No. 12 Jennies Volleyball Hits the Road for a Pair of MIAA Battles

WARRENSBURG, Mo. - No. 12 Central Missouri Jennies Volleyball looks to extend their three-match winning streak this week as they travel to Hays, Kan. and Kearney, Neb. for a pair of MIAA matches with Fort Hays State Friday, Oct. 23 and Nebraska-Kearney Saturday, Oct. 24.

First Serve
• No. 12 Jennies Volleyball enters the weekend after having gone 2-0 last week with wins over Missouri Southern and Southwest Baptist.
• The Jennies moved up one spot to No. 13 in this week's AVCA Coaches Poll. UCM stands at 19-3 and 7-2 in the MIAA.
• Fort Hays State is 12-10 this season with a 4-6 conference record. The Tigers were 1-1 last weekend with a win over Pittsburg State
• Nebraska-Kearney is ranked 16th in this week's AVCA Coaches Poll. They fell four spots from last week after a 1-1 weekend with a win over Pittsburg State and a five-set loss to Central Oklahoma.

On The Air
• Matches this weekend will be webcast online through Central Missouri's Stretch Internet portal at UCMathletics.com/gamecentral. It is a pay-per-view broadcast. Live stats can be found at UCMathletics.com

Story Lines
• The Jennies are 7-2 this season in the MIAA and 19-3 overall.
• The Jennies have had a great deal of success against the Tigers throughout their history. UCM is 21-1 all-time against FHSU.
• UCM has won six straight matches against the Lopers including a 3-1 win in Warrensburg earlier in the month. The Jens have an 11-5 all-time record against UNK.
• Head Coach Flip Piontek has never lost to Fort Hays State (11-0) and is 6-3 lifetime against the Lopers.
• Senior outside hitter Carly Sojka is closing in on 1500 career kills. She currently has 1478. Sojka would join nine other Jennies in the 1500 kill club.
• The Jennies went 22-9 last season on their way to a share of the MIAA regular season
championship (an MIAA Tournament Championship was not played) and 32nd straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

Quick Hits
Jennies Rankings
A pair of Jennies seniors are climbing the UCM all-time rankings. Libero Annie Reilly surpassed the 200 ace mark in the Jennies first match against Fort Hays State. With 210 career aces, Reilly becomes just the third Jennie to reach the milestone and is second all-time at UCM.

In addition to Reilly, Carly Sojka is moving up on the all-time points and kills lists. She's recorded 385.5 points in 22 matches and has now accumulated 1,650 career points. Sojka has already moved into third-place all-time in points and is 169 points away from cracking the top two.

Sojka is also just 22 kills away from reaching 1500 for her career and three kills from cracking the all-time top-10. She would become the 10th Jennie in team history to reach 1500 kills.

National Rankings
In addition to their career rankings at UCM, Reilly and Sojka are among elite company in the NCAA Division II. Among all active players, Reilly is leads the nation with 2,308 digs, one of only four active players with more than 2,000 career digs. She is also in the top-five in service aces with her 210 tying her for third.

Sojka has also climbed into the top-five among active NCAA players in kills. With 17 last week, Sojka is fourth with 1,478 kills.

UCM in the Polls
After going 2-0 last week, the Jennies moved up a spot to No. 12 in the AVCA Coaches Poll. UCM started the season at No. 13 in the preseason poll and has been ranked as high as No. 6. The Jens have been ranked in every AVCA poll since its inception in 1986, a span of 378 polls.

National Leaders
Carly Sojka is ranked in the NCAA top-10 in three different categories. She is sixth in the nation in total kills with 335 and ninth in total attacks with 924. She also ranks 10th with 4.94 points per set and 13th with 4.29 kills per set. Sojka is also the MIAA leader in all three of those categories.

Annie Reilly is also in the NCAA top-25 in total digs. She's 23rd in the nation and leads the MIAA with 427 digs.

Maddie Jones has crept into the top-20 in hitting percentage. With an attack percentage of .378, Jones ranks 20th.

As a team, UCM is in the Division II top-10 in three different categories. The Jens are third in kills per set with 14.78 and fourth in total kills with 1,153. They're also eighth in total assists with 1,036 and just outside the top-10 with a .266 team attack percentage, which ranks 11th.

