No. 17 Jennies with a chance to clinch conference title

No. 17 Jennies vs. Missouri Western
Friday, Nov. 14 | 7 p.m.
UCM Multipurpose Building | Warrensburg, Mo. 
Live Stats | Video | Game Notes

vs. Northwest Missouri State... 
The No. 17 Central Missouri Jennies (21-8, 18-3 MIAA) took their match Tuesday against Northwest Missouri State (10-19, 7-14 MIAA) in three. The Jennies had 12.5 blocks, matching their season-high, and added 44 kills and an ace for the win.
 
Shelby Winkelman had the only ace of the match on the first point of the game. The Jennies went on a 10 point streak after catching the Bearcats at 13-13 to take a 23-13 lead in the match. Central Missouri allowed three more points to be scored before a blocking point from Becca Blaise and Haley Thompson finished the set. Northwest Missouri State led the Jennies for a majority of the second set. Central Missouri held the Bearcats at 20 for six points late in the set, eventually tying the score at 24-24. Annie Reilly, Winkelmann, and Blaise had a kill each to finish the set. Northwest Missouri did not lead the Jennies again in the match.
 
Blaise and H. Thompson each had seven blocks and six kills. Carly Sojka hit .325, with 16 kills and two blocks. Winkelmann had seven kills and 11 digs. Reilly and Kourtney Thompson had 21 digs each. Reilly also had a kill in the match, while K. Thompson had 27 assists, three kills, and three blocks. Mackenzie Harding tallied three kills and the last set of the match, with two blocks.

If the Jennies win their match against Missouri Western, they will clinch a share of the MIAA Title for the second year in a row. Central Missouri has won 23 MIAA titles in program history. 

Central Missouri Jennies
Reilly is tied for fourth nationally in aces per set (0.61), and is second in the MIAA in digs (5.67). She has had only six receiving errors this season off of 453 attempts. Earlier this season, Reilly tied the Central Missouri record for most aces in a match, with eight aces against Pittsburg State and Fort Hays State. Reilly has been the MIAA Specialist of the Week for the last two weeks, and seven times total in her career. 

Sojka is second in the MIAA in kills per set (4.05), and second on the team in digs (2.91). She has had the most kills on the team in 21 matches. After last weekend,  Sojka up to 14 double-doubles this season. She has been named MIAA Hitter of the Week twice this season, and earned National Player of the Week honors once.   

H. Thompson also earned National Player of the Week this season. She is second in the MIAA in hitting percentage (.320), and sixth in blocks, with 1.12 blocks per set. She broke a career record against then-No. 4 Nebraska-Kearney, with eight blocks in the match. 

K. Thompson has had 14 double-double this season. She is fourth in the MIAA in assists (10.28), and averages 1.25 kills and 2.60 digs per set. K. Thompson has had 51 blocks total this season, the second highest total on the team. Last weekend against Central Oklahoma, K. Thompson set a new career record, with five blocks in the match. 

Winkelmann is second on the Jennies in digs, with 2.91 per set. She is also second in aces served, with 18 total this season. She has had double-digit digs in 15 matches this season. Blaise is averaging 0.46 blocks per set and 2.72 digs per set this season. She had a career high seven blocks in the match Tuesday against Northwest Missouri State. Maddie Jones has also had 0.41 blocks per set this season, with 1.87 kills per set.  

Jennies in Central Region Rankings 
The Central Missouri Jennies volleyball team was again ranked third in the latest regional rankings released Wednesday. The team beat Missouri Southern and Central Oklahoma last week, bringing their in-region record to 20-3. The Jennies win over Northwest Missouri State on Tuesday was not included in the rankings.
 
The top six ranked teams remain the same as the last poll, with Minnesota-Duluth in first, Concordia-St. Paul in second, Southwest Minnesota State in fourth, Wayne State in fifth, and Nebraska-Kearney in sixth. Central Oklahoma dropped to ninth after their loss to the Jennies, Augustana replacing the Bronchos at seventh. Washburn was eighth for the second week in a row, and Northern State was tenth.

The top eight teams in the final regional rankings on Sunday, Nov. 16 will earn a spot in the NCAA-II Central Regional Tournament to be held Nov. 20-22 at a campus site to be determined.

Opponent Preview
Missouri Western was the first in-conference opponent that the Jennies faced this season. The Jennies took the match in three, 25-23, 25-18, 26-24. H. Thompson had seven blocks, matching her previous career record, with 12 kills. Sojka had the most kills (16), with three blocks. Blaise and Jones each had six kill each, Blaise also had four blocks. Winkelmann and K. Thompson had a double-double, with 34 assists and 15 digs. Reilly had two aces and 18 digs, and did not have a reception error off of 18 attempts. Missouri Western was led by Erica Rottinghaus, who had nine kills and 13 digs. Jessie Thorup and Amanda Boender had eight kills each, while Kelsey Olion and Lindsey Partridge both had six kills. Boender added a team-high five blocks. Sarah Faubel had the most digs (14), with a perfect reception percentage off 21 attempts. 

Missouri Western Griffons | St. Joseph, Mo.
Series Record: UCM leads 84-6    Current Streak: UCM 64 straight
Carbin vs. UCM: 0-3        Piontek vs. NWMSU: 11-0
AVCA Rank: NR         
2014 Statistics            (22-7, 16-5 MIAA)    
Kill/Set: 14.10        Hit Pct.: .251    Ace/Set: 1.24    
Digs/Set: 14.65        Assists/Set: 13.08    Blocks/Set: 2.08

Missouri Western is led on the attack by Thorup. She is fourth in the MIAA in kills, averaging 3.62 kills per set and .287 hitting percentage. She is also second on the squad in aces (26 total). Rottinghaus is second in kills (3.56), and has hit .273 this season. She also averages 2.53 digs and 0.53 blocks per set. Boender has the most blocking points on the Griffons and is fifth in the MIAA, with 1.13 blocks per set. She has also had 2.24 kills per set, and has hit .291. Libero Faubel averages 3.82 digs per set.  Jordan Chohon leads the MIAA in assista with11.80 per set this season.

As a team Missouri Western has the best hitting percentage in the MIAA. The team is also third in assists and kills, and fifth in aces.