WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Sept. 28, 2016) - Sixth-ranked Jennies Volleyball puts their nine-match winning streak on the line this weekend with a pair of road matches at Fort Hays State and Nebraska-Kearney.

When: Friday-Saturday, Sept. 30 - Oct. 1

Where: Hays, Kan. - Gross Memorial Coliseum
            Kearney, Neb. - Health and Sports Center

Opponents - Fort Hays State Tigers - Fri., Sept. 30, 6 p.m.
                    No. 3 Nebraska-Kearney Lopers - Sat., Oct. 1, 7 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 moved back up to No. 6 in the AVCA poll this week. They climbed four spots to match their season high from the Week One poll. The Jennies have had trouble cracking the top-five the last few years. They've been ranked sixth on four occassions in 2015 and 2016, but their last time in the top-five was the opening week of the 2014 season. 
• Central Missouri opened the MIAA portion of their schedule with back-to-back wins over No. 7 Central Oklahoma and Pittsburg State. 
• Fort Hays State is 13-2 to start the season, but both of their losses came last week at the start of MIAA play. Their two losses were to AVCA ranked opponents.  
• Nebraska-Kearney is third in the AVCA poll for the second straight week. They are one of five undefeated teams at 17-0 and have gotten off to a 3-0 start in the MIAA. 

Story Lines
• Central Missouri has had success against Fort Hays State, they're 22-1 all-time against the Tigers. FHSU's lone win came in 2003.
• Against the Lopers, Central Missouri is 12-6. The two teams met three times last season, with the home team winning each match. UCM also defeated the Lopers at Edmond, Okla. in the MIAA Tournament semifinals. 
• The Jennies have won nine straight matches and need one more to equal their longest winning streak from last season. They've also swept their last eight opponents, 3-0. 
• At 1,398 wins, Central Missouri can reach 1,400 all-time program wins if they go 2-0 this weekend.
• Last season, UCM went 15-3 in conference. They have never lost more than five conference matches in a single season and no more than three under Coach Piontek. 
• The Jennies went 30-5 in 2015, and won their 14th MIAA Tournament Championship. 

Quick Hits
UCM in the Polls
Central Missouri matches their season-high spot of No. 6 in the AVCA poll this week, moving up four spots after going 2-0 with wins over No. 7 Central Oklahoma and Pittsburg State last weekend. UCM started the season at No. 9 in the preseason poll and have been ranked as high as No. 6 this season, currently and in week one. The Jens have been ranked in every AVCA poll since its inception in 1986, a span of 387 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. Washburn received the most points to lead the presesaon poll.  

Leader Boards (as of 9/27/2016)
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 16.72. Katie Carlson has been the biggest reason for that, leading the team with 4.62 digs per set which is second in the conference. Kylie Hohlen has also contributed with 3.51 digs per set

On the offensive end of the floor, the Jennies rank fifth nationally and lead the MIAA with 14.5 kills per set. Cheyanne Lyons is the team leader and is third in the league at 3.72 kills per set. Kasey Hohlen is ninth at 3.00 kills per set. Hohlen and Mackenzie Harding are 4th and 5th in the MIAA in attack percentage at .368 and .360, respectively. 

Kourtney Thompson is up to fifth in the MIAA in assists per set with 10.28. 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. Thompson has also been coming up with some timely kills this season. She has 72 and is ninth in the MIAA with a .341 attack percentage. 

Jennies Records
Jennies setter Kourtney Thompson is up to 483 assists through 14 games this season. She now has 2,921 career assists. Her 9.77 assists per set already ranks seventh all-time in Jennies history. To reach 10th in career assists at UCM, Thompson needs 705 more and  79 more to reach 3,000.

Jazzy Juniors
Two 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 10 wins this season. Carlson has been the Jennies starting libero and leads UCM with 217 digs. 

On the offensive end, Molly Lawrence has already surpassed her career total entering the year in kills. She has 91 kills  which is fourth on the team. She also leads UCM with 35 blocks.   

Savvy Seniors
All four Jennies seniors have made an impact this season. Cheyanne Lyons leads the team and is third in the MIAA with 3.72 kills per set. Kourtney Thompson is having a big year averaging 10.28 assists, 1.53 kills and 2.26 digs per set. Maddie Jones missed five games before returning to action and has 2.07 kills per set. Finally, Mackenzie Harding has started the past nine matches and is hitting .360 with 57 kills and 25 blocks.  
Versus Ranked Opponents
The Jennies so far this season are 3-2 against ranked opponents. Last year, the Jennies went 5-4 aganst AVCA top-25 teams and are 55-32 under Coach Piontek. For the third time this season, UCM will be in a top-10 matchup when they travel to Kearney, Neb. to take on the Lopers. Earlier in the season, UCM fell to defending champions and then-second ranked Wheeling Jesuit, 3-2. Last week they defeated then-seventh ranked Central Oklahoma, 3-0. 

