Jennies Continue MIAA Play at Home This Weekend

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Nov. 3, 2016) - No. 16 Central Missouri returns to Warrensburg after a three-match road trip this weekend to take on Emporia State and No. 13 Washburn.

When: Friday-Saturday, Nov. 4-5

Where: Warrensburg, Mo. - UCM Multipurpose Building

Opponents: Emporia State - Friday, Nov. 4 - 6 p.m.
                      No. 13 Washburn - Saturday, Nov. 5 - 3 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 slid down one spot in this week's AVCA top-25 poll to No. 16. 
• With just two weeks remaining in the MIAA regular season, the Jennies are 7-6 and are currently in sixth place, one-half game behind fifth place Fort Hays State (8-6). The top eight teams make the MIAA Tournament Championship with the top four hosting quarterfinal matches Tuesday, November 15. 
• Emporia State is 13-15 on the season and 5-9 in the MIAA. They earned a pair of five-set victories last weekend at home against Northwest Missouri and Missouri Western and sit in ninth-place, one half game behind Lindenwood for a spot in the MIAA Tournament.
• Washburn has steadily climbed the AVCA ranks and is currently 13th in the poll. They're 22-5 overall and 12-2 in the MIAA, sitting in a tie for second place in the MIAA. 

Story Lines
• The Jennies and Hornets have met 55 times previously. Central Missouri is closing in on 50 all-time wins against ESU, holding a 48-7 all-time mark vs. the Hornets. The last time Emporia State defeated UCM was in October of 2014.
• Central Missouri won their 50th all-time match against Washburn last season and are 50-14 all-time against the Ichabods. Washburn's last win over UCM came in Sept. of 2014.
• The Jennies return home for the first time since Oct. 21-22, concluding their season-long three match road trip at 2-1. 
• 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 slid one spot down to No. 16 in this week's AVCA Poll. They had been ranked 15th for the past two weeks. Their 16th ranking matches their lowest of the season from the beginning of October. 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 11/2/2016)
On the offensive end of the floor, the Jennies are third in the MIAA in both team hitting percentage (.237) and kills per set (13.83). Cheyanne Lyons is the team leader and is sixth in the league at 3.21 kills per set. The Jens have two in the MIAA top-10 in hitting percentage with Kourtney Thompson fifth at .344 and Kasey Hohlen sixth at .344. In conference only games, Maddie Jones is fourth hitting .335 and Kasey Hohlen fifth at .333.

Also in conference only games, the Jennies have four in the MIAA top-10 in service aces. Tyler Downs tops the conference at 0.40 aces per set. Carly Offerdahl is sixth at 0.27 and Katie Carlson and Kylie Hohlen are tied for ninth at 0.25. Downs is sixth in MIAA-only games with 9.40 assists per set and Kylie Hohlen ninth in digs with 4.07.

At the national level, the Jennies rank 15th in kills per set and 29th in both hitting percentage and assists per set. Thompson is a big help to those last two, she's 39th in hitting percentage and 43rd in assists per set. 

Career Milestones
Senior setter Kourtney Thompson cracked 3,000 career assists last weekend and now stands at 3,112 for her career. Her 9.82 assists per set are seventh all-time at UCM

Maddie Jones cracked 900 career kills last weekend. At 924 she is just 76 away from 1,000. Jones is also closing in on 250 career blocks. She is just seven blocks away from the milestone with 243.

Fellow senior Mackenzie Harding went over 100 kills for the season two weeks ago and is at 222 for her career. Harding has 121 kills this season, a career-best. She also needs just one more blocks to reach 100 for her career.

Like Harding, junior Molly Lawrence went over 200 career kills two weeks ago and stands at 216. She has put up big numbers for the Jennies landing a career-high 197 kills this season.

Junior Kasey Hohlen went over 100 career total blocks in the Jennies last match at William Jewell. She has 101 blocks in less than two full seasons. 

Cheyanne Lyons returned from injury to play in a pair of sets at William Jewell. She needs just 22 more kills to reach 400 for her career.

Jennies at Home
This season, Central Missouri has posted an 8-2 record when playing at home. The Multi has been especially kind to the Jennies during Coach Piontek's tenure. UCM is 108-9 all-time in home games under Piontek.

