
Live Stats | Video | Game Notes
Last Week
The Jennies won all three of their matches last week at the Missouri Southern Invitational Crossover, to improve their record to 20-0 this season, 6-0 MIAA. The Jennies competed against three Great American Conference teams, Arkansas Tech, Southwestern Oklahoma, and Harding. Central Missouri had 162 kills, 14.7 kills per set, through 11 sets last weekend, finishing with a .322 hitting percentage. The Jens also tallied 157 digs, 144 assists, and 15 serving aces.Â
The Jennies first match of the Missouri Southern Crossover was a win over Arkansas Tech. 25-11, 25-17, 25-17. Central Missouri had 44 kills in the match, with a .464 hitting percentage, and only 5 attack errors in the entire match. The team also totaled nine blocks, seven serving aces, 38 assists, and 41 digs through three sets. Â
Later that day, Central Missouri beat Southwestern Oklahoma in three sets, 25-15, 25-14, 25-18. The Jennies had three serving aces, 41 assists, 44 digs, and 46 kills in the match. The team also tallied 15 blocks, 12 of which were block assists.Â
The Jennies final match of the Missouri Crossover was against Harding, the No. 1 team in the GAC. The Jennies were forced to play five sets in the match, for only the second time this season. Central Missouri rallied to win sets four and five after losing two and three. The final set scores of the match were 25-17, 19-25, 22-25, 25-18, 15-11. The Jennies had 72 kills in the five set match. The team also had 65 assists, and 72 digs.Â
Jennies in the Polls
Central Missouri was again ranked No. 4 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association poll. The Jennies have been ranked in the top 10 the entire season, and are currently the highest ranked MIAA team.
The Jennies had 1064 points in the poll this week, with two first place votes. The Jennies started the season ranked No. 8 in the preseason poll. Nebraska Kearney was ranked No. 8 for the second week in a row. Washburn is up one more spot in this week's poll, to No. 12 and are the only other MIAA team ranked.
Concordia-St. Paul was again ranked No. 1, followed by Minnesota Duluth at No. 2, and Tampa at No. 3. Concordia St. Paul was the only other team to receive first place votes in the poll, totaling 46.Â
The Jennies will travel to Maryville, Mo. Tuesday to take on Northwest  Missouri State at 7 p.m. Later in the week the Jennies will face No. 12 Washburn, in Topeka, Kan, the match will begin at 3 p.m
MIAA & NCAA Rankings
The Jennies are ranked in the top fifty teams in four NCAA categories, making the top five in two categories. Central Missouri also takes a top five spot in five of seven MIAA categories. The team is ranked eighth in the MIAA in both blocks, totalling 130 with 1.94 per set, and digs, with 1033 total and 15.42 per set. The Jennies lead the MIAA in serving aces, 126 total 1.88 per set, and are also 37th in the NCAA. The Jens are second in the MIAA in assists, they've totaled 899 assists this season and average 13.42. That average also placed them at No. 8 of all the NCAA teams. The only MIAA team above Central Missouri in assists is Nebraska Kearney, they are currently first in the conference and sixth in the NCAA, averaging 13.49 assists per set.Â
The Jennies have the highest hitting percentage in the MIAA, at .311, and are third in the NCAA. Minnesota-Duluth is ranked second in the NCAA with a hitting percentage of .314, only .03 higher than Central Missouri. Central Missouri leads the MIAA in kills, with 1010 total and 15.07 on average, and are second in the NCAA. Concordia-St. Paul is the only team above the Jennies in kills, with 968 and 15.87 per set. Concordia-St. Paul also has the highest hitting percentage in the NCAA, at .343 through 18 matches. Â
Central Missouri Jennies
Julia Bates, senior setter, had 130 assists in three matches last week, averaging 11.82 per set. She also had 19 digs, three serving aces, and seven kills. In the first match of the weekend, against Arkansas Tech, Bates had 36 assists in three sets. She also had two serving aces and two kills, a .333 hitting percentage.
