WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Sept. 14, 2016) - Eleventh-ranked Jennies Volleyball returns to Warrensburg for their home debut this weekend, Friday-Saturday Sept. 16-17 for the Peggy Martin Challenge. This marks the 31st year that Jennies Volleyball has hosted a tournament. UCM will play in four matches over the course of two days against teams from the Great American and Heartland Conferences.
When: Friday-Saturday, Sept. 16-17
Where: Warrensburg, Mo. - UCM Multipurpose Building
Participating teams: Central Missouri
                             Arkansas Tech
                             Henderson State
                             Newman
                             Northwest Missouri
                             Southern Arkansas
How to Watch: Live stats will be available for all 10 matches of the tournament. Live video will be provided for all four Jennies matches.
Quick Hits
Peggy Martin Challenge History
Central Missouri has held at least one early season tournament 31 different years. Over that time, the Jennies have gone 112-17 in either the Peggy Martin or UCM Challenge. The UCM Challenge changed its named to the Peggy Martin Challenge starting in the 2009 season.
UCM in the Polls
After going 3-1 for the second straight week, the Jennies dropped in the AVCA Coaches Poll from the No. 6 position to No. 11. UCM started the season at No. 9 in the preseason poll and last week's rank matches their highest ranking from the 2015 season. The Jens have been ranked in every AVCA poll since its inception in 1986, a span of 386 polls.
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.
Conference Leader Board (as of 9/14/2016)
The Jennies remain one of the top defensive teams in the MIAA in terms of digs. They're third in the conference in digs per set with 16.76.
Katie Carlson has been the biggest reason for that, leading the team with 4.31 digs per set which is fifth in the conference.
Kylie Hohlen has also contributed with 3.66 digs per set
On the offensive end of the floor, Central Missouri is third in the MIAA averaging 13.93 kills per set.
Cheyanne Lyons is the team leader and is sixth in the league at 3.28 kills per set.
Kourtney Thompson is seventh in the MIAA in assists per set with 9.72. Her 282 total assists are sixth the MIAA. Thompson finished third in the league each of the last two seasons, averaging 10.69 assists per set last season and 10.27 in 2014.
Jennies Records
Jennies setter
Kourtney Thompson is up to 282 assists through eight games this season. She now has 2,720 career assists. Her 968 assists per set already ranks seventh all-time in Jennies history. To reach 10th in career assists at UCM, Thompson needs 906 more.
Jazzy Juniors
Three juniors have already been putting up career numbers. After seeing limited playing time their first two seasons,
Katie Carlson and
Molly Lawrence have provided helping hands in the Jennies six wins this season. Carlson has been the Jennies starting libero and leads UCM with 125 digs. She was named the Specialist of the Week for the first time in her career last-week.
On the offensive end,
Molly Lawrence has already surpassed her career total entering the year in kills. She has 44 kills which is fourth on the team, and landed a career-high 13 against West Florida. Â
Third junior,
Kasey Hohlen, also earned her first conference award this week, being named the MIAA Hitter of the Week. She's fifth in the conference in hitting percentage at .368 and last week landed 42 kills and hit .447.
Versus Ranked Opponents
The Jennies so far this season are 2-2 against ranked opponents, as they continue their tough opening to the schedule. Last year, the Jennies went 5-4 aganst AVCA top-25 teams and are 54-32 under Coach Piontek. The Jennies don't take on any ranked AVCA top-25 teams at the Peggy Martin Challenge, but when conference season starts up, their first opponent will be currently No. 7, Central Oklahoma.
All-Time Wins
After winning three matches last weekend, the Jennies have a total of 1,392 wins in their history, leaving them just eight shy of reaching 1,400 program wins. Â
New Faces
So far this season, five Jennies have seen the floor who didn't a season ago. Redshirt freshman
Carly Offerdahl and
Tyler Downs saw their first action in two years and freshmen
Rylee Neigenfind and
Abby Skrastins, along with transfer
Fuatino Manu got some playing time the past two weeks.
Hot Starts
The Jennies have won the opening set in seven of eight matches thus far in 2016. They've scored 198 points, their most in any set and are 6-0 when they win the first set. Last season, the Jennies won the opening set in 28 of 35 matches.
Scouting the Opposition
Henderson State Reddies
• Henderson St. has begun the year 5-4, but have picked up victories in four of their last six. They went 2-2 at their own invitational last weekend, defeating MIAA schools Missouri Southern & Pitt St.
• The Reddies are in the NCAA top-20 in team assists with 399. Their primary setter, Sariah Boney, is ninth in the nation with 347 assists and has two matches this season with at least 60.
• Henderson State also leads the conference in total kills with 417. Two Reddies have accumulated over 100 kills with Courtney Bolf's 129 leading the way and Sharon Tukuaoga second with 120.
• Defensively, the Reddies' Sydney Skelton tops the GAC with 163 digs and her 4.66 digs per set is fourth. Adrianna Hartmann is averaging nearly a block/set for HSU with 0.93 as the Reddies put back 1.7 blocks/set as a team.
Arkansas Tech Golden Suns
• The Golden Suns have opened their year at 5-3 and recently went 3-1 at the Henderson State Tournament, with wins over MIAA foes Pittsburg State and Lindenwood.
• Hunter Eshnaur has helped Arkansas tech on the serve with 17 aces this season, which is 10th in the NCAA. The Golden Suns average 1.5 aces/set to rank third in the GAC.
• Eshnaur's next kill will also be her team-leading 100th of the season. She helps out all over the floor and is second on the team with 92 digs and fourth with 11 blocks. McCall Wilkins' 25 blocks and Madison Nagel's 140 digs are team highs.
• The Golden Suns employ two setters with Sarah Rosinke as the primary, averaging 7.10 per set with a team-best 213 total assists. Amanda Milnick also chips in and has 103 and 3.68 assists/set.
Southern Arkansas Lady Mule Riders
• Southern Arkansas went 1-3 last weekend at the Henderson State Tournament with their only win coming against MIAA opponent Missouri Southern as they begin the season 3-5.
• Three Lady Muleriders have over 80 kills this season with Alexia Southern's 86 leading the way. Alli O'Banion is right behind at 85 kills and Serena LeDuff has 83. LeDuff's 109 digs are also a team-high.
• Like Arkansas Tech, Southern Arkansas ride with two setters in Katy Cooper and Savannah Pillow. Cooper leads the team with 214 assists and 8.92 assists in seven matches. In five matches, Pillow has 100 assists and 8.33 assists per set.
• Three Lady Muleriders are up over 10 blocks for the season. Kaitlyn Reiner leads the team with 17 while O'Banion and Brittany Lampkin each have 14. As a team though, SAU is being outblocked 56-32.
Newman Jets
• Newman has started the season out hot winning six of their first nine games. Their recent five match winning streak came to an end with a loss to MIAA foe, Nebraska-Kearney.
• The Jets lead the NCAA thus far in digs per set with 22.65. Libero Anna Burton is third individually with 7.04 digs per set and her 197 digs also ranks third in the nation.
• Newman is also second in the nation in total assists with 459. Brook Conley leads the team averaging 10.64 assists per set and has 298 assists on season. She is also just six digs shy of reaching 100 for the year.
• The Jets have another NCAA top-3 category as they are third in team kills at 488. Emily Harvey's 130 kills are 20th in the NCAA and she leads the Jets with 3.94 kills per set. Laura Hageman is second on the team with 81 kills.
