Game Notes
No. 15 Jennies vs. Missouri Southern Lions
Friday, Oct. 10 | 7 p.m.
Robert Ellis Young Gym | Joplin, Mo.
Live Stats | Video

No. 15 Jennies vs. Central Oklahoma Bronchos
Saturday, Oct. 11 | 7 p.m.
Hamilton Fieldhouse | Edmond, Okla.
Live Stats | Video


Last Week ...
Central Missouri is coming off a two home wins last weekend, beating Fort Hays State in three followed by a four set win over then-No. 5 Nebraska-Kearney. In seven sets, Central Missouri had 13.00 kills, 2.31 blocks, and 1.62 aces per set. 

The Jennies made quick work of Fort Hays State, beating them in three, 25-13, 25-19, 25-19 on Friday. Annie Reilly tied the Central Missouri record for serving aces in a single match for the second time this season, with eight matches in three sets. She also had a perfect reception percentage and 15 digs in the match. Shebly Winkelmann and Becca Blaise also proved to be strong in the back row, with 11 and 12 digs, respectively. Four of the Jennies starters hit over .300 in the match, Haley Thompson with the team-high hitting percentage at .444. Carly Sojka led the Jennies in kills (10), and hit .391 in the three-set-match. H. Thompson, Sojka, K. Thompson, and Maddie Jones had two blocks each in the match. 

Saturday, the Jennies beat then-No. 5 Nebraska-Kearney in four, 21-25, 30-28, 25-18, 26-24, to extend their streak over the Lopers to four straight matches. Central Missouri had a season-high 12.5 team blocks in the match. H. Thompson had seven blocks, tying a career record. Sojka tallied 21 kills, and hit .271, with three blocks in four sets. She also had her fifth double-double of the season, with 13 digs and a perfect reception percentage. K. Thompson also had a double-double with 44 assists and 12 digs. Winkelmann and  Blaise again recorded double-digit digs. Neither had a receiving error in the match. Annie Reilly served three aces in the match, and 23 digs. 

After her stellar performance last week, Sojka was named the Sports Imports/AVCA Division II National Player of the Week and the MIAA Hitter of the Week. Reilly also earned MIAA Specialist of the Week honors. Sojka is the the second Jennie to earn National Player of the Week this season, H. Thompson won for her play in the Tampa Spartan's Classic. Sojka had 4.43 kills, 3.00 digs, and 0.71 blocks, with a hitting percentage at .305. She had only two reception errors with 32 attempts. Reilly finished the weekend with 5.43 digs and 1.57 aces in seven sets. She had a receiving pecentage at .972, with only one error off 36 attempts. 

AVCA Top 25 
The Jennies are up two spots in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association top 25 poll released Monday afternoon. The Jennies had 480 points in the poll, bringing them to No. 15.
 
Nebraska-Kearney fell three spots after losing to the Jennies last Saturday, they had 782 points this week. Washburn was up to No. 6 with 920 points.
 
Wheeling Jesuit will take the No. 5 spot, with 959 points. The rest of the top five remains the same as the previous poll. BYU-Hawaii was No. 4, Concordia-St. Paul came in at No. 3, and Minnesota-Duluth was No. 2. Tampa held the top spot, with all 48 first place votes.

Central Missouri Jennies
Sojka leads the team and is fourth in the MIAA in kills. She has 3.84 kills per set, with a .197 hitting percentage this season. Sojka is also third on the squad in digs and second in blocks, with 2.70 digs per set and 0.52 blocks per set. She has had five double-doubles this season, and has had the most kills on the team in ten matches this season. 

Reilly has had at least one ace in 13 matches this season, with 34 aces in conference play alone. She averages 0.88 aces per set, which is currently the best average in the NCAA-II. She leads the MIAA in digs, with 5.88 digs per set, and hasn't had only three receiving errors in 50 sets this season. 

H. Thompson has hit over .300 in 10 matches this season, and has had at least one block in every match. She leads the Jennies and is fifth in the MIAA in blocks, averaging 1.08 blocks per set. H. Thompson also has the best hitting percentage on the team, at .335. 

K. Thompson is fifth in the MIAA in assists, with 9.94 assists per set. She leads the Jens in double-double combinations, with six this season. Blaise has had at least one block in seven of eight conference matches this season, with an average 0.50 blocks per set including tournament play. Jones has started every conference match this season. She has led the Jennies in blocks four times this season. She averages 1.87 kills per set and 2.11 points per set. Shelby Winkelmann is second on the team in digs and aces. She has served 12 aces this season, and averages 3.04 digs per set. 

