WARRENSBURG, Mo. - Central Missouri volleyball opens their season this weekend hosting the Peggy Martin Challenge. The Jennies will take on five teams from the Great Lakes Valley Conference, Northern Sun and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The opening match is scheduled for 3 p.m. Thursday, September 3, while the remaining 12 matches will take place over two days, Friday-Saturday, September 4-5.

Season Preview
The Jennies will bring back no shortage of fire power in 2015 as the veteran laden squad will be led by five seniors and four juniors. Among that group, UCM will bring back five seniors plus their starting libero from the 2014 team that made their 32nd straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Three All-Americans return to the court as well as six All-MIAA honorees. UCM won their 24th MIAA title last season and finished the year ranked 20th in the AVCA year-end poll. The upper-classmen will look to lead the Jennies on another deep postseason run and make 2015 a year to remember.    

UCM will come into 2015 loaded at the outside hitter position. Of the Jennies five seniors, three play on the outside. For starters, returning is AVCA Second Team All-American senior Carly Sojka. Sojka appeared in every set in 2014 and was the Jennies leader in kills. Her 4.09 kills per set ranked 18th in Division II and second in the MIAA. She also tallied 309 digs and 16 double-doubles.
    
Also returning is fellow award winning senior, Shelby Winkelmann, who was named All-MIAA Honorable Mention in 2014. Winkelmann did a little bit of everything for the Jennies, finishing second with 320 digs, landing 89 kills and serving up 20 aces.

Lauren Dudgeon is a senior who will provide depth and leadership. Dudgeon played in 72 sets in 2014 and landed 72 kills, including a career-high tying nine in the NCAA Central Regional matchup.   
    
The Jennies will also bring back Molly Lawrence. Lawrence got her first taste of action last year playing in 14 sets.
    
The Jens will also get a punch with the additions of transfer students Maddie Palmer and Cheyanne Lyons and freshman Kylie Hohlen. Palmer played one season at Colorado-Colorado Springs, while Lyons comes to Warrensburg after spending the last two seasons at Northern Colorado where she finished with 128 kills and 42 blocks as a freshman.

The Jennies figure to be strong up the middle, bringing back Third Team All-American Haley Thompson and All-MIAA player Maddie Jones. That duo played in 202 of a possible 218 sets in 2014 and should give the Jennies a strong net presence. They combined for 503 kills and 163 blocks last season, scoring 608 points between the two of them.

Shifting to the middle this season will be senior Jessica McDougald and junior Mackenzie Harding. McDougald, in 2014, played in 47 sets and made eight starts while registering 47 kills. Harding appeared in 25 matches and made three starts and she knocked down 66 kills in 61 sets to go along with 24 blocks.  

Also joining the Jennies on the front-line will be sophomore transfer Kasey Hohlen. Hohlen is the elder sister of freshman Kylie Hohlen and comes to UCM after spending a year at Furman where she played in 22 matches. She landed 120 kills and compiled a .300 hitting percentage in 73 sets for the Southern Conference Champions.

Returning for the Jennies will be All-MIAA setter Kourtney Thompson. She stepped in to a starting role in 2014 and played in every set while leading the team with 10.27 assists per set. She also averaged over
2.5 digs and 1.2 kills per set. Macki Pankratz could also compete for time. The former All-MIAA player at Emporia State sat out last season after transferring to UCM. The Jennies also brought in Tyler Downs, a freshman, who played at Maize High School and led the Eagles to back-to-back state tournaments.

Like 2014, the Jennies can feel at ease knowing All-American libero Annie Reilly is handling the back row. Reilly earned her first All-American First Team honor in 2014 and second All-American award to go along with her second MIAA First Team Award. She finished 18th in the nation in second in the MIAA with 5.25 digs per set, recording double-digit digs in 30 matches. In addition to her stellar defense, Reilly led the MIAA and was third in the NCAA with 0.62 aces per set. Returning for her second season is sophomore Katie Carlson. Carlson saw action in five sets as a true freshman. UCM also brought freshman Carly Offerdahl into the fold. She played for three seasons at Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, Mo.

The Jennies have always challenged themselves when it comes to scheduling and that trend continues in 2015. UCM will open the season with the Peggy Martin Challenge playing five matches against teams from the Northern Sun, Great Lakes Conference and Rocky Mountain Conference Sept. 3-5.
    
UCM will then travel to Denver, Colo. for the Colorado Premier Challenge, Sept. 11-12, to take on, among others, defending National Champions, Tampa. Their final regular-season tournament will be the Arkansas Tech Crossover, Sept. 18-19, where they'll face three teams from the Great American Conference.

