Live Stats  |  Video |  Game Notes

Jennies vs. Missouri Southern
Tuesday September 17 | 7:00 p.m.
Mulitpurpose Building | Warrensburg, Mo.   
 
This Week
Missouri Southern will be the first conference team that the Jennies will face this season. While Central Missouri is first in the MIAA standings, Missouri Southern currently sits in eighth place and is not ranked in the AVCA poll. Last season when Central Missouri played Missouri Southern, the Jennies held the Lions to under 20 in every set during both matches of the season.
 
Last Time Out
Central Missouri hosted the Peggy Martin Challenge, that doubled as their home opener last week. The Jennies faced Winona State, Ferris State, McKendree University, the University of Minnesota-Moorhead, and the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, losing only one set in five matches. The Jennies won 21 sets in a row, before Minnesota-Moorhead handed the Jennies their first set loss, in the third set of their match on Saturday of the tournament, 25-16, 25-19, 23-25, 25-18. Central Missouri finished the weekend strong, winning three straight sets against Colorado-Colorado Springs, 25-14, 25-15, 25-14. 
 
Awards
Central Missouri senior, Taylor Goodness, was named the MIAA Hitter of the week, after racking up 65 kills in the Jennies home opener, the Peggy Martin Tournament. Goodness averaged 4.06 kills per set and hit a blistering .426 as the #7 Jennies went 5-0 on the week. She registered double-figure kills in three of the five matches, including a season-high 18 in the win over MSU-Moorhead, while hitting .429. She also had five digs and two blocks in the match. Against No. 23 Ferris State she had 17 kills and hit .469 to go along with three digs. Against McKendree she had 13 kills and hit .545. Goodness is the second player to be named MIAA Player of the Week, Julia Bates was named Specialist of the Week for the first week of play. 
 
Goodness was named the MVP of the Peggy Martin Challenge, and was also selected for the All-Tournament team. Bates, Carly Sojka, and Annie Reilly were also named to the All-Tournament team.
 
Jennies in the Polls
Central Missouri moves up yet another place in this weeks AVCA Division II Coaches Poll to No. 6, after finishing the Peggy Martin Challenge at 9-0. The Jennies have moved up two places since the first AVCA Division II Coaches' Poll earlier this month in which they were ranked No. 8, and were ranked No. 7 last week.
 
The Jennies are now the second-highest MIAA squad in the poll, behind No. 5 Nebraska-Kearney. Washburn are now ranked at No. 11, down from No. 5 last week, however no other MIAA teams were ranked. Concordia-St. Paul is back up to No. 2 from the No. 4 spot in this week's poll, Tampa moving down to No. 3 from No. 1 in last weeks poll. Minnesota Duluth takes the top spot this week, moving up one spot from No. 2.
 
The Jennies are the only team in Division II to appear in the AVCA Coaches Poll every week since the poll began in 1986, making the top 25 for 344 consecutive weeks.
 
Opponent Preview
Missouri Southern won both of their matches in Monticello, Ark. last weekend against Arkansas-Monticello and Kentucky Wesleyan. In the last match against Arkansas-Monticello, the Lions had 51 kills in four sets. Missouri Southern also posted 45 assists, 39 digs, and a season high 7 blocks.
 
Junior outside hitter and middle blocker Katie Politte leads the team in kills, with 3.67 kills per set, and in points, with 98.5. In the Lions match against Ouachita Baptist Politte tallied a season high 21 kills, and 25 points in the five set match. Setter Abby Finder currently averages 8.21 assists per set. Finder currently has 10 serving aces this season, and the highest ace per set average on the team at .42. During the Ouachita match, Finder posted 46 assists, and 13 digs.