Jennies Volleyball Celebrates Senior Night on Final Weekend of Regular Season

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Nov. 10, 2016) - No. 16 Central Missouri Volleyball finishes up the regular season this weekend with a pair of matches, one at home and one on the road. The Jennies will also celebrate Senior Night to honor their four seniors from the 2016 class, following Friday night's match.

When: Friday-Saturday, Nov. 11-12

Where: Friday, Nov. 11 - Warrensburg, Mo. - UCM Multipurpose Bulding
               Saturday, Nov. 12 - Maryville, Mo. - Bearcat Arena

Opponents - Friday, Nov. 11 - Missouri Western - 6 p.m.
                      Saturday, Nov. 12 - No. 25 Northwest Missouri - 6 p.m.

How to Watch: 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. Live stats can be found at UCMathletics.com.

First Serve
• The Jennies remain in the No. 16 spot in the AVCA rankings for the second straight week. 
• With just two matches remaining in the MIAA regular season, the Jennies are 9-7 and are currently in a three way tie for fourth place with Fort Hays State and Northwest Missouri. The top eight teams make the MIAA Tournament Championship with the top four hosting quarterfinal matches Tuesday, November 15. 

Story Lines
• The Jennies are 78-6 all time against Missouri Western in their history and 37-3 in Warrensburg. Earlier this season, Missouri Western came from behind to win a five set match in St. Joe. Cheyanne Lyons led three Jennies in double-figures with 12 kills. 
 • Central Missouri has more wins over Northwest Missouri than any other oppponent in their history. UCM is 90-6 all-time against the Bearcats. However, like the Griffons, NWMSU also got the better of UCM with a 3-0 sweep in Warrensburg in early October. It was the first Beacat win against the Jennies since 1984. The Jennies are undefeated against Northwest in Maryville.
• In their match last month, the Jens swept the Lions 25-14, 25-16, 25-17. Mackenzie Harding and Molly Lawrence each landed 12 kills, a career-high for Harding. Tyler Downs was playing setter and helped out with 37 assists and Katie Carlson had a game-high 16 digs.
• Sophomore Kylie Hohlen won her first MIAA Hitter of the Week award this week. The outside hitter landed 38 kills and also picked up 46 digs in 11 sets. 
• Last season, Central Missouri went 15-3 in conference, on their way to their 14th MIAA Tournament Championship. 
• The Jennies went 30-5 during the regular season in 2015 and appeared in their 33rd consecutive NCAA Tournament. 

Quick Hits
UCM in the Polls
Central Missouri remained at No. 16 in this week's AVCA Poll. They've now been ranked 16th for two straight weeks and three of the last five. Their 16th ranking matches their lowest of the season. The Jennies have been ranked as high as sixth this season on two separate occasions. 

Before the season started, Central Missouri was picked to finish second in the MIAA, tying with Central Oklahoma with 106 points in the preseason coaches poll. Washburn received the most points to lead the preseason poll. 

Leader Boards (as of 11/9/2016)
On the offensive end of the floor, the Jennies are third in the MIAA in both team hitting percentage (.235) and kills per set (13.79). Cheyanne Lyons is the team leader and is eighth in the league at 2.97 kills per set. The Jens have two in the MIAA top-10 in hitting percentage with Kourtney Thompson fourth at .349 and Kasey Hohlen eighth at .327. In conference only games, Thompson leads the MIAA hitting .390 while Maddie Jones is sixth hitting .326.

Also in conference only games, the Jennies have three in the MIAA top-10 in service aces. Katie Carlson is fifth in the conference with 0.29 aces per game and Kylie Hohlen and Carly Offerdahl are tied for eighth at 0.24. Hohlen is also ninth in digs per set with 4.02 in MIAA contests.

At the national level, the Jennies rank 21st in kills per set and 30th in hitting percentage and 33rd in assists per set. Thompson is a big help to those last two, she's 45th in hitting percentage and 49th in assists per set. 

Career Milestones
Senior setter Kourtney Thompson is well over 3,000 career assists standing at 3,224 for her career. Her 9.83 assists per set are seventh all-time at UCM.

Maddie Jones surpassed 900 career kills two weeks ago At 954 she is just 46 away from 1,000. Jones also went over 250 career blocks Tuesday at Lindenwood. She has 253 for her career.

Fellow senior Mackenzie Harding went over 100 kills for the season earlier in the year and is at 238 for her career. Harding has 137 kills this season, a career-best. She also reached 100 career blocks last weekend vs. Washburn.

Redshirt-freshman Carly Offerdahl went over 300 career and season digs Tuesday at Lindenwood.

Junior Kasey Hohlen went over 100 career total blocks last week. She has 110 blocks in less than two full seasons. She also needs just seven more kills to reach 400 for her career and 32 for back-to-back 200 kill seasons.

Cheyanne Lyons returned from injury to play last week. She is now just 14 kills shy of reaching 400 for her career. She has set a single-season high with 223 kills this season. 

