DENVER, Colo. (Sept. 8, 2017) - In a battle of two top-20 teams, No. 16 Central Missouri Volleyball fell to No. 17 Tarleton State 3-1 (22-25, 19-25, 25-22, 15-25) to suffer their first defeat of the 2017. Just hours later though, UCM got back in the win column with a 3-1 win (25-22, 25-23, 22-25, 25-15) over Regis.

Game Two: No. 16 Central Missouri 3, RV Regis 1 (25-22, 25-23, 22-25, 25-15)
Aubree Bell became the first Jennie this season to reach 20 kills in a match. She knocked 21 to lead all scorers. Setter Ally Offerdahl reached 50 assists for the second time in six games. She had a game-high 53. UCM also connected for seven service aces, four from Katie Carlson and three from Audrey Fisher. 

Kylie Hohlen led the Jens defense with 20 digs and Carlson added 10. Molly Lawrence had a team-best four blocks. 

The first set was a back-and-forth affair. At 12-12 neither team had the upper hand midway through the set. The Jennies finally broke things open with a 4-0 run, getting three kills from Bell. The Rangers got back to within two on a few occasions, but no closer and the Jens took the opening set, 25-22. Bell finished with nine of her 21 kills in set one.

Set two was another tight one with the score knotted at 11-all to start. This time though, it was Regis who took a four-point lead, 17-13, but the Jens stormed right back, retying the set at 17. It was Regis who again broke the tie, getting on top 21-18. The Rangers then broke a 22-22 tie with a kill from Kelsey Green, but committed three straight errors to close the set and give the Jennies a 25-23 win. 

It looked like the Jens were about to make easy work of set three, getting ahead 4-1 and 9-2. Trailing by five, 12-7, the Rangers ratted off 10 straight points to take a five-point lead of their own, 17-12. Just when it looked like the Jens had lost all momentum, a 6-0 run retied the set at 21-21. Four different Jens landed a kill during the stretch. Still though, it wasn't enough to reclaim the lead and Regis won their first set 25-22 in a wild affair. 

The Rangers couldn't bring their momentum with them to set four, as they committed four straight errors to open the frame. They were able to rally and get to within one, 7-6, but no closer than that. UCM scored the next five points and were able to cruise to a 25-15 win.

Regis had three with 10+ kills. Green had the team-high mark of 15. Caitlyn Burroway had 14 and Nikki Kennedy added 10. Burroway recorded a double-double with a team-high 16 digs. Silvia Basso dished out 28 assists.

Game One: No. 17 Tarleton State 3, No. 16 Central Missouri 1 (22-25, 19-25, 25-22, 15-25)
Audrey Fisher had a great afternoon with a career-best 16 kills. The freshman committed only two errors on 27 attempts, hitting .519 for the match. She also played a part in five of the Jennies six blocks. Kasey Hohlen and Aubree Bell each collected nine kills and Hannah VanBuskirk added eight. Setter Ally Offerdahl set up most of those kills with 46 assists. She also had three kills of her own and seven digs. 

Kylie Hohlen set a new career-best in digs with 30. She also had the Jennies lone service ace. The Jennies recorded 70 team digs. Katie Carlson was in double-digits with 10 and Carly Offerdahl chipped in nine. 

It was a very even first set, tied as late at 9-9 after a kill from Molly Lawrence. The TexAnns took their largest lead to that point, 13-10, but UCM got back to within one at 14-13 on a kill from Kasey Hohlen. Tarleton however then scored six of the next seven points to take a 20-14 lead, but again the Jennies did not give up. It was UCM's turn for a 6-1 run and again got back to within one, 21-20. Bell had two kills during the stretch and the TexAnn's helped out with a pair of attack errors. But two blocks from Hannah McManus and a kill and a service ace from Hailey Roberts were the difference late in the set as the TexAnn's went up 1-0 with a 25-22 set win.

Set two saw the TexAnn's lead from the outset. Leading by two, 9-7, they pushed their advantage to eight, 19-11, with a 10-4 run and cruised the rest of the way to win set two 25-19. Fisher and VanBuskirk each had four kills for the Jens in the frame. 

UCM pulled out a win in set three, having to come back from being down as many as three in the early going. Three straight points tied the set at seven-all and Bell gave the Jens their first lead, 8-7 with a kill. The Jennies never led by more than three at any point in the set, but held the lead the rest of the way and got on the board with a 25-22 win. Fisher landed half of her total kills in the match with eight in set three. She was a perfect 8-for-8 for a 1.000 attack percentage and Ally Offerdahl set her up totaling 16 assists.

The momentum quickly faded for the Jens though in the fourth set. TSU scored four of the first five points and never trailed on their way to a 25-15 win to win the match 3-1. After making it an 11-8 game, the Jennies never again scored two-straight points and were out scored 14-7. 

Tarleton State won the hitting percentage battle .253 to .133. They also out-blocked the Jens 11-6 with seven coming from Amber Strange. Roberts finished with a match-high 20 kills and picked up a double-double with 15 digs. 

Central Missouri will play two more games Saturday, Sept. 9 to close out the Colorado Premier Challenge. At 10 a.m. UCM will take on No. 8 Ferris State with their second opponent determined by the outcome against the Bulldogs.