Bates has started every match this season, and played in every set. She has 751 assists this season, and is currently fifth in the Jennies All Time Assists Leaders, after starting the season in eighth. Bates averages 11.21 assists per set, the second highest average in the MIAA, and 14th in the NCAA. She is also second in the MIAA and 49th in the NCAA in aces, with 33 so far this season. Bates has been named MIAA Specialist of the Week twice this season, for the weeks of Sept. 9 and Oct. 7.Â
Another senior on the squad,
Taylor Goodness, is ranking in on a national level. The outside hitter has 253 kills this season, the third highest total in the MIAA and 29th in the NCAA. She has the sixth highest hitting percentage in the MIAA at .334. Goodness was named MIAA Hitter of the Week for the week of Sept. 9.Â
In the Missouri Southern Crossover, Goodness had 38 kills, 3.45 kills per set, and a .389 hitting percentage. In the Jennies second match of the weekend against Southwestern Oklahoma, Goodness had 15 kills, the team high, and hit .522 through three sets with four blocks.Â
Libero,
Annie Reilly, had 51 digs last weekend, and six of the Jennies 15 serving aces. Â Reilly had three aces in five sets against Harding, also adding 20 digs and one kill. Reilly has 338 digs this season, ranking her fourth in the MIAA. She is also first in the MIAA and 13th in the NCAA in serving aces, 42 total this season. Reilly was named MIAA Specialist of the Week for the week of Sept. 30.Â
Last week
Carly Sojka, sophomore outside hitter, was named MIAA Hitter of the Week for the first time in her collegiate career. Sojka is second on the Jennies in kills, with 192 total, and tenth in the MIAA. Â She is also third on the squad in serving aces, 16 total, and digs, 2.19 per set. Sojka has recorded three double-doubles this season, the most on the team.Â
In the Missouri Southern Crossover, Sojka started the weekend hitting .435 with 12 kills against Arkansas Tech. She also had four blocks in the match. Against Harding, Sojka tied Goodness for the team high kill total at 17.
Redshirt freshman and middle hitter,
Haley Thompson, has the highest hitting percentage in the MIAA and 13th highest in the NCAA, at .381. Thompson had 170 kills this season, the third highest total on the team. She has 59 blocks, and averages 0.88 blocks per set. Last week  Thompson had 34 kills, and hit .492, in three matches. She hit .611 against Arkansas Tech, with 11 kills and three blocks in the three set match. She also hit .519 against Harding, and had 16 kills through five sets.Â
Becca Blaise, freshman right side hitter, finished last weekend with 21 kills, twenty digs, and eight blocks. She had seven kills and four blocks in both the match against Harding and Southwestern Oklahoma. Blaise has 141 kills this season, and averages 2.10 per set. She also second on the team in digs and third in aces, with 160 digs and 25 aces.Â
Freshman middle hitter,
Maddie Jones, played in two of three matches last weekend, finishing with 18 kills and 4 blocks. She hit .556 against Arkansas Tech, with six kills in the match. Against Harding, Jones had 12 kills, a .435 hitting percentage, and four blocks in five sets. Jones is has the fourth highest hitting percentage in the MIAA, and is 40th in the NCAA, at .350. She is second on the team in blocks, with 47 blocks this season, 0.73 per set.Â
Mackenzie Harding started her first match of the season against Southwestern Oklahoma, replacing Jones. She had five kills and three blocks in three sets. She also hit .455 in the match. Â
Opponent Preview
The Jennies will take on Northwest Missouri State (9-9, 3-3 MIAA) in their seventh MIAA match of the season, the Bearcats are currently seventh in the MIAA. Northwest Missouri averages 13.4 kills per set, and have a .204 hitting percentage. The Bearcats have the fifth highest hitting percentage in the MIAA, and are fourth in kills. They are also fourth in assists and aces, with 12.50 assists per set and 96 serving aces this season.
Junior rightside hitter, Brooke Bartosh, has the highest kill total on the team at 189, averaging 2.86 kills per set. Another junior Abby Graves, outside hitter, has played in 50 of 66 sets for the Bearcats, and has the highest kill per set average on the team at 3.56 with 178 total kills. Graves is fifth in the MIAA in kills. Senior setter, Bridget Hanafin leads Northwest Missouri in assists and serving aces, 699 assists total 10.59 per set and 23 total aces. Hanafin is fourth in the MIAA in assists. Junior defensive specialist, Bailey Vance, is fifth in the MIAA in digs. Vance has 298 digs this season, and averages 4.52 per set.Â
Later this week the Jennies will face No. 12 Washburn (19-3, 6-0 MIAA) in Topeka, Kan. Washburn is the only other team that is still undefeated in conference play this season. The Ichabods are fourth in the MIAA in kills, hitting percentage, and blocks. They have 1098 kills, 172 blocks, and a .224 hitting percentage as a team. Washburn is also third in assists and first in digs, with 12.66 assists per set, and 18.71 digs per set. Washburn will be the fourth ranked opponent that the Jennies will face this season.Â