Jennies on the Road
This season, Central Missouri has posted a 7-4 record when playing on the road. During his tenure as head coach, the Jennies are 74-18 on the road under Coach Piontek. 

Jennies at Home
Jennies Volleyball has always enjoyed a homefield advantage. This season, UCM is 9-3 at the Multi and throughout his eight-year career, Coach Piontek is 109-10 in Warrensburg. 

Magic Number
Throughout Coach Piontek's tenure at the helm of UCM Volleyball, there has been one surefire way to determine if the Jennies won - checking out the hitting percentage. When UCM hits .300 or better for the match, the Jennies are a perfect 98-0 under Piontek. That includes going 10-0 this season. Things normally work out even if they fall a little short. They are 19-0 this season and 194-10 when hitting at least .200 for a match. 

Against Unranked Opponents 
The Jennies have faced one of the toughest schedules in the nation, playing 10 of their first 29 games against ranked opponents this season, including five matches against top-10 teams. In their 19 games against unranked opponents, the Jennies have made the most of their opportunities posting a 17-2 record against teams outside the top-25. With their win over Lindenwood on Tuesday, Coach Piontek is 202-10 against unranked teams in his eight years.

Against Ranked Opponents 
Northwest Missouri will be the 11th top-25 team the Jennies have faced this season. UCM has 3-7 record thus far against ranked opponents and Coach Piontek is 55-37 against ranked opponents in his history. The Jennies have faced at least one ranked opponent in each of the last four weeks. 

Scouting the Opposition
Missouri Western Griffons
• Missouri Western is one spot behind the Jennies in the conference standings at 8-8 in MIAA matches this year. They are 16-13 overall with a 3-2 win over UCM coming back on Oct. 7. 
• The Griffons are in a bit of a funk though, dropping seven of their last 11 matches.
• Missouri Western is in the middle of the pack of most MIAA categories. The one they sit at the top at, is service aces with 1.58 aces per set. The teams doesn't have one standout, though Rachel Friedrichs leads with 35, but there are seven Griffons with at least 11 aces this season and three with 30 or more. Kayla Ruff (31) and Tiana Butler (30) are behind Friedrichs.
• Offensively it's Friedrichs who has been the primary point scorer. She's averaging 2.90 kills per set which is 10th in the MIAA. Her .338 attack percentage is also in the top-10 in the conference. She leads four Griffons with over 200 kills this season. Kelsey Olion is also closing in on 300 with 266 kills. 
• Kortney Blaufuss has been the one in the middle of the action with 9.86 assists per set, good for sixth in the MIAA. She had at least 30 assists in five of her last six matches. She returned on Tuesday after missing the last two weeks of October.
• Missouri Western has a number of athletes that help out defensively, three have more than 200 digs this season. Kayla Ruff is the team leader at 4.29 digs per set and 468 total digs. She's also tied for the team lead with 456 service receptions. Kelsey Olion also shares that lead and has 276 digs, second on the team.
• One area that has not been kind to MWSU is blocking. Their 1.57 blocks per set is the second fewest in the MIAA. Friedrichs is the team leader with 74 total and six solo put backs. 

No. 25 Northwest Missouri Bearcats
• The Bearcats have slid down to No. 25 in this week's AVCA rankings. They're 21-7 overall and 9-7 in the MIAA, tied with Central Missouri and Fort Hays State for fourth in the league standings.
• The Bearcats are mired in a free fall, having lost five straight matches. Their last win came on Oct. 22 at Missouri Southern. They will host Lindenwood Friday evening. 
• Northwest Missouri's Maddy Bruder has 391 kills and 3.69 kills per set this season, fourth in the MIAA. She is one of two Bearcats with 200+ kills, having reaching double-digits in her last four matches. Miranda Foster stands at 265 kills this season, second on the team, and Alexis Williams, Jackie Becker and Darcy Sunderman are all between 172-177 kills. 
• Sarah Dannettell has been NWMSU primary setter. She has accounted for just over 83% of the Bearcats assists this season. Her 9.93 assists per set are seventh in the MIAA. She also has 89 kills, 225 digs 47 blocks and 10 service aces this season.
• Similar to the Griffons, Northwest Missouri has found success through serving. They average 1.14 aces per set with Olivia Nowakowski leading the way with 26. Maddie Bruder has added 21 and they have 121 aces to their opponents 84.
• Northwest is only fifth in the MIAA with 2.08 blocks per set, but Alexis WIlliams sits in the top three in blocks per set with 1.05. She leads the team with 102 total blocks. Jackie Becker is next up with 75 blocks. Williams posted four blocks the first time they played the Jennies and has 15 in her last four matches.
• Nowakowski is the Bearcats defensive specialist. She has 480 digs for Northwest and her 4.53 digs per set is sixth in the MIAA. Bruder has also come up with 296 digs for Northwest.