WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Oct. 25, 2018) - It's the penultimate week of the regular season for the Jennies Volleyball. They'll be on the road in Kansas for two, including an AVCA top-25 matchup.
Opponents: #7 Washburn Ichabods (25-1, 13-1 MIAA)
Emporia State Hornets (12-15, 6-8 MIAA)
When: Saturday-Sunday, Oct. 27-28
Saturday, Oct. 27 at Washburn - 6 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 28 at Emporia State - 3 p.m.
Where: Saturday, Oct. 27 at Washburn - Topeka, Kan.
Sun, Oct. 27 at Emporia State - Emporia, Kan.
How to Watch
• This weekend's matches will be broadcast live on the MIAA Network. Fans can access the stream by visiting www.themiaanetwork.com/ucmmules. The game will also feature live stats which can be found at www.ucmathletics.com.
First Serve
• Central Missouri is on the road for the final time this regular season. They'll be taking on No. 7 Washburn and Emporia State.
• A note about this weekend's matches, due to Kansas High School Volleyball, the Jennies and Hornets will play Sunday, Oct. 28, meaning there is no game this Friday.
• The Jennies moved up to No. 15 this week in the latest AVCA top-25 poll. For four weeks they were ranked either 16 or 17.
Story Lines
• Central Missouri has more than 50 all-time wins against both Emporia State and Washburn. They are 52-7 all-time against the Hornets and 52-17 against Washburn.
• The Jennies last loss to Emporia State came at home in October of 2014.
• UCM and Washburn have had a heated rivalry of late, with the Jennies winning seven of the last 13 since 2011.
• The Jens swept Emporia State earlier this season at home, but fell 3-1 to Washburn.
• With just two weeks left in the regular season, the Jennies sit fifth in the MIAA regular season, just one game behind fourth-place Northwest Missouri. Although the two teams split during the regular season, the Bearcats hold the tie-breaker due to total sets won, 4-3.
• On the road, the Jennies have gone 7-2 this season. They finished both 2016 and 2017 with eight road wins.
• This will be just the fifth time in Coach Piontek's tenure as head coach the Jens will be playing on a Sunday. He is 3-1in the first four.
Quick Hits
Last Time Out
• Central Missouri picked up a big win last weekend, 3-1, over Northwest Missouri. The Bearcats took the opening set, but the Jens came back to win the final three. UCM hit .283 for the match and three Jennies had double-digit kills. UCM's 13 blocks were their second-most this season.
Previously Against Washburn/Emporia State
• Central Missouri swept Emporia State back in September, but it wasn't easy. The first two sets both went to extra points and were decided by just two points.
Kylie Hohlen set a then-career-high with 21 kills. The Jens and Ichabods then battled hard for four sets with Washburn taking three. All four were decided by eight points or less. UCM hit .242 for the match and three Jens were in double-figure kills and five had double-digit digs.
UCM in the Polls
• In the American Volleyball Coaches Poll, the Jennies moved up two spots to No. 15. They had been ranked as high as No. 9 and have appeared in all 10 polls.
• The first NCAA Regional Ranking came out and saw UCM ranked eighth. The top-eight teams move on to the NCAA Tournament with three automatic bids going to conference tournament winners and five at-large bids.
• In the MIAA preseason poll, the Jens were picked to finish fourth behind Nebraska-Kearney, Missouri Western and Central Oklahoma. They finished with 85 points and one first place vote.
Individual Milestones
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Hannah Engelken is 14 kills away from 200.
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Kylie Hohlen needs 17 more digs to get to 1900 for her career.
• Hohlen also needs 45 points to get to 1,000.
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Rylee Neigenfind is 14 kills away from 300 career kills.
.300 or Better
• If you didn't see the match, a good way to know if UCM won is to look at the hitting percentage. Under Coach Piontek, Central Missouri 110-0 when they hit at least .300. While it hasn't happened often under Piontek, UCM is just 3-13 when surrendering a .300 attack percentage to their opponent. The Jennies hit .333 Tuesday against Lindenwood, their highest attack percentage this season.
