MIAA Volleyball Tournament Kicks Off Tonight

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Nov. 14, 2017) - With the regular season in the rear-view mirror, Jennies Volleyball now turns their focus to the postseason and an opening round match in the MIAA Championship Tournament.

Opponent: Northwest Missouri (17-14, 11-7 MIAA)

Where: Warrensburg, Mo. - UCM Multipurpose Building

When: Tuesday, Nov. 14 - 7 p.m.

How to Watch
Tuesday's match 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 went 2-0 last week and ended the regular season on a four match winning streak. They moved up to No. 18 in the AVCA rankings and are No. 9 in the latest NCAA Regional rankings as of Nov. 8. They have been ranked no lower than 20th in the coaches poll at any point this season.
• The Jennies and Bearcats split the season series this year with the home team winning each match. 
• Northwest Missouri has won 17 games this season including 11 in the MIAA. They finished in a tie for fifth place in the league standings with Lindenwood, but earned the tie-breaker over the Lions based on sets won against each other.
• Tuesday marks the first night of the MIAA Tournament Championship. The semifinals will be held at the site of the highest remaining seed Friday, Nov. 17 with the finals to be played at the same venue Saturday, Nov. 18. 

Story Lines
• Northwest Missouri is one of Central Missouri's longest tenured rivals. UCM is 92-8 all-time against NWMSU, however the Bearcats and Jennies have split the season series each of the last two years. The Bearcats win in 2016 was their first against Central Missouri since 1984. 
• Only one time in team history have the Jennies failed to make the semifinals of the MIAA Tournament. That came in 2007. Central Missouri has won 14 MIAA Conference Tournament Championships with their latest coming in 2015. 
• The Jennies failed to make the NCAA Regional Championships for the first time in 33 years last year. They might need to win the MIAA Tournament to make a return trip. The winner of the MIAA Tournament receives and automatic bid to the regional. The Jennies can also earn an at-large bid by placing in the top-eight. 
• Central Missouri volleyball with their fourth place finish this season has finished no lower than fourth in the MIAA in team history. 
• Last season, UCM went 11-7 in conference and finished fourth overall in the regular season and made it to the semifinals of the MIAA Tournament.
• 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 two wins last weekend defeating Southwest Baptist and Missouri Southern with a pair of 3-0 sweeps. The Jennies ended the regular season at 24-7 and 14-4 in the MIAA. Kasey Hohlen led the Jennies in kill in both matches and had 28 kills over the weekend. 

UCM in the Polls
The Jennies moved up one spot to No. 18 this week in the AVCA coaches poll after being ranked 19th for the last two weeks. They reached a high of No. 15 Sept. 11 and have been no lower than 20th all season long. 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 this week, hit 409 straight weeks, the longest in the AVCA. 

In the NCAA Regional Rankings, the Jennies came in at No. 9 for the second straight week. The top eight teams make the NCAA regional with automatic bids going to conference tournament champions out of the MIAA, Northern Sun and GAC conferences. The next set of regional rankings come out Wednesday, Nov. 15 and only include matches through last weekend. 

Conference Leader Board (as of 11/13/2017)
Central Missouri's offense is at the top of the league in three major categories. UCM leads the MIAA with 13.46 assists per set as well as kills with 14.57 and are ranked in the top-15 in the NCAA in both. They are second in the league with a .246 attack percentage. 

Ally Offerdahl has been the one racking up the assists. Her 11.31 assists per set is second in the MIAA and is 18th in the NCAA. Kasey Hohlen leads the MIAA and is 22nd in the NCAA with a .368 attack percentage. She is also fourth in kills per set with 3.50. Freshman Audrey Fisher's .331 attack percentage moved her to third in the MIAA.

Defensively, Kylie Hohlen leads the league and 10th in Division II with 6.12 digs per set.

Audrey Fisher is not only third in the league in hitting percentage, she is also second in the conference with 0.36 service aces per set and 39 total aces. 

Around the MIAA
The other three MIAA quarterfinal round matchups also take place Tuesday night. Top seed Nebraska-Kearney hosts No. 8 Emporia State, Missouri Western, who shared for the regular season championship hosts No. 7 Washburn and No. 3 Missouri Western hosts No. 6 Lindenwood. 

Individual Milestones
• Katie Carlson is 14 digs away from hitting 700. 
• Aubree Bell has 200 kills and 200 digs in a season, the first since Kylie Hohlen in 2015. She needs just one more kill for 300 in her freshman year. 
• Kasey Hohlen is one kill away from reaching 800 for her career and seven blocks from 200.
• Kylie Hohlen needs just 42 digs for 1500 in her career. 
• Abby Skrastins needs just two digs to reach 200. 
• Molly Lawrence had the fourth-best single match hitting percentage in team history last week against Southwest Baptist with eight kills on nine attempts with no errors. 

.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 106-0 when they hit at least .300 and did so twice this past weekend. While it hasn't happened often under Piontek, UCM is also just 3-10 when surrendering a .300 attack percentage to their opponent. The Jennies hit .311 in their match with UCO. 

This Tuesday in Missouri
Jennies Coach Flip Piontek has had uncanny success both on Tuesday and when playing teams from UCM's home state of Missouri. In his 8+ seasons, Piontek is undefeated when playing on Tuesday's at 34-0 and he is also 99-3 when playing teams from Missouri. This Tuesday the Jennies take on Northwest Missouri from Maryville, Mo. as Piontek looks for his 100th career win against teams from Missouri. 

Home Cooking
Central Missouri has started out the year at 10-0 at home this season. The Jennies have gone undefeated at home seven times previously, with the last being in 2013. The only way the Jennies host another home match is if all three of the teams ahead of them lose Tuesday night. 

Scouting the Opposition
Northwest Missouri Bearcats (17-14, 11-7 MIAA)
• Northwest Missouri finished the regular season at 17-14 and 11-7 in the MIAA. They earned the number five seed in the MIAA tournament over a tie breaker with Lindenwood based on sets won in matches against each other. The Bearcats ended the season winning three of their last four matches.
• Four Bearcats have more than 200 kills this season. Maddy Bruder is third in the MIAA with 3.80 kills per set and has 430 total. Darcy Sunderman (228), Sofia Schleppenbach (215), and Morgan Lewis (206) all crossed over 200 kills recently. Schleppenbach has come on strong as of conference season averaging 2.39 kills per set in MIAA games. Bruder has also had a strong conference season, averaging 4.27 kills per set which is second in the MIAA. 
• Sarah Dannettell averages 6.32 assists to lead the Bearcats. She also has picked up 84 kills and 161 digs with 34 total blocks. NWMSU has been using two setters with Maddy Aherns dishing out 5.13 assists/set this season and 5.48 in conference games.  
• Lewis has been the team's top-blocker this season with 82. The Bearcats 1.83 blocks per set are 10th in the MIAA. Schleppenbach has 74 total blocks, averaging .76 blocks per set. 
• The Bearcat defense is one of the best in the MIAA averaging 18.07 digs per set. The leader of the dig party has been libero Olivia Nowakowski. She averages 5.57 digs per set which is third in the league. Nowakowski is one of seven Bearcats with more than 100 digs this season. Bruder has 380 and 3.39 per set. Also over 200 digs is Sunderman who has 255. Gaby Dasilva has 163. 
• Aherns has also helped out on the serve with 19 aces in her last 11 matches. Her 25 total share the team lead with Sunderman. Nowakowski is also over 20 aces with 22. 
• The Bearcats are hitting .202 as a team with 1,484 total kills and 598 errors on 4,387 attempts. They also allow opponents to hit .171 which is the fourth best opponent hitting percentage in the MIAA.