No. 6 Jennies Begins MIAA Play on the Road at Central Oklahoma and Pittsburg State

WARRENSBURG, Mo. - The No. 6 ranked Central Missouri Jennies open up MIAA play on the road this weekend. They'll travel to Edmond, Okla. for a date with No. 18 Central Oklahoma on Friday before heading to Pittsburg, Kan. for a match with the Gorillas, Saturday.

First Serve
• The MIAA begins conference play this week with all 12 teams in action. The Jennies start the MIAA-portion of their schedule on the road taking on No. 18 Central
Oklahoma and Pittsburg State Friday and Saturday, Sept. 25-26.
• The Jennies are coming off of a 4-0 week in which they defeated Missouri S&T and went 3-0 at the MIAA/GAC Regional Crossover. UCM defeated Harding, Arkansas Tech and Southern Nazarene out of the Great American Conference.
• Central Oklahoma has won five straight matches including going 3-0 last weekend at home against three GAC schools of their own. The only set the Bronchos dropped was to Northwestern Oklahoma. They're 11-1 this season and ranked 18th by the AVCA.
• Like the Jennies, Pittsburg State was also at the MIAA/GAC Crossover. However the Gorillas dropped all three matches and are 0-11 on the year.

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.

Story Lines
• The Jennies will be looking improve upon their six match winning streak. The six-straight wins ties a season high.
• Against Central Oklahoma last season, the Jennies split a pair of five-set matches with the home team winning each match.
• UCM swept Pittsburg State last year. They swept the match in Warrensburg, but needed five sets to defeat the Gorilla's in Pittsburg.
• 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 Jennies all-time rankings. Libero Annie Reilly is just four service aces away from 200 for her career. Her 196 career aces place her third all-time at UCM just five behind second place.

In addition to Reilly, Carly Sojka is moving up on a pair of all-time lists. She's recorded 225.5 points in nine matches and had now accumulated 1,490 career points. Two weeks ago at the Colorado-Premier Challenge, Sojka jumped a pair of Jennies and sits fifth for the most points scored in Jennies history and is 15 points away from fourth place and 72.5 points away from the top three.

Junior setter Kourtney Thompson is eighth all-time in assists per set at 9.10. She went over nine assists per set for the first time in her career after her 47-assists performance against Missouri S&T last Tuesday. Thompson has also dished out at least 25 assists in 36 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 2,111 digs, the only active player with more than 2,000 career digs. She is also in the top-five in service aces with her 196 checking in at No. 4.

Sojka has also climbed into the top-five among active NCAA players in kills. With 74 last week, Sojka is tied for fourth with 1,338 kills.

UCM in the Polls
The Jennies climbed to No. 6 in the AVCA Coaches' Poll last week and remained there for a second straight. 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 374 polls.

Lucky 13
With their 4-0 week last week, UCM is now 12-1 on the season. The record ties the second-best mark for the Jennies since 1996. The Jennies started a perfect 22-0 in 2013, and also had 12 wins in 13 matches in 1996 and again in 2007.

National Leaders
Carly Sojka is ranked in the NCAA top-10 in three different categories. She is fourth in the nation in total kills with 196 and ninth in both points per set (5.01) and total attacks (491). Sojka is also just outside the top-10 in 11th place with 4.36 kills per set.

As a team UCM ranks second in Division II in three offensive categories; both kills per set (14.78) and total kills (665) as well as team assists (599). Kourtney Thompson is largely to thank for the latter stat, she's 11th in the nation with 460 total assists.

Piontek vs. the Bronchos
Since they joined the MIAA, Coach Piontek is a lifetime 4-1 against Central Oklahoma. The Jens only loss to the Bronchos came last year when UCM dropped a five-setter in Edmond. UCO also fought the Jennies hard when they met again in Warrensburg. UCM came out on top in the rematch, again in five sets.

Piontek vs. the Gorillas
Coach Piontek is 12-1 against PSU as head coach of the Jennies. He lost his first ever match against the Gorillas in 2009 and has since won his last 12, including a five-set match in
Pittsburg in 2014.

Scouting the Opposition
Central Oklahoma
Overall Record: 11-1
Conference Record: 0-0 (MIAA)
Series History: UCM leads 10-1
Last Meeting: 2014, UCM 3-2
Head Coach: Edgar Miraku (65-33, fourth season)
• The Bronchos enter as the No. 18 ranked team in the nation and are off to an 11-1 start. They will be the second ranked team the Jennies have faced this year.
• UCO's only loss this season came at the hands of then 11th ranked Florida Southern two weeks ago. At the same tournament in Lakeland, Fla., the Bronchos defeated then-24th ranked West Texas A&M 3-0.
• Back for her senior season with Central Oklahoma is reigning MIAA Player of the Year Barbara Jackson. Jackson led the conference with 4.25 kills per set and 459 total kills. So far this season, Jackson is third in the MIAA with 3.69 kills per set and is hitting .278.
• In addition to Jackson, the Bronchos have a number of offensive threats. Taylor Bevis is just 10 kills behind Jackson for the team lead with 123 and 3.08 kills per set.
• UCO has the top-two hitters in the MIAA by hitting percentage. Allison Barr leads the conference hitting .440 and Jordan Spence is second with a .380 attack percentage. As a team, the Bronchos .305 hitting percentage is best in the conference and fourth-best in the nation. Barr's .440% is ranked seventh in Division II.
• Setting the tone for the Broncho offense is setter Katy Davis, last week's MIAA Specialist of the Week winner. Davis leads the conference and is top-20 in the nation with 11.20 assists per set. Davis has more than 30 assists in all nine of her matches played. She also has two double-doubles with assists and digs and two kills in each of her last three matches. She was an All-MIAA First team honoree in 2014.
• The Bronchos also have the leading digger in the conference in 2014 Second-Team All MIAA Whitney Gifford. Giffords 5.23 digs per set top the MIAA and her 209 total digs rank second. Gifford has recorded 20+ digs in three of her last five matches.

Pittsburg State
Overall Record: 0-11
Conference Record: 0-0 (MIAA)
Series History: UCM leads 53-5-1
Last Meeting: 2014, UCM 3-2
Head Coach: Jenny Mueller (10-20, second season)
• The Gorillas have gotten off to a poor start in 2015, dropping their first 11 matches before conference play.
• Pittsburg State went 7-15 in the MIAA last year, including taking the Jennies to five sets on their home court, which UCM held on for a 16-14 win in the fifth set.
• Part of the reason for the Gorillas struggles this season has been the loss of four of their six All-MIAA Players from a year ago, including their lone First Team All-MIAA selection.
• PSU's two returning All-Conference players are setter Hayley Hansford and Ashlen Schwartz. Schwartz is the only Gorilla to be in the top-10 in the MIAA in any individual category. She is seventh in the conference with 4.42 digs per set and is tied for fifth in total digs with 168.
• Hansford has split the setter duties with transfer Taylyn Schwartz (sister of Ashlen). Hansford's 184 assists and 4.84 assists per set lead the team while T. Schwartz is right behind her with 171 assists and 4.50 assists per set.
• The Pittsburg offense ranks near the bottom in most offensive category in the MIAA. Their .130 hitting percentage is next to last in the conference while their 10.79 kills per set are better than only Southwest Baptist and Missouri Southern.
• The Gorillas don't have anyone who has reached 100 kills yet. Lexi Fulghum has 1.88 kills per set in 10 matches played while Maggie Highberger's 70 kills are a team-best.