Jennies Volleyball Opens 2016 Season This Weekend at Hampton Inn-Vitational

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Aug. 30, 2016) - Central Missouri Jennies Volleyball begins their 2016 season this weekend in Pensacola, Fla. with four matches at the Hampton Inn-Vitational.

When: Thursday-Saturday, Sept. 1-3

Where: Pensacola, Fla., hosted by the University of West Florida

Opponents: Findlay - Thursday, Sept. 1, 6 p.m.
                   Carson-Newman - Friday, Sept. 2, 2 p.m.
                   West Florida - Friday, Sept. 2, 7 p.m.
                   Wheeling Jesuit - Saturday, Sept. 3, 11:30 a.m.

How to Watch: Live stats are available for all matches and live video will be available for the Jennies match against host school, West Florida.

Season Preview:
While the Jennies will bring back one All-American and five All-MIAA student-athletes, half of the 2016 roster hasn't stepped foot on the court for the Jennies. The 2015 Jennies made their 33rd straight NCAA Tournament appearance while winning their 25th MIAA Championship, ending the year ranked No. 11 in the AVCA year-end poll. The mix of veterans and young players will look to continue Central Missouri's great tradition and make this "New Era" of Jennies Volleyball as successful as the last.     
    The Jennies lost a lot of fire-power on the outside with the 2015 graduating class. Top returner on the outside is senior Cheyanne Lyons who came on strong at the end of last season to finish with 163 kills and a .271 attack percentage. She ended the year with three straight double-digit kill matches and had six on the season. Her strong finish helped her get named to the All-Conference team.
    Sophomore Kylie Hohlen helps the Jennies all the over the court and proved last year to be a valuable two-way player. Hohlen started all 35 games as a freshman and landed 214 kills while also coming up with 373 digs. She tallied four double-doubles and have seven double-digit kill efforts and 15 double-digit dig games, including four of her last five.
    Junior Molly Lawrence will add depth for the Jennies as an outside hitter/right side. Lawrence played in 25 sets coming up with 14 kills and a .143 attack percentage.
    Freshmen Gabby Johnson, Riley Neigenfind and Hannah VanBuskirk could also help the Jennies both at outside hitter and at right side.
    Perhaps the position with the least turnover to the 2016 season is at middle hitter. Back is AVCA All-American senior Maddie Jones and All-MIAA junior Kasey Hohlen. Jones finished second in the MIAA in hitting percentage at .349. She landed a career-best 362 kills and finished with 401 points, aided by her 67 total blocks. Jones was second on the team with 22 double-digit kill games. Hohlen led the team with 74 total blocks in just 100 sets played. She also totaled 225 kills and finished with a .303 attack percentage. She finished the year with double-digit kills in three of her last four matches.
    Also back for her senior season is Mackenzie Harding. Harding, in her fourth year with the Jennies, played in 30 sets last season with 19 kills and 16 total blocks. Along the front row, Harding can play in the middle and on the right side.
    UCM added to the position bringing in freshman Cassidy Loberg, who played four years at Millard West HS in Omaha, Neb.     
    Another position of strength for the Jennies is senior setter Kourtney Thompson. Thompson is a two-time Second Team All-MIAA member, entering her third year as the Jennies starting setter. Thompson set a career-high last season with 1,315 assists. Her 10.69 assists per set were third in the MIAA. Thompson also chipped in 262 digs and 138 kills and eight double-doubles. She set a career-high with 63 kills and had two 60+ assist matches.
    Behind Thompson is redshirt freshman Tyler Downs. Downs joined the Jennies last season but sat out her freshman season.   
    For the first time in four years the Jennies will be looking to replace All-American libero Annie Reilly. UCM has no shortage of defensive specialists on the roster as they look for one to emerge. Junior Katie Carlson has been with the Jennies for two seasons and saw her most playing-time last season. She played in 83 sets picking up 25 assists. Carlson also proved to be one of the better servers on the team, landing 20 aces, ranking fourth.
    UCM could also look to Kylie Hohlen to fill the position, who played mostly on the outside last season.
    Redshirt freshman Carly Offerdahl spent last season on the Jennies bench, learned Coach Piontek's system and could be ready to make an impact in 2016.
    The Jennies also brought in junior-transfer Fuatino Manu and freshman Abby Skrastins to fill out the position. Manu comes after playing two seasons at Western Nebraska Community College and Skrastins played for four years at Colorado-Springs Christian School.
    The Jennies season gets started when the calendar flips to September at the Hampton Inn-Vitational in Pensacola, Fla. They'll take on Findlay, Carson-Newman, West Florida and defending champions Wheeling Jesuit to open the season, Sept. 1-3. They'll then head back to Denver, Colo. for the Colorado Premier Challenge Sept. 9-10. UCM faces Angelo State and Metropolitan State on the 9th with their match on the 10th determined by their record on day one.
    The Jennies first set of home matches will come at the Peggy Martin Crossover Challenge, Sept. 16-17. Over the two days UCM faces Henderson State, Arkansas Tech, Southern Arkansas and Newman.
    MIAA play gets started the next week, Sept. 23-24 as UCM concluded their season-high six match home stand with Central Oklahoma and Pittsburg State.
    The month of October is shaping up to be a crucial one as UCM has 10 conference matches, six coming on the road. The Jens open the month at rival Nebraska-Kearney on the first before coming home to play Lindenwood. UCM has two more road trips in the month at Missouri Southern and Southwest Baptist Oct. 14-15 and at Central Oklahoma and Pittsburg State Oct. 28-29. Sandwiched between, UCM will be at the Multi for rematches with Fort Hays State and Nebraska-Kearney the 21st and 22nd.
    Sliding in the middle of their conference schedule is a nonconference bout at William Jewell to start November.
    Following the match with WJC, the Jens are back home to face Emporia State and Washburn. The Jennies will finish up the regular season November 12 at Northwest Missouri.
    The MIAA takes place Nov. 15-19 with the top seed playing host to the final eight teams. Regionals will come at the end of the month, Nov. 30-Dec. 4 and the NCAA Elite Eight will be held Dec. 8-10 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.    

