Jens Head to Russellville, Ark. For In-Region Clash

WARRENSBURG, Mo. - The No. 6 ranked Central Missouri Jennies head out on their final regular-season tournament of 2015. UCM travels to Russellville, Ark. for three games with in-region opponents from the Great American Conference. The Jens first game is set for Friday, Sept. 18 at 1 p.m. against Harding. If the Jens go 3-0 against their GAC foes, it will make UCM's longest winning streak of the season at six.

Quick Hits
Jennies Rankings
A pair of Jennies seniors are climbing the Jennies all-time rankings. Libero Annie Reilly is just five service aces away from 200 for her career. Her 195 career aces place her third all-time at UCM just six behind second place.

In addition to Reilly, Carly Sojka is moving up on a pair of all-time lists. She's recorded 172.5 points in nine matches and had now accumulated 1,437 career points. Last weekend at the Colorado-Premier Challenge, Sojka jumped a pair of Jennies and now sits fifth for the most points scored in Jennies history and is 68 points away from fourth place.

Junior setter Kourtney Thompson is eighth all-time in assists per set at 9.02. She went over nine assists per set for the first time in her career after her 47-assists performance against Missouri S&T. Thompson has also dished out at least 25 assists in 33 consecutive matches.

National Rankings
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 first in the nation with 2,049 digs. She is also in the top-five in service aces with her 195 checking in at No. 4.

With her career-best 27-kill match against Missouri S&T, Sojka is in the top-five among active players in total kills with 1,292.

UCM in the Polls
The Jennies have climbed to No. 6 in the AVCA Coaches' Poll. UCM started the season at No. 13 and has since moved up each week of the rankings. The Jennies have been ranked in every AVCA poll since its inception in 1986, a span of 373 polls.

Fast Starts
UCM has been getting off on the right foot in their matches this season. The Jens have won the first set in all ten matches.

Efficiency Rating
As a team, the Jennies are hitting more than .100 points higher than their opponents at .283 to their opponents' .174. Of their ten matches, the Jens have hit better than .300 six times and better than .350 five times.  

Two For One
After not recording a double-double in any of the first six matches, UCM now has four in their last four matches. Carly Sojka and Kylie Hohlen both earned double-doubles against Tampa, and Sojka and Kourtney Thompson recorded one against Missouri S&T. Both of Sojka's and Hohlen's were of the kill-dig variety, while Thompson had double-figures in assists and digs.

Almost Perfect 10
With their win over Missouri S&T, UCM has nine wins in their first 10 matches for just the third time since 1996. The Jens last accomplished that in 2012 when they opened the season 22-0.

This Tuesday in Missouri
The Jennies win on Tuesday over Missouri S&T gives the Jennies a 25-0 record on Tuesday's under head coach Flip Piontek. During Piontek's tenure, the Jennies are also a perfect 77-0 when playing opponents from their home state of Missouri.

Scouting the Opposition
Harding
Overall Record: 3-6
Conference Record: 1-0 (Great American Conference)
Series History: UCM leads 7-0
Last Meeting: 2013, UCM 3-2
Head Coach: Meredith Fear (78-29, Fourth Season)
• The Lady Bison have had a history of volleyball success. Harding went undefeated in the GAC and 2012 and 2013 and were 10-4 in 2014 with a 20-9 overall record.
• This season, Harding has gotten off to a slow start, losing five of their first six matches. They've rebounds with wins in two of their previous three, including a match with MIAA foe, Emporia State.
• The Lady Bison are led offensively by Molly Howard. She has 131 kills in 36 sets and sits sixth in the GAC with 3.64 kills per set. The Harding setters give her plenty of opportunity to attack as she is 16th in the nation with 11.94 attacks per set and 394 total attacks.
• Defensively, Zoe Hardin is the Harding go-to player. She is the reigning GAC Defensive Player of the Week and leads the conference with 42 total blocks. Hardin also is second on the team with 91 kills and is fifth in the GAC with a .312 hitting percentage, having committed just 19 errors in 231 total attempts.
• In the middle of the Lady Bison offense is setter Abigail Glosup. She has a GAC leading 369 assists and is second in the conference with 10.25 assists/set.

Arkansas Tech
Overall Record: 6-3
Conference Record: 1-0 (Great American Conference)
Series History: UCM leads 4-0
Last Meeting: 2013, UCM 3-0
Head Coach: Kristy Bayer (288-119, 13th Season)
• Arkansas Tech made it to the NCAA Regional Championships last season before losing to then-No. 2 seed Minnesota Duluth. So far in 2015, the Golden Suns have gotten off to a 6-3 start with five wins in their last six matches.
• This is the second regular season tournament Arkansas Tech is hosting. They have already played four matches on their home court and are 3-1 after going a combined 22-4 at home the last two seasons.  
• Hunter Eshnaur is fifth in the GAC in kills per set with 3.72 and her 119 total kills are third. She has 10+ kills in eight of nine matches and landed a season-high 19 in ATU's last match against Southern Arkansas.
• Week one saw libero Madison Nagel win the GAC Defensive Player of the Week award. The sophomore is fifth in the
conference with 5.16 digs per set and 38th in the nation.
• Senior Katie Huff has been a ray of light for the Golden Suns in 2015. She leads the squad with 31 total blocks and is second with 84 kills and 2.63 kills per set. She's also hitting .301, good for sixth in the GAC.
• The Golden Suns lead the conference with 13.22 assists per set, and rely on a pair of setters to get the job done. Sarita Stegall leads the team with 7.97 while Alyssa Kool is up there with 5.90 assists per set.

Southern Nazarene
Overall Record: 4-5
Conference Record: 1-0 (Great American Conference)
Series History: First Ever Meeting
Head Coach: Kevin Ingram (313-225, 15th Season)
• After finishing last season as the GAC runner-up, Southern Nazarene has begun the 2015 campaign 4-5 and are just 2-4 in the last six matches.
• McKenna Qualls is the go-to on offense with 110 kills and 3.33 kills per set. She is also strong on the serve averaging 0.67 aces per set and leads the GAC and is 14th in Division II with 22 overall.
• The Crimson Storm get help on defense from GAC leader Abbey Bell. Her 5.55 digs per set top the conference and are also 22nd in the nation.
• Southern Nazarene averages nearly two blocks per set and has four players with more than 20 blocks. McKayla Benner leads the way with 27 while Kaitlyn Vought has 22 and Makenna Hunter and Courtney Bowie each have 22
•At the point of attack is Elyse Berlin who carries a team-leading 9.18 assists per set into this weekend's tournament. She leads the Crimson Storm and is fifth in the GAC. Her 303 total assists are the fourth most in the conference.
• The Crimson Storm do a good job of limiting opposing attack opportunities. Opponents are hitting just .152 against the Storm which tops the conference. Their conference-leading 18.03 digs per set go a long way towards keeping down that opponent attack percentage.