No. 19 Jennies at home this weekend

Game Notes | Live Stats | Video

No. 19 Jennies vs. Emporia State
Friday, Oct. 24 | 6 p.m.
UCM Multipurpose Building | Warrensburg, Mo.

No. 19 Jennies vs. No. 8 Washburn 
Saturday, Oct. 25 | 3 p.m.
UCM Multipurpose Building | Warrensburg, Mo.

Last Week... 
The Jennies (14-7, 11-2 MIAA) picked up three wins last week, pulling them up two spots to No. 19 in the latest AVCA poll released Monday. Carly Sojka had two double-doubles in three matches, and averaged 4.36 kills and 2.55 digs per set with a .333 hitting percentage, earning her second MIAA Hitter of the Week nod this season.  

The week started with a road game at Lindenwood, Central Missouri beat the Lions in three, 25-19, 25-18, 25-20.  The Jennies hit .283, with six aces and nine blocks in the match. Sojka led the Jennies with 16 kills, and hit a team-high .424. She also had 12 digs and an ace in three sets. Becca Blaise and Haley Thompson had seven kills and four blocks each. Mackenzie Harding also had four blocks, with three kills, in her third start of the season. Kourtney Thompson recorded 35 assists and a block. Annie Reilly and Shelby Winkelmann had nine digs each, Reilly also had three aces while Winkelmann had two. 

Central Missouri then hosted Southwest Baptist on Friday, for their fifth home game of the season. The Jennies took the match in three, 25-15, 25-10, 25-19. As a team they hit .415, with 49 kills and only five errors. In the third set the Jennies had Winkelmann play libero, while Reilly spent some time in the front row. Reilly had four kills, an ace, and 13 digs in her first match as an outside hitter, while Winkelmann tallied 10 digs, three assists, and a kill. K. Thompson also had 10 digs, with 31 assists, for her eighth double-double of the season, with six kills. Jones also had six kills, and hit .429 in the match. H. Thompon had a team-high 13 kills, and hit .591 in three sets. Sojka had the second most kills (10), and hit .400. Both H. Thompson and Sojka had two blocks. 

In their final match of the week, the Jennies traveled to Pittsburg State. Central Missouri picked up the first two sets but the Gorillas were able to win the third and fourth to force a fifth set. The Jennies won the five set match at 25-13, 25-12, 21-25, 23-25, 16-14. They hit .224, with 67 kills and five aces. Sojka again let the Jennies with 22 kills and 10 digs in the match. H. Thompson had 17 kills, two aces, three blocks, and hit .361. Jones hit .379, with 13 kills. K. Thompson had 57 assists and an ace, Blaise and Reilly also had an ace. On defense, Reilly had 22 digs, and Winkelmann had 11.    

Central Missouri Jennies
Sojka leads the team and is third in the MIAA in kills. She has had 3.99 kills per set, with a .215 hitting percentage this season. Sojka is also third on the squad in digs, with 2.65 digs per set. She has had nine double-doubles this season, and has had the most kills on the team in 14 matches this season. Against Missouri Southern, she matched a career-high 26 kills, which is also the highest number of kills recorded in the MIAA this season.

Reilly has had at least one ace in 17 matches this season, with 42 aces in conference play alone. She averages 0.73 aces per set, which is currently the best average in the NCAA-II. She is second in the MIAA in digs, with 5.45 digs per set, and has had only six receiving errors in 71 sets this season. She has tied the Central Missouri record for aces in a single match twice this season. 

H. Thompson has hit over .300 in 13 matches this season, and has had at least one block in every match. She leads the Jennies and is eighth in the MIAA in blocks, averaging 1.00 blocks per set. H. Thompson also has the best hitting percentage on the team, at .325. She has matched her blocking career-record twice this season, with seven blocks against Missouri Western and then-No. 5 Nebraska-Kearney. 

K. Thompson is fifth in the MIAA in assists, with 10.07 assists per set. She has had eight double-doubles this season. Blaise has had at least one block in 11 of 13 conference matches this season, with an average 0.45 blocks per set including tournament play. Jones has led the Jennies in blocks four times this season. She averages 2.02 kills per set and 2.20 points per set. Shelby Winkelmann is second on the team in digs and aces. She has served 16 aces this season, and averages 2.86 digs per set. Mackenzie Harding has played in 34 sets, with three starts this season. She has had 36 kills and 13 blocks. Lauren Dudgeon has had 32 kills and seven blocks in 17 matches this season. 