Katie Carlson made her collegiate debut in the in the fourth set of the Jennies match against Nebraska-Kearney. She came in as a defensive specialist, after Blaise had to leave the match as a result of an injury. Lauren Dudgeon took over the front row rotation. Carlson had four digs, and a serve percentage at .750. Dudgeon had two kills, a dig, and a block.  

Opponent Preview
The Jennies will face MIAA opponents from the top and bottom of the conference on the road this weekend. First up is Missouri Southern (4-12, 1-7 MIAA) in Joplin, Mo. The Lions have lost their last four matches, their only conference win was over Pittsburg State. Last weekend Missouri Southern fell in three in Washburn after a five set loss to Emporia State. The Lions are fourth in the MIAA in blocks per set, with 2.18 blocks per set this season. They have also had 10.75 kills per set and 0.90 aces per set.

Central Oklahoma (16-2, 6-2 MIAA) fell in four to Washburn last Friday, but won a four set match the next day over Emporia State.  Central Oklahoma is second in the MIAA in blocks (2.31) and digs (18.42), and fourth in hitting percentage (.246), assists (12.87), and kills (13.76). The team has several players leading the MIAA in individual statistical categories as well.  The Jennies have won every match against the Broncho since the two first met in 1992. 

Missouri Southern Lions | Joplin, Mo.
Series Record: UCM leads 60-1-1 Current Streak: UCM 36 straight
Napier vs. UCM: First Meeting    Piontek vs. MSSU: 10-0
AVCA Rank: NR         Starters Returning/Lost: 3/3+Libero
2014 Statistics            (4-12, 1-7 MIAA)                                                
Kill/Set: 10.75        Hit Pct.: .134    Ace/Set: 0.90    
Digs/Set: 13.98        Assists/Set: 10.03    Blocks/Set: 2.13

The Lions return their sole All-MIAA honoree last season, Katie Politte. The senior outside hitter leads Missouri Southern in kills, with 3.05 kills and a hitting percentage at .137. She also has 2.02 digs and 0.53 blocks this season. Sophomore Krishna Merriman is second in kills, with 2.88 this season. She also has had 0.50 blocks in 60 sets this season. Callie Whetstone is the only Lion to crack the top five in any conference statistical categories. She is third in blocks, with 1.30 blocks per set. The junior also has 2.35 kills per set. 

Junior setter Abby Finder has 8.90 assists per set, and 2.40 digs per set, while freshman libero has 3.85 digs per set with a .945 receiving percentage. 

Politte has averaged 1.56 kills and 2.0 digs, with a hitting percentage at .085 in her three match career against the Jennies. Abby Finder has also played three matches against the Jennies. She has recorded 6.22 assists and 0.78 kills, with a hitting percentage at .162 in nine sets. 



Central Oklahoma Bronchos | Edmond, Okla.
Series Record: UCM leads 9-0    Current Streak: UCM 9 straight
Miraku vs. UCM: 0-2    Piontek vs. UCO: 3-0
AVCA Rank: NR         Starters Returning/Lost: 4/2+Libero
2014 Statistics            (16-2, 6-2 MIAA)                                             
Kill/Set: 13.84        Hit Pct.: .262    Ace/Set: 1.54    
Digs/Set: 17.72        Assists/Set: 12.93    Blocks/Set: 2.25

The Bronchos return three of their four All-MIAA honorees, Barbara Jackson, Juliette Smith and Allison Barr creating a strong front row. Jackson leads the MIAA in kills, with 4.00 kills, and a hitting percentage at .244. She is second in serving aces, with 0.51 aces this season. Smith leads the MIAA in blocks, with 1.39 blocks per set. She also averages 2.02 kills per set. Allison Barr had the fourth highest hitting percentage in the MIAA, at .352, and averages 2.61 kills per set. Setter Katy Davis is first in the MIAA assists, with 11.80 assists per set. Whitney Gifford is anchoring the back row for Central Oklahoma. Gifford is second in the MIAA in digs, with 5.80 digs per set. 

Jackson averages 2.25 kills and 3.5 digs in eight sets against the Jennies. Smith averages 0.89 blocks and 1.44 kills, with a hitting percentage at .300, in her three match career against the Jennies. Barr has faced Central Missouri twice in her career. She averages 2.83 kills, and hit .358., in six sets.