The Jens will then begin the MIAA portion of their schedule, starting with a trip to Edmond, Okla. Sept. 25 to take on Central Oklahoma. Following a mid-afternoon match with Pittsburg State Sept. 26, the Jennies play their first conference home games against Fort Hays State and Nebraska-Kearney Oct. 2-3, respectively.

The Jens will take the court 11 times in October including seven in the Multipurpose Building. Following their conference opening home dates, the Jennies will be at the Multi Oct. 9 against Missouri Western, Oct. 16-17 against Missouri Southern and Southwest Baptist, and close out the month with rematches Oct. 30-31 with Pittsburg State.

November doesn't get much easier for the Jennies as they'll be on the road for three of their five matches. The month opens away from home with matches against Emporia State and Washburn Nov. 6-7. After a home date with Lindenwood (Nov. 10) and a road match with Missouri Western (Nov. 12), the Jennies wrap up the regular season on their home court against Northwest Missouri, Nov. 14.

Following the regular season, the top eight teams in the league will jump in to the MIAA Tournament Nov. 17-21 being held at campus sites.

The Jennies will look to qualify for their 33rd straight NCAA Regional which takes place Dec. 3-5 with the NCAA Division II Elite Eight one week later, Dec. 10-12.   

Scouting the Opposition
Western State
2014 Overall Record: 2-20
2014 Conference Record: 2-16 (Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference)
Series History: First ever meeting
Head Coach: Keven John (2-20, Second Season)
• The Mountaineers started 2014 dropping their first 20 matches before winning their final two to close out the regular season 2-20
• Kills leader Jordan Eatwell returns to the squad. She was tops with 228 kills and 2.89 kills per set
• The Mountaineers had four players with 100+ kills in 2014, and they all return to the 2015 squad. In addition to Eatwell, Crystal Powell (123), Hailey Rehage (122) and Taylor Castillo (107) eclipsed 107 kills
• Powell was also led the team with 50 blocks on the defensive end, including 12 solo blocks

St. Cloud State
2014 Overall Record: 7-21
2014 Conference Record: 1-19 (Northern Sun)
Series History: UCM leads 5-1
Last Meeting: 1997, UCM 3-0
Head Coach: Chad Braegelmann (0-0, First Season)
• St. Cloud finished 2014 with seven wins, but only one during conference play. The Peggy Martin Challenge will be the first contests for the Huskies
• SCSU has a veteran team with five seniors and four juniors on their 15 player roster
• The Huskies lost their top offensive player from 2014, but return Kellan Flynn who finished second in kills with 179
• They will also return three others with 100+ kills from last year's team
• Defensive leader Brianne Stamer also comes back. She corralled 472 digs in 2014

Truman State
2014 Overall Record: 29-4
2014 Conference Record: 17-1 (Great Lakes Valley)
Series History: UCM leads 58-31
Last Meeting: 2013, UCM 3-2
Head Coach: Ben Briney (148-58, Seventh Season)
• Truman starts their season receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll. Their 64 votes are the most of the "receiving votes" group.
• AVCA All-American HM Ali Patterson returns in 2015. She landed 252 kills and put back 153 blocks
• Kills leader Kayla Bastain also returns. She tallied 358 kills and was named Second-Team All GLVC and All-Midwest Region
• The Bulldog's went 29-4 in 2014 and won the GLVC Tournament. They also went 1-1 in the NCAA Midwest Regional
• Truman was a member of the MIAA through the 2012-13 season before moving to the GLVC

University of Mary
2014 Overall Record: 4-25
2014 Conference Record: 1-19 (Northern Sun)
Series History: First ever meeting
Head Coach: Thais Franca (0-0, First Season)
• Mary finished with a losing record for the sixth straight season
• Lauren Randall who led the Marauders with 233 kills and 2.73 kills/set returns in 2015. She also finished second with 21 service aces and more than 100 digs
• The Marauders setter, Janell Finkbeiner also returns. She led the team with 535 assists and 5.88 assists per set
• Starting libero Alex Brown will help Mary's defense in 2015. She led the squad with 456 digs and 4.61 digs/set in 2014

Illinois-Springfield
2014 Overall Record: 10-18
2014 Conference Record: 2-16 (Great Lakes Valley)
Series History: First ever meeting
Head Coach: Trey Salinas (0-0, First Season)
• The Prairie Stars won 10 games in 2014, their third 10 win season in the last five years
• Middle Blocker Nikki Madoch finished 2014 second on the team with 213 kills and also led the team with 86 total blocks.
• Starting libero Kayla Katarzynski is also back for 2015. She led the team with 473 digs and finished eighth in the GLVC
• UIS outblocked their opponents in 2014 178-172, but lost two of their top three blockers
• UIS finished a percentage point shy of a .200 hitting percentage, completing the year at .199 (1182-499-3438)