Jennies vs. Upcoming Opponents
Central Missouri faced Emporia State and No. 8 Washburn in back-to-back matches earlier this season. The Jennies won their game against the Hornets in four, 22-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-19, with 65 kills and 10 blocks. Sojka had 22 kills, and hit .429, with 14 digs in the match. Jones also had double-figure kills, with 19 kill and six blocks. Jones hit .324 in the match. K. Thompson had one of her best performances of the year, with 56 assists, 10 digs, four blocks, and three kill. Blaise had five blocks and 16 digs. H. Thompson tallied nine kills and to blocks. Winkelmann had an ace and 11 digs, while Reilly had four aces and 29 digs. 

The following day Central Missouri was swept by Washburn, 22-25, 25-27, 22-25. Sojka had another team-high 17 kills, with 10 digs. Reilly had the only aces in the match, and added 18 digs. Blaise had 12 digs and a block. H. Thompson had a team-high five blocks. K. Thompson had 31 assists, and two blocks. As a team the Jennies hit .158, with 43 kills, and six blocks. 

Opponent Preview

Emporia State Hornets | Emporia, Kan.
Series Record: UCM leads 65-6    Current Streak: UCM 1 straight
Bing vs. UCM: 4-12        Piontek vs. ESU: 8-2
AVCA Rank: NR         
2014 Statistics            (9-9, 5-8 MIAA)    
Kill/Set: 12.99        Hit Pct.: .197    Ace/Set: 0.95    
Digs/Set: 17.11        Assists/Set: 11.96    Blocks/Set: 1.99

Emporia State went 2-1 last week, with a pair of three set wins over Fort Hays State and Northwest Missouri State and a five set loss to Missouri Western. The last time the Hornets played Central Missouri, Courtney Haring had double the points of anyone else on the team. She had 14 kills, and hit .333, with six blocks and 12 digs. Kimberly Bell had a team-high 14 assists, but Sydney Hartman was only one behind her with 13 assists. Kelly Holden had the only aces of the match, and 20 digs, but had three receiving errors off 27 attempts. 

Spicer is fourth in the MIAA in kills per set, with 3.71 kill per set and a hitting percentage at .240. She also averages 3.41 digs per set, and has had 9 aces this season. Josie Williams has the second best kill average, at 2.59 kills per set, and the most aces on the squad, 10 total. Williams has played in 71 of 73 sets this season. Courtney Haring is leading Emporia in blocks, with 1.06 blocks per set. She also has had 2.07 kills per set, with a .282 hitting percentage. Shayla Cotman is second in blocking, with 0.90 blocks per set. She also averages 1.96 kills per set, and has hit .257 this season. Emporia uses both Bell and Hartman in the setter position. Bell has had 5.94 assists per set, with Hartman averages 4.33 assists per set. Libero, Kelly Holden has had 5.04 digs per set. 

Washburn Ichabods | Topeka, Kan.
Series Record: UCM leads 50-14    Current Streak: WU 1 straight
Herron vs. UCM: 14-19        Piontek vs. WU: 8-4
AVCA Rank: No. 8         
2014 Statistics            (18-3, 10-3 MIAA)    
Kill/Set: 14.30        Hit Pct.: .237    Ace/Set: 1.46    
Digs/Set: 18.07        Assists/Set: 13.33    Blocks/Set: 2.16

Washburn dropped two matches last week, first to Nebraska-Kearney then to Missouri Western, but picked up a three set win over Northwest Missouri State. The last time the Ichabods faced the Jennies Leanna Willer led the squad with 15 kill, 17 digs, and two blocks. Carley Swan had five blocks, and Sarah Victory had one less at four. Marissa Cox recorded nine kills and two blocks. Natalie Bates had 33 assists and 11 digs with two kills, and Alyssa Carney had two aces and 22 digs. As a team, they hit .197, with 45 kills and nine blocks total.

Cox has earned MIAA Hitter of the Week honors twice this year, while teammates Bates and Willer have also been named Player of the Week once. Cox leads Washburn and is third in the MIAA with 3.85 kills per set. She also has had 1.09 digs, and 0,84 digs per set. She has hit .326 through 68 sets this season. Willer has had 3.64 kills and 3.14 digs per set, with 20 aces total. Victory has also averaged 0.84 blocks per set, with 2.48 kills per set, and a hitting percentage at .383, which is the highest hitting percentage in the MIAA. Bates averages 8.65 assists per set and 2.26 digs per set, and Carney has had 4.97 digs per set, with 17 aces this year. Carney is fifth in the MIAA in digs.