Jennies Defeat St. Cloud and Truman State at Peggy Martin Challenge

Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score

WARRENSBURG, Mo. - Central Missouri defeated St. Cloud State and Truman State on day two of the Peggy Martin Challenge. The pair of wins push the Jennies to 3-0 for just the second time since 2008.

Game One: UCM 3, SCSU 0 - 25-17, 25-15, 25-21

Carly Sojka finished with a game-high 13 kills while Kylie Hohlen chipped in with nine. Kourtney Thompson set the offense with 31 assists and also dug out six attacked. Annie Reilly led the defensive effort with a game-high 18 digs and Kasey Hohlen had six kills and five total blocks. Reilly also landed four service aces.

The two teams remained close early in game number one as the Jennies held a slight 9-8 advantage. UCM finally gained some separation scoring the next six points thanks in part to three Huskie attack errors. SCSU cut the lead back to three at 17-14, but the Jennies closed to set on an 8-3 run to take game one.

Holding an 11-8 lead, the Jennies offense pulled away with seven straight points, six coming with Reilly serving to go up 18-8. The Jens were able to cruise from there, ending the set on a kill from Sojka.

The Huskies held their own in the third and final set and had a late lead at 21-19. The Jennies scored the final six points though with SCSU committing five errors and getting a kill from Kylie Hohlen. The back-and-forth set saw five ties and two lead changes.

As a team the Jennies hit .240 and Sojka had an efficient .312 hitting percentage (13 kills, three errors, 32 attempts). UCM was strong on the serve, scoring six points on aces compared to three errors, while the Huskies didn't land any aces and committed five errors.

Game Two: UCM 3, TSU 0 - 25-23, 25-14, 25-20

Once again it was Sojka pacing the offense knocking down 18 kills, her most since Nov. 20 of 2014. She hit .371 for the match accumulating her 18 kills on 35 attempts while committing only five errors. Through three games her attack percentage sits at .341.

The rest of the the offense was helped out by Kasey Hohlen and Maddie Jones who tallied eight kills apiece. Thompson dished out 25 assists while Reilly filled out the stat sheet with 20 digs, six assists and four service aces.

A wild first set saw the Jennies trailing by two, 23-20. After a Sojka kill gave the Jennies the serve, UCM didn't give it back as they scored five straight points, two on Reilly service aces to take the opening frame. The back-and-forth affair saw seven ties and two lead changes.

Set number two saw the Jennies get out early and not look back as they cruised to a 25-14 set win. UCM scored seven of the first 10 points and got five kills from Sojka and two each from Thompson, Jones and Kasey Hohlen.

It was the Bulldogs who took an early lead in the third and final set. TSU raced to a 6-3 lead, but the Jennies answered with five straight points. After the Bulldogs knotted it back at 8-8, the Jennies pulled away using another 5-0 run. The Jens got four kills and a service ace from Reilly during the spurt. TSU closed to within three at 20-17, but failed to get any closer as an attack error sealed the Bulldog's fate.

The Jennies play their final two games of the Peggy Martin Challenge Saturday, September 5 with a morning match against the University of Mary set for 11 a.m. and an afternoon affair against Illinois-Springfield at 4 p.m.