UCM Volleyball Regular Season Comes to a Close this Weekend

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Nov. 1, 2018) - No. 15 Central Missouri Jennies Volleyball concludes the 2018 regular season with two home matches this weekend.

Opponents: Missouri Southern Lions (3-23, 3-13 MIAA)
                    Southwest Baptist Bearcats (4-25, 0-16 MIAA)

When: Friday-Saturday, Nov. 2-3
           Friday, Nov. 2 vs. Missouri Southern - 6 p.m.
           Saturday, Nov. 3 vs. Southwest Baptist - 3 p.m.

Where: Warrensburg, Mo. - UCM Multipurpose Building

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 returns home to conclude the regular season this weekend. UCM will take on Missouri Southern and Southwest Baptist.
• The Jennies are ranked 15th in the AVCA poll for the second straight week. It has now been six straight weeks that UCM is ranked 15-17.
• UCM has clinched a spot in the MIAA Tournament with their 12-4 record. The first round takes place next Tuesday, Nov. 6 at campus sites. 

Story Lines
• Central Missouri has just two combined losses against this weekend's opponents. They are 68-1-1 all-time against the Lions and 66-1 against Southwest Baptist. 
• The Lions only win came back in 1995. 
• The Bearcats defeated UCM in the first ever meeting between the schools, back in 1977. Since, the Jennies have won 65 straight.
• Coach Piontek has never lost to either the Lions or the Bearcats.
• There is a lot still to be determined for the postseason this weekend. Central Missouri is fifth in the MIAA standings, one game behind Northwest Missouri and Central Oklahoma. If the Jens can hop one after this weekend, they'll host the MIAA quarterfinal round game.
• Despite being fifth in the MIAA, the Jennies are ranked fourth in the Central Region. There is still one more set of rankings to be released before the NCAA selection show. The top-8 advance to the NCAA Tournament. 

Quick Hits
Last Time Out
• Central Missouri picked up a big win last weekend, 3-0, over #7 Washburn. The Jennies then turned around and took a 3-2 win over Emporia State. The Jennies led 2-0 over the Hornets before ESU frightened them by tying the match at 2-2. The Jennies came back in set five with a 15-10 win to take the match. 

Previously Against Missouri Southern and Southwest Baptist
• Central Missouri swept both of these teams back at the end of September. In the six combined sets, only twice did either team reach 20 points, that being Missouri Southern both times with a high of 21. Central Missouri hit .319 for the match against the Bearcats with 45 kills and 16 errors. 

UCM in the Polls
• In the American Volleyball Coaches Poll, the Jennies stayed put at No. 15. They had been ranked as  high as No. 9 and have appeared in all 11 polls. 
• The second NCAA Regional Ranking came out and saw UCM move up from eighth to fourth. The top-eight teams move on to the NCAA Tournament with 3 automatic bids going to conference tournament winners and 5 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
• Aubree Bell is 19 kills away from 400. 
• Audrey Fisher needs 17 more blocks to get to 100 this season and 30 more for 200 in her career. 
• Kylie Hohlen also needs 0.5 points to get to 1,000 for her career. 
• With 58 more assists Ally Offerdahl will reach 2500. 

.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.

League Leaders
• The Jennies are the only team in the MIAA with two in the top-five in kills. Audrey Fisher and Kylie Hohlen go back-to-back with 3.42 and 3.29 kills per set to rank fourth and fifth.
• Audrey Fisher also ranks third in hitting percentage at .348. and 12th in blocks per set with 0.80
• Ally Offerdahl is second in assists per set at 11.08. 
• Hannah Engelken is third with 1.03 blocks per set.
• UCM is the only team with four in the MIAA's top-20 in digs per set. Abby Skrastins, Kylie Hohlen, Carly Offerdahl and Ally Offerdahl all rank between 9-19 in the league. 

Top-25 Opponents
• This season the Jennies have already played 10 top-25 opponents. They are 5-5 in those games this season and are 62-47 all-time under Coach Piontek against ranked opponents. The next time the Jennies may face a ranked opponent would be in the MIAA Tournament.

Block Party
• Central Missouri is averaging 1.97 blocks per set this season, way up from their total of 1.64 last season. 
• UCM has six matches this season with at least 10 blocks and are averaging 2.67 in their last three 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. Audrey Fisher has 83. The last time two Jennies picked up more than 100 blocks in a season was in 2009 when they had three: Bradye Peniston, Paula Harris and Abby Gruenbacher.

Senior Day
• Central Missouri will hold senior day festivities follwing their match Saturday with Southwest Baptist. The Jennies will honor their two seniors, Kylie Hohlen and Carly Offerdahl, as well as junior Tyler Downs who will be starting graduate school in the fall of 2019. 

Scouting the Opposition
Missouri Southern Lions (3-23, 3-13 MIAA)
• Missouri Southern enters this match having lost four straight. MSSU is 3-23 overall and 3-13 in the MIAA. Each of those four losses came by 3-0 scores.
• Statistically, Missouri Southern is at the bottom of the MIAA in nearly every category. They don't have an individual ranked in the top-10 of any category. However as a team, they have allowed th fewest opponent blocks this season at 131.5 and fewest per set at 1.48. 
• Janelle Brehm leads the team with 256 kills and 2.88 kills per set. She is near the MIAA top-10 in kills ranking 12th. The Lions don't have anyone in the top-20 in hitting percentage. 
• The Lions also have a setter just shy of the MIAA top-10 ranking 11th in Kylee Kaaihue. She averages 6.69 assists per set this year and also has 128 digs and 55 kills. 
• Defensively, Morgan Nash leads the team with 4.03 digs per set which is also 11th in the MIAA.
• Alicia Pickett has 66 blocks to lead the Lions.
• Kylie Kaaihue is the leader with 16 service aces. They've allowed 138 aces this season.

Southwest Baptist Bearcats (4-25, 0-16 MIAA)
• Southwest Baptist is in the middle of a 17 game losing streak and is yet to pick up a win in MIAA competition this season.
• Like the Lions, they rank near the bottom in the MIAA in most stat categories.
• The Bearcats do have some individuals ranked in the top-10 though. Dana Neal leads the team and is eighth in the MIAA with 0.29 service aces per set. Both she and Bailey Baumann have 27 aces this season. Baumann averages 0.27 aces per set and ranks 12th in the league.
• Baumann is also in the top-15 in the league in digs per set with 3.66. She leads the Bearcats with 366 this season.
• Delanie Tipton leads the team with 88 total blocks and her 0.90 blocks per set ranks seventh. The Bearcats have three in the MIAA top-20 in individual blocks per set. 
• Makenzie Bouse is the primary setter for SBU. She's got 699 assists this season and her 7.06 assists per set are eighth.
• Offensively, Greysen Roster leads the team with 220 kills and 2.20 kills per set. She also leads the team in hitting percentage at .217. Tipton has the second most kills with 168 and 1.71 kills per set.