Top-25 Battle Highlights Volleyball's Weekend

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Oct. 12, 2017) - Twentieth-ranked Central Missouri Volleyball is on the road tonight and tomorrow for two more MIAA matchups, including one with an AVCA Top-10 opponent.

Opponents: Fort Hays State (9-12, 1-6 MIAA)
                    No. 8 Nebraska-Kearney (18-2, 6-1 MIAA)

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

When: Thursday, Oct. 12 - 6 p.m. at Fort Hays State
             Friday, Oct. 13 - 6 p.m. at Nebraska-Kearney

How to Watch
Matches this weekend will be webcast online through Central Missouri's Blueframe Internet portal on the MIAA Network at TheMIAANetwork.com/ucmmules It is a pay-per-view broadcast. Live stats can be found at UCMathletics.com.

First Serve
• Central Missouri remains at No. 20 this week in the AVCA Coaches Poll after going 2-0 last week. Three weeks ago they reached their highest position in the poll, No. 15 after starting the season at No. 21 in the preseason poll.  
• The Jennies are on the road this weekend but then return home for four matches in eight days all taking place at the Multi. UCM is 6-2 in road games this season. They have played only three games in 2017 in Warrensburg. 
• This weekend the Jennies travel to Fort Hays State and Nebraska-Kearney. The Tigers have lost two straight matches and are just 1-6 in the MIAA. The Jennies will be their fourth ranked MIAA opponent in eight matches. The Lopers have been ranked in the AVCA top-10 all season long. They are No. 8 this week and have won three straight. 

Story Lines
• All-time Central Missouri is 24-2 against Fort Hays State and are 9-1 playing the Tigers in Hays. The two teams met twice last season. The Tigers won the first meeting 3-1, but UCM defeated them in the following two, including the first round of the MIAA Tournament. 
• No team in the MIAA has a better winning percentage against the Jennies than Nebraska-Kearney. The Jennies are 12-9 all-time against the Lopers, but just 1-4 when playing in Kearney. These two teams also met three times last year with the Lopers winning all three. They also ended UCM's season in the semifinals of the MIAA Tournament played at Kearney. 
• After their matches this weekend, UCM will have only 10 games left in the regular season. Starting next week, seven of their final 10 matches are at home though. 
• Last season, UCM went 11-7 in conference and finished fourth overall in the regular season.
• The Jennies went 23-10 overall in 2016, their 36th straight season with at least 20 wins. 

Quick Hits
Last Time Out
Central Missouri picked up a pair of wins and are now riding a three-match winning streak with three consecutive 3-0 victories. UCM defeated Southwest Baptist in Bolivar before turning around and coming home, defeating Missouri Southern last Saturday. 

UCM in the Polls
The Jennies remained ranked at No. 20 this week in the AVCA Coaches Poll. It's their second straight week being ranked No. 20. They reached a high of No. 15 Sept. 11 and 15. They are the third-highest ranked MIAA team in the poll. The Jens have been ranked in every AVCA poll since its inception in 1986, and last week, hit 404 straight weeks, the longest in the AVCA. 

Conference Leader Board (as of 10/11/2017)
Central Missouri's offense is at the top of the league in three major categories. UCM leads the MIAA with 13.49 assists per set as well as kills with 14.37 and are in the top-15 in the NCAA in both. They are second in the league with a .248 attack percentage. 

Ally Offerdahl has been the one racking up the assists. Her 11.27 assists per set is third in the MIAA and is 19th in the NCAA. Kasey Hohlen leads the MIAA and is 26th in the NCAA with a .372 attack percentage. She is also seventh in kills per set with 3.24. Freshman Aubrey Fisher's .314 attack percentage is fifth. 

Defensively, Kylie Hohlen leads the league and 11th in Division II with 6.09 digs per set.

Audrey Fisher is not only fifth in the league in hitting percentage, she is at the top of the conference with 0.37 service aces per set. 

Individual Milestones
• Kasey Hohlen needs three more kills for 200 for the season. It would be the second 200-kill season of her career.
• Audree Fisher is 17 kills shy of 200.
• Kylie Hohlen is at exactly 600 career points. She also needs 25 more digs to reach 1200. 
• Molly Lawrence is three blocks away from reaching 100. 

Fabulous Freshmen
They aren't household names yet, but they are starting to be. Three true freshmen and one redshirt freshman have started at least 17 of 19 games. Setter Ally Offerdahl is most involved in the team's offense passing out 11.27 assists per set. Audrey Fisher and Aubree Bell are each over 100 kills for season. Redshirt freshman Hannah VanBuskirk is also averaging more than two kills per set and is fourth on the team with 22 total blocks. 

Stifling Defense
Four Jennies are now averaging at least two digs per set through eight matches this season. Kylie Hohlen's 6.09 leads the team. Senior Katie Carlson has 188 digs and 2.81 digs per set and both Offerdahl's as well with Carly coming up with 2.31 digs per set and Ally 2.10. 

The Jens have also been seeing an uptick in their blocking numbers. The Jens are sitting at 1.48 blocks per set, led by Kasey Hohlen's 0.69 and 46 total blocks. 