Roll out the Red Carpet
Four weeks into the season and the Jennies have picked up four MIAA weekly awards. The Jennies started the season with back-to-back MIAA Specialists of the Week in Kourtney Thompson and Katie Carlson. The last two have belonged to the hitters as Kasey Hohlen and Cheyanne Lyons each brought home their first career MIAA awards. 

New Faces
So far this season, five Jennies have seen the floor who didn't a season ago. Redshirt freshmen Carly Offerdahl and Tyler Downs saw their first action in two years and freshmen Rylee Neigenfind and Abby Skrastins, along with transfer Fuatino Manu, have seen plenty of court time. 

Hot Starts
The Jennies have won the opening set in 13 of 14 matches thus far in 2016. They've scored 348 points, their most in any set and are 12-0 when they win the first set. Last season, the Jennies won the opening set in 28 of 35 matches. 

Scouting the Opposition
Fort Hays State Tigers
• Fort Hays State has faced a difficult MIAA schedule through three matches. They fell to a couple of ranked opponents last week in #3 Nebraska-Kearney and #18 Washburn, but defeated Emporia State to sit at 1-2 in conference and 13-2 overall. 
• The Tigers are in the top-five in the NCAA-II in four stat categories: blocks per set (2.54), total assists, (715), total kills (753), and total blocks (142). 
• Hannah Wagy controls the Tiger offense and leads the MIAA with 11.5 assists per set. Wagy also helps out defensively with 108 digs and 26 total blocks. Her 598 total assists are second in the nation.
• The Tigers have Callie Christensen to thank for most of their blocks this season. She's also second in the country in total blocks at 73 and eighth with 1.33 blocks per set. Both marks lead the MIAA. Megan Anderson is also in the MIAA top-five in blocks with 1.02 blocks per set and eighth connecting on a .343 hitting percentage. 
• Offensively, the Tigers rely on Christal Whitten and Rebekah Spainhour. Whitten is second in the MIAA with 3.96 kills per set and her 214 total kills lead the conference. Spainhour's 3.23 kills per set are fifth and she has been very efficient with a .352 attack percentage, sixth in conference. 
• Fort Hays libero Ari Jacobsen has 212 digs and is eighth averaging 4.08 digs per set. 
• The Tigers 73 service aces are tied for fourth in the MIAA. They've landed six more aces than their opponents, led by Whitten's and Wagy's 15. Chandler Hillman has 11 aces and Spainhour, 10. 

No. 3 Nebraska-Kearney Lopers
• Nebraska-Kearney is the highest ranked team in the MIAA, at No. 3 for the second straight week. They enter the weekend as one of five teams still undefeated in the NCAA and with the most wins.
• The Lopers have the highest hitting percentage plus/minus in the NCAA-II at .279. UNK's .333 attack percentage is second in the nation and they lead the way defensively, holding opponents to a .054 hitting percentage.
• Two Lopers offense is led by Tara Ziegelbein and Annie Wolfe. Wolfe was this week's MIAA hitter of the week and has a .455 attack percentage and 2.98 kills per set. Ziegelbein leads the MIAA and is second in the NCAA in hitting percentage, landing a kill 48% of the time. Wolfe's 46% is third in the NCAA. 
• Kearney's top hitter in terms of kills this season has been Kaitlynn Thomas. Her 3.13 kills per set is seventh in the MIAA.  
• With 698 total assists, Kearney has the third most assists in the NCAA. Reigning MIAA Specialist of the Week Lindsey Smith is third in the MIAA and in the NCAA top-20 with 11.17 assists per set. She averaged over 13 assists/set last week.
• As a team, the Lopers are averaging 15.53 digs per set. Libero Ellie McDonnell paces the Loper defense with 4.26 digs per set. Wolfe also helps out with her 2.56 digs per set average. 
• Serving is a big part of Nebraska-Kearney's attack, both offensively and defensively. They've allowed the fewest service aces in the MIAA at 0.55 per and 29 total. They've also landed 67 themselves, led by Smith's 18. 
• Behind Fort Hays, the Lopers are the best blocking team in the MIAA with 2.35 blocks per set. Mackenzie Puckett has a team-best 49 blocks this season. Ziegelbein is right behind at 45 and Wolfe has 36.