Up the Middle
The Jennies have been getting a lot of points up the middle lately. In addition to Jones' offense, Haley Thompson, Kasey Hohlen and Lauren Dudgeon have provided the offense and defense with a spark. Thompson has 40 kills in her last eight matches to go along with 20 blocks. Since returning from injury, Hohlen has 59.5 points in nine matches. And Lauren Dudgeon set a new career-high with 12 kills against Missouri Western. She has 18 kills and 10 blocks her last three matches.

Sweeps Ahead
Of the Jennies 19 wins, 13 have come by a 3-0 sweep. A season ago, UCM posted 15 3-0 sweeps and the most this decade came in 2010 when the Jens totaled 27 sweeps out of their 32 wins. Of UCM's seven MIAA wins, five have come in three sets.

Triple Aces
The Jennies have three of the MIAA top-five in service aces per set. Annie Reilly leads the conference with 0.42 per set and 33 total aces. Carly Sojka is fourth in the league with 0.36 aces per set and with three aces last weekend, Kylie Hohlen sits fifth with 0.29 aces per set. Sojka is also tied for the second most total aces with 28.

Scouting the Opposition
Fort Hays State
Overall Record: 12-10
Conference Record: 4-6 (MIAA)
Series History: UCM leads 21-1
Last Meeting: 2015, UCM 3-0
Head Coach: Kurt Kohler (93-129, seventh season)
• The Tigers are 12-10 overall and 4-6 in the MIAA, currently seventh in the MIAA standings.
• Since defeating then-No. 7 Washburn in late September, the Tigers have gone 3-4 including a loss to the Jennies.
• FHSU has not won back-to-back matches since the Johnson and Wales Tournament in the middle of September.
• The Tigers return 2014 Second Team All-MIAA selection Mallory Flagor. Flagor is second on the team with 3.22 kills per set and a team-leading 55 total blocks. She is also a sound defender, collecting 190 digs and 259 service receptions with only nine reception errors.
• In addition to Flagor, the Tigers also have Crystal Whitten leading the team with 269 kills and is seventh in the MIAA with 3.41 kills per set. She is also the teams leader with 279 digs.
• Setter Hannah Wagy is 27th in the NCAA and second in the MIAA with 798 total assists.
• Defensively, Fort Hays has three players with more than 50 blocks. Flagor is the leader with 55, Megan Anderson has 52 and Rebekah Spainhour has 51.
• Kailey Klibbe has also been a major help on the defensive end. She leads the team with 427 receptions and has 259 digs. She is also one of four Tigers with more than 10 service aces.

Nebraska-Kearney
Overall Record: 17-5
Conference Record: 7-3 (MIAA)
Series History: UCM leads 11-5
Last Meeting: 2015, UCM 3-1
Head Coach: Rick Squiers (524-77, 17th season)
• The Lopers went 1-1 last weekend with a win over Pittsburg State and a loss to Central Oklahoma.
• UNK fell four spots in this week's AVCA rankings from No. 12 to No. 16.
• UNK is currently 17-5 with a 7-3 record in the MIAA and in fifth place in the MIAA standings.
• Loper setter Lindsey Smith is 12th in the nation and 2nd in the MIAA with 11.47 assists per set.
• UNK has a pair of athletes with more than 200 kills. Kaitlynn Thomas is the team leader with 265 and 3.53 assists per set while Annie Wolfe has 201 kills and 2.68 kills per set.
• Though UNK has only five losses, they have dropped the opening frame eight times this season. The 430 points allowed in the first set is their most in any set.
• The Lopers lead the MIAA with 1.49 service aces per set. They have more than double the total aces than opponents at 113 to 54. Lindsey Smith is also the team's leader in aces with 0.41 per set, second in the conference.
• Defensively, Ellie McDonnell's 330 digs are a team best. She also has exactly 330 service receptions as well. Wolfe 238 and Skyler Erickson each also have more than 200 digs.
• The middle of the Lopers lineup is held together by Tara Ziegelbein. She has a team-best 64 blocks and 0.93 blocks per set, good for eighth in the MIAA.