Jennies Earn Spot in MIAA Semifinals with Sweep of Northwest Missouri

Box Score | Season Stats | Photo Gallery

WARRENSBURG, Mo. - Central Missouri volleyball earned themselves a spot in the MIAA Tournament semifinals in decisive fashion, with a 3-0 sweep of Northwest Missouri. The win pushes the Jennies to 28-4 this season. They'll continue their run in the MIAA tournament this Friday, Nov. 20 from Edmond, Okla.

The Bearcats gave the Jennies all kind of trouble Saturday, but UCM seemed to resolved those issue and have now won six straight sets over Northwest Missouri. The Jennies held NWMSU to just a 0.80 attack percentage and hit .268 themselves for the match, committing only 11 errors.

Carly Sojka and Kasey Hohlen both finished with more than ten kills. With 14 kills, Sojka has gone over 1,600 for her career. Hohlen finished with 12 kills and four blocks, providing plenty of power over the middle. Kourtney Thompson picked up her second-straight double-double with 24 assists and 10 digs. She also chipped in with four kills and two total blocks, including one block solo.

Annie Reilly finished just one assist away from her first career double-double. Reilly led the defense with 23 digs and added nine assists and a service ace. Katie Carlson helped out with three service aces.

The Jennies did not trail at any point in the match as they jumped out to large leads in all three sets. UCM went up 8-1 in the first frame, getting five kills and a service ace. The Bearcats fought back though and closed ground, quickly cutting the Jen's lead to one, 12-11. UCM used a 7-1 spurt to squash any Northwest hopes of a comeback. Hohlen landed the final two kills for the Jennies as UCM took the opener, 25-17.

Set number two picked up where the first left off as UCM again jumped out to a commanding lead, this time 9-1. Hohlen picked up three straight kills, putting UCM up 10, 13-3 and forcing a Bearcat timeout. NWMSU scored a few points late, but the damage had been done and UCM was up 2-0 with a 25-15 set win. Hohlen had six kills in the set.

Once again UCM put the Bearcats in a large hole early, racing to an 8-2 lead. The Bearcats tied to stay in the set, getting to within four at 11-7, but that is as close as they came. The Jens went on an 11-5 run from there to take a 10-point advantage, and cruised to a 25-17 set win.

Central Missouri, who won the last MIAA Tournament in 2013, will look to repeat this weekend from Edmond, Okla. No. 1 seed Central Oklahoma won their first-round matchup and earned the right to host the remainder of the tournament by finished first in the MIAA regular season.