Central Missouri is also near the top of the conference in opponents service aces, allowing an average of just 0.75 aces per set. They've given up 50 aces on the season in 67 sets. 

.300 or Better
If you didn't see the match, a good way to see if UCM won is to look at the hitting percentage. Under Coach Piontek, Central Missouri 103-0 when they hit at least .300. While it hasn't happened often under Piontek, UCM is also just 3-10 when surrendering a .300 attack percentage to their opponent. 

Double-Dipping
Only two Jennies this season have recorded a double-double. Ally Offerdahl has five assist-dig double-doubles while Aubree Bell has three kill-dig double-doubles. No Jennies has recorded a triple-double since Sarah Dallas in 1997. Offerdahl seems to have the best chance. She's been in double-figure assists every game this season and has five double-digit dig matches. Her career-high in kills is eight. 

In MIAA Play
Through 7 MIAA matches, Hannah VanBuskirk has seen her kill numbers go from 2.43 to 3.04 in MIAA matches. Kasey Hohlen is also doing more with 3.48 kills per set. Audrey Fisher averages 0.61 aces and 0.72 blocks in MIAA matches.

Scouting the Opposition
Fort Hays State Tigers - 9-12, 1-6 MIAA
• Fort Hays State has had a difficult start to the MIAA season, having already faced three teams ranked in the AVCA top-25. They are 0-3 in those matches and are 1-6 in the MIAA and 9-12 overall. 
• The Tigers have undergone some turmoil to start the season, with Head Coach Kurt Kohler stepping down. He's been replaced by Brandi Fairbank, who joined FHSU as a first year assistant prior to the 2017 season.
• Of the Tigers nine wins, none have come at home. They are 0-5 playing in Hays and 0-2 on their current homestand.
• The Tigers offense is led by Kylie Rollman and Magan Alexander. Rollman leads the team with 2.77 kills per set and Alexander is right behind with 2.72. Callie Christensen (2.09) and Sydney Dixon (2.31) are also averaging more than two kills per set. The Tigers are also allowing the most kills per set in the MIAA at 13.01
• Fort Hays State has the fewest service aces in the MIAA with just 62 and 0.78 aces per set. Tatum Bartels leads the team with 17 and Amirah Bentley has 11, but also 26 errors.
• Bentley is the Tigers top setter with 8.97 assists per set. She has 646 total assists on the season. She also has 32 kills and 144 digs, averaging 2.0 digs per set.
• Christensen is one of the top blockers in the MIAA. She sits sixth with 1.11 blocks per set and has 88 total, including a league-best 21 solo blocks. Tatum Bartels also has a number of blocks for the Tigers with 64 total.
• Also in the MIAA top-10 is Taylor White who is fifth in digs. She has 371 this season and is averaging 4.70 digs per set. Five other Tigers are coming up with more than two digs per set. Abbie Hayes is the closest to White with 2.55 digs per set.
• The Tigers .165 hitting percentage checks in at 10th in the MIAA. Christensen is the only Tiger to have an attack percentage higher than .200 with more than 100 kills. Rollman is hitting .187 and Alexander is at 178. Dixon has 164 total kills and is hitting .141 for the season. 

No. 8 Nebraska-Kearney Lopers (18-2, 6-1 MIAA)
• Nebraska-Kearney has lost just two matches this one, both to ranked opponents, one in the MIAA. They are on a three-match winning streak and are 18-2 for the season and 6-1 in the MIAA.
• The Lopers are ranked eighth this week in the AVCA Coaches poll, moving up one spot.
• The site of where the Jennies 2016 season came to an end, the Lopers are a perfect 10-0 this season when playing at home. In fact they have lost only three sets this season playing at the Health and Sports Center.
• Its no surprise the Lopers are at the top of the MIAA in nearly every statistical category, but the only one they lead in is opponents hitting percentage which is at .120 for the season.
• Setter Lindsey Smith is second in the league in assists per set and is 18th in the NCAA. She is averaging 11.28 assists per set and was last week's MIAA Specialist of the Week.
• Two Lopers are in the MIAA top-10 in kills per set. Tara Ziegelbein is sixth with 3.33 and Kaitlynn Thomas is eighth at 3.23. Ziegelbein is also second in the league in attack percentage at .355.
• Ziegelbein does it on defense two as she leads the Lopers with 1.18 blocks per set which is second in the MIAA. Of her 79 total blocks, 12 have been solo. Smith is second on the team with 41 blocks.
• Ellie McDonnell has long been one of the better liberos in the MIAA. She is currently averaging 4.54 digs per set which ranks seventh. Morgan Stute has nearly three digs per set at 2.84.
• UNK has 86 total service aces in 67 sets for a 1.3 ace per set average. Smith leads the team with 21. She is one of four Lopers with at least 10 aces. Julianne Jackson has 16, MK Wolfe, 15 and Stute has 14.
• Kendall Schroer is just four kills away from reaching 200. She too is almost at three kills per set. She has 196 total kills and averages 2.97 kills per set.