League Leaders
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Audrey Fisher is third in the MIAA hitting .346 and fourth with 3.42 kills per set.
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Kylie Hohlen is fifth in kills per set with 3.24.
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Ally Offerdahl is second in assists per set at 11.03.
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Hannah Engelken is second with 1.06 blocks per set.
• As a team, the Jennies are second in the league with 14.23 kills per set and 13.38 assists per set.
• They also sit third in the league with 18.46 digs per set.
• The Jennies .233 attack percentage is fifth in the league.
Top-25 Opponents
• This season the Jennies have already played nine top-25 opponents. They are 4-5 in those games this season and are 61-47 all-time under Coach Piontek against ranked opponents. The Jennies first opponent this weekend, Washburn is currently ranked seventh.
Heating Up
• In 12 of the Jennies last 13 matches they have hit at least .200 with seven matches above .250 and three higher than .300.
• During that stretch, the Jennies have hit .252 and raised their team hitting percentage .020 points from .211 to .231.
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Audrey Fisher has been a big reason for the bump as she leads the team with a .353 attack percentage during that span.
Hannah Engelken is also right at .300.
• The Jennies are 10-3 during these 13 games.
Block Party
• Central Missouri is averaging 1.93 blocks per set this season, way up from their total of 1.64 last season.
• UCM has five matches this season with at least 10 blocks and are averaging 2.25 in their last five matches.
• Freshman
Hannah Engelken has more than 100 blocks already this season, the first time a Jen has picked up more than 100 blocks since 2014.
Scouting the Opposition
#7 Washburn Ichabods (25-1, 13-1 MIAA)
• Washburn has dropped only match this season and are 25-1 and 13-1 in the MIAA. They're in the top-10 nationally and are second in the first region rankings
• The Ichabods are yet to go to five sets this season and have 14 3-0 sweeps.
• The big three in Topeka is Allison Maxwell, Erica Montgomery and Genna Berg. Maxwell has a team-best 268 kills and 3.15 kills per set. Montgomery has 252 and Berg 242. All three are also hitting over .200 this season.
• As a team, the Ichabods are hitting .243 while opponents are barely over .100 at .111.
• The Ichabods 19.8 digs per set leads the MIAA. Faith Rottinghaus leads the team with 5.26 digs per set. Washburn is also strong on serve reception, having allowed just 73 service aces in 26 matches.
• Setter Shayla Conner is a three-time MIAA Player of the Week. She's the reigning MIAA Specialist of the Week. She averages 9.55 assists per set and 3.53 digs per set with 77 kills, 24 service aces and 27 blocks.
• Washburn is landing 2.25 blocks per set. Makayla Maxwell leads the team with 78 total, but there are three Ichabods who have more than 50 blocks already this season.
Emporia State Hornets (12-15, 6-8 MIAA)
• Emporia State is 12-15 this season and 6-8 in the MIAA. The Hornets won their last match at Fort Hays State. Emporia State has played just six matches at home this season, they are 3-3 with losses in two of their last three.
• Tatum Graves is the Hornets leader on offense with 292 kills and 2.89 kills per set. She also has 105 blocks this season to lead the team and 15 service aces.
• As a team, the Hornets are hitting just .175 while opponents are up to .195 against them. Graves is hitting .302 but no other regular is hitting above .216.
• The Hornets utilize a pair of setters in Emma Dixon and Yuchen Du. Dixon leads the team with 6.49 assists per set and 655 total. Du is a jack of all trades who has 3.31 assists per set, 2.34 kills per set and 2.04 digs per set.
• Allie Maloney is the defensive leader with 4.77 digs per set. She is one of four players with more than 200 digs already this season. ESU has been vulnerable on the serve, allowing 144 service aces this season.
• Contrarily, they've scored jus 82 aces themselves, led by Graves' 15.