Scouting the Opposition
Findlay
2015 Overall Record: 26-9
2015 Conference Record: 15-3 (Great Lakes Intercollegiate Conference)
Series History: First ever meeting
Head Coach: Wick Colchagoff (380-225, 19th Season)
• The Oilers went 26-9 last season and won their opening round matchup against Hillsdale in the Midwest Regional Quarterfinal.
• Back for Findlay is 2015 leading hitter Hannah Tong. She led the Oilers with 509 kills and 4.01 kills per set while hitting .284 and was named a GLIAC First Team All-Conference and First Team All-Region selection.
• Findlay also has returning Midwest Region Freshman of the Year Hailee Olson. The lead setter, Olson dished out 1,523 assists and 11.90 assists per set.
• The Oilers recorded 1.8 blocks per set, led by senior Nickyla Garverick. She hit the century mark, blocking 104 shots including 18 block solos. Garverick also finished third on the team with 310 kills and was second with a .379 hitting percentage.

Carson-Newman
2015 Overall Record: 29-8
2015 Conference Record: 18-4 (South Atlantic)
Series History: First ever meeting
Head Coach: Dave Franklin (0-0, First Season)
• Advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight before losing to Wayne State (Neb.). Defeated Lenoir-Rhyne 3-1 in the Southeast Regional Finals after falling to them in the SAC Conference semi-finals.
• Finished second in the SAC Regular Season with an 18-4 record and 29-8 overall.
• Three Eagles seniors landed on the 2015 SAC All-Conference Team. Setter Anna Patton returns after making the All-SAC Second Team. She led the team with 1430 assists and 10.51 assists per set, while also digging out 361 attack attempts.
• Like Findlay, Carson-Newman also has the defending conference Freshman of the Year. Natalie Harris returns after totaling 321 kills and hitting .235. She also led the team with 97 total blocks and recorded 19 solo blocks.
• Defensive leader Taylor Lowe also comes back. She was the Eagles libero and finished 2015 with 558 digs and 4.07 digs/set.

West Florida
2015 Overall Record: 28-7
2015 Conference Record: 19-1 (Gulf South)
Series History: UCM leads 7-1
Last Meeting: 2012, UCM 3-0
Head Coach: Melissa Wolter (356-162, 17th Season)
• West Florida is ranked 23rd in the AVCA Preseason Rankings.
• The Argonauts fell in three sets in the opening round of the South Regional Championships to end their 2015 season at 28-7. They won the regular season championship finishing 19-1 in the GSC, but lost to North Alabama 3-2 in the GSC Tournament Championship.  
• Two of West Florida's three All-GSC First Team selections are back for 2016. Those are setter Monique StCyr and libero Tori Martella. StCyr dished out 10.43 assists per set while also landed 119 kills. She also led the GSC with 0.49 services aces per set and 55 total aces. Martella finished the year with 4.97 digs per set to lead the conference.
• Kathryn Torre finished third in 2015 with 318.5 points. She led the team with a .329 attack percentage and 1.04 blocks/set.

Wheeling Jesuit
2015 Overall Record: 39-4
2015 Conference Record: 16-0 (Mountain East)
Series History: First ever meeting
Head Coach: Christy Benner (459-114, 15th Season)
• The Cardinals are the defending Division II National Champions and are ranked second in the AVCA Preseason Coaches Poll. They'll also return six starters from their 2015 squad.
• They finished in the NCAA top-5 in eight categories in 2015, including third with a .296 hit %.
• The Cardinals are bringing back a pair of 2015 AVCA All-Americans in Haley Kindall and Andrea Thobe. Kindall scored 444 points with 365 kills and 126 blocks from the middle. She was 24th in D2 with a .356 hitting percentage. Thobe was second in Division II with 1,696 total assists and fourth with 12.2 assists per set. She also helped in defense with 392 digs and 61 blocks.
• Wheeling Jesuit will also return their top-two point scorers in 2016. Emma Schleucher scored 450 points to lead the Cardinals with 365 kills, 44 service aces and 79 blocks. Kayce Krucki landed 390 kills and scored 447.5 points for WJC.