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 97-0 under Piontek. That includes going 9-0 this season. Things normally work out even if they fall a little short. They are 17-0 this season and 192-10 when hitting at least .200 for a match. 

Against Ranked Opponents 
The Jennies match against Washburn will be their 10th this season against an AVCA ranked opponents. The
Jennies thus far are 3-6 in such games this season. At the helm of the Jennies, Coach Piontek is 55-36 against ranked opponents. With one more matches against a ranked opponent following this week, the Jennies will play a total of 11 of their 31 regular season matches against ranked opponents.

Against Unranked Opponents 
The Jennies have faced one of the toughest schedules in the nation, playing nine of their first 25 games against ranked opponents this season, including five matches against top-10 teams. In their 17 games against unranked opponents, the Jennies have made the most of their opportunities posting a 15-2 record against teams outside the top-25. With their win over William Jewell on Tuesday, Coach Piontek is 200-10 against unranked teams in his eight years as Jennies head coach. 

Scouting the Opposition
Emporia State Hornets
• The Hornets may have saved their season last week with five-set wins over Northwest Missouri and Missouri Western. They stand at 5-9 in the MIAA and are 13-15 overall. They have dropped their last four MIAA road contests and are just 1-8 this season away from home. 
• The Hornets have played in 28 matches this season with eight needing five sets to determine a winner. Their 106 sets played are the most in the MIAA.
• Defensively, Emporia State is in the top half of the league in both blocks and digs. They lead the MIAA in total digs and are 16th in the country with 1,765 total. Allie Maloney has more than 500 digs herself this season with 510 and is second in the MIAA with 5.00 digs per set. The Hornets also have the league's number two blocker in Danika Burton. She is one of two MIAA players with more than 100 blocks at 103 and her 1.16 blocks per set is second in the conference.
• The only other Hornet in the MIAA top-10 this season is Josie Williams. She sits 10th in the MIAA in kills per set with 2.88. Her 297 kills are over 100 more than the 2nd-most for ESU, 192 kills for Jamie Hauptman, last week's MIAA Player of the Week.  Shayla Cotman leads ESU with a .251 attack percentage, knocking 166 kills on 443 attempts with 55 errors.
• Emporia State uses a pair of setters to run their offense. Both Kimberly Bell and Emma Dixon are nearing 500 assists for the season. Bell leads ESU with 4.68 assists per set and Dixon is just a hair behind with 4.35 assists per set.
• Serving has been an issue for the Hornets this season. They have allowed 169 service aces while landing just 113 themselves. Emma Dixon and Allie Maloney are over 20 aces with Dixon's 23 leading the Hornets. 

No. 13 Washburn Ichabods
• Washburn is 22-5 and 12-2 in the MIAA and coming off of a pair of home wins over Northwest Missouri and Missouri Western. They sit second in the MIAA, but are just 5-3 on the road.
• The Ichabods have moved up in the rankings this season and are currently ranked a season-best 13th by the AVCA. 
• Washburn is one of the top defensive teams in the NCAA. They lead the MIAA with 17.64 digs per set and are 17th in opponent hitting percentage at .129. They're also allowing just 0.47 service aces per set, fewest in the MIAA. 
• Reigning MIAA Specialist of the Week, Alyssa Carney, leads the MIAA with 5.25 digs per set. With her next dig, she'll reach 500 for the season. She averaged 5.67 digs per set last weekend. 
• Offensively, Leanna Willer and Sarah Vicroy have been the leaders for the Ichabods. Willer is fourth in the MIAA with 3.80 kills per set. She is also fifth in the conference in service aces, landing 0.32 aces per game. Vicroy is averaging 2.87 kills per set with 264 total kills this season. Her .391 attack percentage is third in the MIAA. As a team, Washburn is hitting .221 and sits fifth in the MIAA. 
• Ichabod setter Natalie Bates has 815 assists this season. Her 8.67 assists per set rank eighth in the MIAA. She hasn't recorded fewer than 27 assists in game since the first of October. 
• Vicroy has also been a big help in the middle when it comes to blocking. She is eighth in the MIAA with 0.93 blocks per set and has 86 total blocks with 11 solo blocks. She has 19 blocks in her last four matches.