Jennies Go 1-1 on First Day of Colorado Premier Challenge

Box Score Game 1 | Box Score Game 2 |  Season Stats

DENVER, Colo. - Central Missouri Volleyball went 1-1 on the first day of the Colorado-Premier Challenge. They defeated UC San Diego in the opening match, 3-1 (25-18, 22-25, 25-17, 25-15) before narrowly falling to top-ranked and defending champions Tampa 3-2 (25-21, 12-25, 13-25, 25-23, 15-10). The loss snaps the Jennies six game winning streak and puts them at 6-1 for the season.

Game One: No. 7 UCM 3, UC San Diego 1 - 25-18, 22-25, 25-17, 25-15
Senior Carly Sojka and freshman Kylie Hohlen led the way with 16 kills each. Hohlen hit .448 for the match landing her 16 kills on 29 attempts with just three attack errors. Kourtney Thompson was at the center of the Jennies offense handing out a season-high 49 assists and Annie Reilly paced the defense with 27 digs. Thompson finished one dig shy of her first double-double of the season.

Neither team could gain the upper hand in the early portion of the opening frame as the set was tied at 5-5 and again at 10-10. After the Tritons took a slim 12-11 lead, the Jennies stormed back with five straight points to take a 16-12 lead that they never gave up. UC San Diego trimmed the lead to 18-15, but the Jennies closed the set on a 7-3 run to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Ky. Hohlen landed six kills in the set.

UC San Diego took an early lead and never gave it up as they took their only set 25-22. Trailing 23-17 the Jennies tried to make a late run scoring four unanswered points, but the Tritons scored two of the final three to even the match at one apiece. Thompson dished out 17 of her 49 assists in the second set.

The third stanza was against a back-and-forth affair from the outset. Holding a slim 14-13 lead, the Jennies used a 6-1 spurt to give themselves some breathing room. The distance proved too much for UC San Diego as the Jennies put them away 25-17. The Jennies hit .441 for the match as Hohlen knocked five kills while Sojka and Maddie Jones chipped in with four.

The fourth set was all Jennies right from the start. They raced out to a 9-2 lead and never gave the Tritons a chance to come back as they eased their way to a 25-15 win. Sojka recorded five kills in the set and UCM took advantage of eight Triton attack errors.

UCM hit .344 for the match, their fourth match this season hitting better than .300. In addition to Sojka and Hohlen, Jones (12) and Kasey Hohlen (11) finished with double-figure kills as the Jennies reached 70 kills for the first time this season. Shelby Winkelmann also filled out the stat sheet with three kills, two assists, three service aces and five digs.

Game Two: No. 1 Tampa 3, No. 7 UCM 2 - 25-21, 12-25, 13-25, 25-23, 15-10
The Jennies pushed the defending champs to the limit, taking the Spartans to a fifth set before narrowly falling. Sojka (15 kills, 17 digs) and Ky. Hohlen (15 kills, 10 digs) both recorded their first double-doubles of the season. For Hohlen, the first of her career. Thompson handed out 39 assists in the match and Reilly totaled 23 digs. Jones chipped in with nine kills.

After both teams jockeyed for position early, the Jennies were able to come away with a slight advantage in the opening set, taking an 11-7 lead. Tampa came back using a 3-0 run to bring the lead back down to one, 14-13 and then regained the lead at 16-15. UCM battled back, getting kills from Sojka and Jones sandwiching a Spartan attack error to take an 18-16 lead which they never relinquished. Up 23-21, a kill from Thompson and a Spartan error put the Jennies in the driver's seat, up 1-0.

The second and third sets were all Tampa, however, as the Jennies struggled fell behind early and couldn't catch up.

Needing a win to force a fifth set, the Jennies were able to stake themselves to an 11-7 lead forcing a Tampa timeout. The Jens continued to lead out of the break, but Tampa kept it close, trailing by no more than five points at any point in the set. After the Jennies went up 19-14, their largest lead of the set, the Spartans slowly started to come back. Tampa cut the Jennies lead down to one, 24-23, but Sojka again clinched the set for the Jennies with her sixth kill of the set.

The Spartans jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the rubber match forcing a quick UCM timeout. After the break the Jens brought the score to one, 6-5, but couldn't get any closer as Tampa extended their lead to four at 11-7 and won the decisive fifth set, 15-10.

The Jens will be back in action tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. central time to take on one of the host schools, Metropolitan State - Denver.