Jennies Volleyball Heads to Edmond, Okla. as MIAA Tournament Rolls On

WARRENSBURG, Mo. - The No. 13 and second-seeded Central Missouri Volleyball team travels to Edmond, Okla., the site of the semifinals and final round of the MIAA Tournament. The Jennies will face No. 3 seed Nebraska-Kearney in their semifinal round matchup Friday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. The winner will play the winner of No. 1 Central Oklahoma vs. No. 4 Washburn Saturday, Nov. 21 at 3 p.m.

First Serve
• No. 13 Jennies Volleyball enters the MIAA Tournament on a seven-match winning streak. Six of the seven wins have come via a 3-0 score and three of the wins (Central Oklahoma, Washburn, Missouri Western) have come over NCAA regionally-ranked opponents.
• The Jennies stayed at No. 13 in this week's AVCA Coaches Poll. UCM stands at 27-4 and 15-3 in the MIAA.
•They are also moved up to No. 3 in the NCAA Central Region rankings. The top-eight teams all qualify for the NCAA Postseason.
• Nebraska-Kearney stands at 29-5 and finished with an identical 15-3 mark in the MIAA. The Jennies had regular-season tiebreakers over the Lopers giving them the better seed. UNK was ranked No. 10 in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll and are sixth in the NCAA Regional rankings. The Lopers defeated Fort Hays State 3-1 to advance to the MIAA semifinal round.

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
• At 15-3 in the MIAA, the Jennies finished in second-place in the MIAA regular season.
• The Jennies won their MIAA Tournament opening round matchup Tuesday, defeating Northwest Missouri 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-17).
• The Jennies are 11-6 all-time against Nebraska-Kearney. The two teams split earlier in the season with the home team winning each match.
• Central Missouri is 44-6 all-time in MIAA Tournament matches.
• The MIAA has held a conference tournament championship only twice (2012-13) in the last seven years. UCM won the 2013 tournament and finished in second on 2012.
• Head Coach Flip Piontek is 6-4 all-time against Nebraska-Kearney.
• The Jennies were riding a six-match winning streak against the Lopers before UNK defeated the Jennies in five sets their last match back in October.
• UCM is currently on a season-long eight match winning streak.
• 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 (10/2). With 220 career aces, Reilly becomes just the third Jennie to reach the milestone and is second all-time at UCM.

Reilly also moved into second-place at UCM in career digs with her 27 at Missouri Western (11/12). With 2,515, she is also in second-place in MIAA history.

In addition to Reilly, Carly Sojka is moving up on the all-time points and kills lists. She's recorded 538.5 points in 32 matches and has now accumulated 1,803 career points. Sojka has already moved into third-place all-time in points and is 16 points away from cracking the top two and 82 points away from the all-time leader.

Sojka also became just the 10th Jennie to record 1500 career kills Oct. 24 against Nebraska-Kearney. With 1,612 kills, she is the fifth to ever reach 1600 career kills and is fifth all-time.

National Rankings (as of 11/16/15)
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 the active national leader with 2,515 career digs, one of only nine active players with more than 2,000 career digs. She is also in the top-five in service aces with her 220 placing her fourth.

Sojka has also climbed into the top-five among active NCAA players in kills. With 1,612 career kills, Sojka is fourth among active players.

UCM in the Polls
After going 3-0 last week, the Jennies remained No. 13 in the AVCA Coaches Poll for the third consecutive week. UCM started the season at No. 13 in the preseason poll and has been ranked as high as No. 6. Of the 12 AVCA Polls this season, UCM has been ranked No.13 in six of them. The Jens have been ranked in every AVCA poll since its inception in 1986, a span of 382 polls.

The Jennies also again moved up two spots in this week's Central Regional rankings to No. 3. Central Missouri opened the first poll at No. 7 in the region. The top-eight teams all qualify for the NCAA Postseason.

National Leaders (as of 11/16/15)
Carly Sojka is ranked in the NCAA top-15 in three different categories. She is 14th in the nation in both points per set with 4.80 and kills per set with 4.19. She is also 12th in the nation with 469 total kills. Sojka is also the MIAA leader in all three of those categories.

Annie Reilly is in the NCAA top-30 in digs per set. She's 25th in the nation and second in the MIAA with 5.66 digs per set. She is also 27th with 634 total digs.

As a team, UCM is in the Division II top-10 in three different categories. The Jens lead the nation in kills per set with 14.92. They are fifth in total kills with 1,670 and eighth in assists per set with 13.45. They're also just outside the top-10 with a .262 team attack percentage which ranks 12th.

Awards Ceremony
The MIAA announced their All-conference team this week with seven Jennies earning the honor. Carly Sojka headlined the group as she was named the 16th MIAA Player of the Year in team history. Her and Maddie Jones were unanimous selections to the First Team while Annie Reilly made her third straight All-MIAA First Team. Kourtney Thompson was selected to the Second Team and newcomers Kasey, Hohlen, Kylie Hohlen and Cheyanne Lyons were Honorable Mention.

"Flip" the Calendar
The Jennies have historically played some of their best volleyball when the calendar turns to November. Under Coach Piontek, the Jennies are 47-5 (.904) in the month of November. In 2014, the Jennies went 6-1 with their only loss coming at the NCAA Regional to Wayne St. (Neb.). They are 6-0 thus far in 2015.

Scouting the Opposition
Nebraska-Kearney
Overall Record: 29-5
Conference Record: 15-3 (MIAA)
Series History: UCM leads 11-6
Last Meeting: 10/24/15, UNK 3-2
Head Coach: Rick Squires (843-170, 25th season)

• Like the Jennies, the Lopers also enter the MIAA semi-finals on a long winning streak. UNK has won 12 straight matches, including a win over the Jennies.
• Nebraska-Kearney sits ahead of UCM in the AVCA Coaches Poll where they rank No. 10. The Lopers are sixth in the latest NCAA Central Region poll, three spots behind the Jens.
• The Lopers had four athletes named to the All-MIAA team: Outside Hitter Annie Wolfe was a first team representative  while Kaitlynn Thomas and Erin Seele made the second team. Ellie McDonnell was also an Honorable Mention.
• UNK is the only team better than the Jennies when it comes to opponent attack percentage. Opposing teams are hitting just .135 against the Lopers this season.
• They are also first in the conference in service aces. Erin Seele is the MIAA leader with 0.49 aces per set.
• The Lopers have three hitters hitting above .300 for the season. Annie Wolfe is sixth in the conference with a .327 attack percentage. Tara Ziegelbein and Kendall Schroer are eighth and ninth at .308 and .304, respectively.
•Thomas is the team's kills leader. She's landing 3.47 kills per set and has 399 total kills. Both of those figures rank here fifth in the MIAA.
• UNK is the only team to have a pair athletes in the MIAA top-10 in assists per set. Lindsey Smith is second in the MIAA with 11.26 assists per set while Seele is tenth at 7.49.
• Ellie McDonnell and Kendall Schroer hold down the Loper defense from the back and front rows, respectively. McDonnell is seventh in the MIAA with 4.25 digs per set while Schroer is ninth with 0.90 blocks per set. UNK is fifth in the MIAA with 17.04 team digs and sixth with 1.94 blocks per set.