Box Score Game 1 | Box Score Game 2 | Season Stats | Tournament Homepage
DENVER, Colo. – Jennies volleyball picked up two more wins at the Colorado-Premier Challenge defeating Metropolitan State and Regis University. The Jens improved to 8-1 with the wins as they went 3-1 in Colorado, with the only loss coming to AVCA top-ranked Tampa.
Game One: UCM 3, Metro St 0 – 25-15, 27-25, 25-19 The Jennies swept the Metro State Roadrunners three sets to none in their first match Saturday afternoon. UCM again were efficient on offense hitting .365 as a team, their fifth time in eight matches with an attack percentage above .300.
Carly Sojka landed 19 kills to lead the match.
UCM closed the first set on a 16-8 run to take the early 1-0 lead in the match. The Jens held a small, 9-7 lead before exploding for four straight points, three coming off of Metro State errors. UCM was able to maintain a comfortable lead, taking the set 25-15, closing on a Sojka kill as UCM hit .483 for the match and took advantage of five Roadrunner attack errors.
The Jennies needed to come from behind in the second set after trailing by as many as five, 12-7. UCM tried to inch closer, by MSU maintained a five-point edge at 18-13. The Jens used a 4-0 run to close the gap to one, and finally tied the match at 19-all. After trading points, the Jennies got to within set point at 24-23, but the Roadrunners scored the next two points and were a point away from stealing the set. Sojka's seventh kill of the frame tied it at 25 and the Jens got two more points from Roadrunners errors to go up 2-0 in the match.
Set three was another battle as neither team was giving in from the start. The Jens held a single point lead, 14-13, before extending that to four, 19-15. From there the Jennies were in control of the set, and Sojka landed kills on all of the Jennies final three points.
Kourtney Thompson helped control the offense as she dished out 38 assists.
Annie Reilly led the defense with 12 digs.
Maddie Jones and
Kylie Hohlen each finished with seven kills.
Game Two: UCM 3, Regis 1 – 25-15, 25-14, 16-25, 25-15 The Jennies again had an efficient match, hitting .368, their sixth match hitting better than .300 as a team. Sojka led the Jens with 15 kills, her fourth straight match with at least 15 kills. Thompson handed out 38 assists for the second match today. She also landed seven kills on 10 attempts. Reilly again led the defensive effort with 14 digs.
The first set saw Regis go up 8-4 early before the Jens came storming back. UCM used a 5-0 run to take a 9-8 lead and a 4-0 run with the score tied at 10 to extend their lead to four, 14-10. After Regis got to within three, 15-12, the Jennies outscored the Rangers 10-3 to win the opening set 25-15. The Jens scored six of the final seven points in the set.
Set two saw the Jennies storm out of the gate, jumping the Rangers for a 9-1 lead. Regis tried to make a comeback late, getting to within eight, 17-9, but it was too little, too late as the Jennies were able to put them away 25-14.
Looking for their second sweep of the afternoon, the Jennies and Rangers played to an 8-8 tie early in the third set. From there, the Rangers went on a 7-3 spurt and avoided a sweep with a 25-16 set win.
Regis again held tough early in set four as the Jens had a tight 7-6 lead. UCM grabbed some breathing room with a 5-1 run with a pair of kills coming from
Shelby Winkelmann to go up 12-7. After Regis brought the lead down to two, 14-12, the Jens scored six straight, getting kills from Jones and
Kasey Hohlen, and were on their way to a 25-15 set win.
The Jennies were aided by 34 errors made by the Rangers, compared to the Jens 21. UCM's 11 attack errors ties for the second-fewest in a match this season.
Following the tournament, Sojka was named to the All-Tournament team. Her 4.06 kills per set was second among all competitors. She landed 65 kills in 16 sets over the weekend, with a .276 attack percentage.
The Jennies have a short turnaround as they host Missouri S&T Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 6 p.m. They will then go onto their final early-season tournament at the Arkansas Tech Regional Crossover, starting Friday, Sept. 18.
