Volleyball Season Starts Thursday at Peggy Martin Challenge

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Aug. 21, 2018) - It's officially volleyball season as the Jennies season gets started this weekend! No. 22 Central Missouri will take on four opponents in three days this weekend at the Peggy Martin Challenge.

Opponents: Aug. 23 - Drury Panthers (0-0)
                Aug. 24 - No. 14 Arkansas Tech Golden Suns (0-0)
                Aug. 24 - Truman State Bulldogs (0-0)
                Aug. 25 - No. 4 Florida Southern (0-0)

Where: Warrensburg, Mo. - UCM Multipurpose Building

When: Thursday-Saturday, August 23-25
            Thursday, August 23 vs. Drury - 6 p.m.
            Friday, August 24 vs. Arkansas Tech - 1 p.m.
            Friday, August 24 vs. Truman State - 7 p.m.
            Saturday, August 25 vs. Florida Southern - 1 p.m.

How to Watch
• All Jennies game will be broadcast live on the MIAA Network at www.themiaanetwork.com/UCMMules. The broadcasts are pay-per-view with option for a single day pass ($10) or a volleyball season pass ($50). Fans can also subscribe to an All-Access pass to get all pay-per-view sports for the 2018-19 season ($125).

Quick Hits
In 2017
• Last year, Central Missouri improved by two wins from 2016, finishing the year 25-8 overall. They went 14-4 in the MIAA and finished in fourth place in the league standings. The Jens won their opening round match of the MIAA Tournament 3-1 over Northwest Missouri, before falling in the semifinals 3-1 to Nebraska-Kearney, ending their season.
• The Jens were terrific at home going 11-0 at the Multipurpose Building. 
• UCM finished the year going 8-2 in their final 10 regular season games, including winning their last four in a row.
• All seven Jennies starters made the All-MIAA team. It is the fifth year in a row that seven Jennies have been named to the all-conference team. 

This Weekend
• The Jennies have a difficult start to the season, facing off against four teams who finished above .500 last year, two teams who made an NCAA Regional and the national runner-up.
• Florida Southern, who played in the National Championship game in 2017, is ranked fourth in the country to start the season and return two First Team All-Sunshine State performers.
• Arkansas Tech was 35-1 last season, including a win over the Jennies. They were ranked 14th in the AVCA preseason coaches poll.
• The Jens also take on Drury and former MIAA foe Truman State who won 19 and 17 games respectively in 2017.

UCM in the Polls
• In the American Volleyball Coaches Preseason Poll, the Jennies were ranked 22nd in the nation. They were third among MIAA teams with Nebraska-Kearney ranked eighth and Central Oklahoma 16th. Missouri Western is the first team out of the top-25 and is receiving votes. Ten teams in the top-25 are from the Central Region, including the Jennies and Arkansas Tech. The top three teams are all from the Northern Sun. 
• 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. 

Around the MIAA
All 12 MIAA teams get their season started this week at various tournaments. Joining the Jennies in Warrensburg for the Peggy Martin Challenge is Missouri Southern. 

Individual Milestones
• Audrey Fisher needs one kill to reach 350 for her career. She is also 13 blocks away from 100.
• Kylie Hohlen reached 500 career kills and 1500 career digs last season. She also needs 12 more service aces for 100 in her career. 
• Ally Offerdahl went over 1300 assists in the Jennies final match of 2017. She needs 16 more digs for 300.
• Carly Offerdahl needs seven service aces to reach 50 in her career. 
• Abby Skrastins reached 200 career digs last season. 
• Hannah VanBuskirk hit 253 kills in her first season on the floor. She needs eight blocks to get to 50.

.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 107-0 when they hit at least .300. While it hasn't happened often under Piontek, UCM is just 3-11 when surrendering a .300 attack percentage to their opponent. 

Avoiding a Steak
• Of the four teams the Jennies are facing this weekend, they have lost their previous meeting to three of them. Most recently, Arkansas Tech defeated the Jennies last season. Florida Southern was victorious back in 2014 and Drury picked up a 3-2 win in their last meeting back in 2003. The Jennies haven't faced Truman State since 2015, when they picked up a 3-0 win.

All-MIAA
• The Jennies are bringing back five of their seven All-Conference performers from the 2017 team. Kylie Hohlen, and Aubree Bell were named to the First Team, Ally Offerdahl and Audrey Fisher the Second Team and Hannah VanBuskirk was named Honorable Mention.

League Leaders
• Central Missouri led the MIAA last year in a pair of offensive categories. They passed out 13.36 assists per set and landed 14.44 kills per set. They were also second in service aces with 1.30 per set and in hitting percentage, connecting at a .242 rate. 

Scouting The Opposition
Drury Panthers (0-0)
• Drury went 19-12 last year and 8-10 in the GLVC regular season, failing to qualify for the conference tournament.
• The Panthers were 4-0 against MIAA competition in 2017.
• Drury was sixth in Division II and led the conference with nearly 41 attacks per set. They were also 19th in digs per set with 18.91, second in the GLVC, and 20th with 13.27 assists per set, third in the league. 
• Setter Kendra Sater returns after leading the league with 11.24 digs per set and was named to the All-GLVC First Team.
• Senior Sarah Kite also returns. She was All-GLVC Second Team and led the Panthers with 355 kills and 3.54 kills per set, fifth in the conference. On defense she also averaged 2.87 digs per set. 

No. 14 Arkansas Tech Golden Suns
• The Golden Suns went into the NCAA Regional undefeated before losing in the quarterfinal round to No. 2 seed Southwest Minnesota State. They finished the year at 35-1 and won both the GAC regular season at 16-0 and the GAC Tournament.
• Arkansas Tech was fifth in the nation in hitting percentage at .287. They were also seventh in kills per set with 14.67 and eighth in total kills with 1,805. In regular season conference games, ATU dropped just seven sets in 16 matches.
• Junior Amanda Milneck was the GAC Offensive Player of the Year with 10.72 assists per set and 0.38 aces per set. 
• Sophomore Lexie Johnston was the Freshman of the Year and made the All-GAC First Team after hitting .405 which was sixth in the nation and landed 2.89 kills per set and put back 0.87 blocks per set. 

Truman State Bulldogs
• For the 28th straight season, the Bulldogs finished the year over .500 at 17-15 in 2017. They were 9-9 in the GLVC and fell to McKendree in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. 
• The Bulldogs were one of the best blocking teams in the country, finishing ninth in blocks per set with 2.54 and eighth in total blocks with 300. When attacks to get through, the Bulldogs remained proficient on defense, averaging 18.18 digs per set.
• They also led the GLVC in service aces with 181. Savvy Hughes led the team last year with 35 aces.
• Senior Natalie Brimeyer led the conference with 1.31 blocks per set. Offensively, she hit .304 for the season and was named Second Team All-GLVC. 

No. 4 Florida Southern
• The national runner-up in 2017, Florida Southern was 30-7 last year, and stormed through the Sunshine State conference going 19-1. They defeated Cal-State San Bernadino and Gannon in the NCAA quarterfinals and semifinals before falling to Concordia-St. Paul in the finals.
• The Mocs were fifth in the nation in assists with 1,763 and 10th in hitting percentage at .266 in 2017.
• Senior setter Bethany Besancenez was a First Team SSC member last year after leading the league in assists per set with 11.85. She also recorded 390 digs on defense.
• Fellow senior Nicole Mattson was also on the SSC First Team. She was the team leader with 4.07 kills per set, ranking second in the league and hit .261 from the outside. Her 545 kills last year were sixth most in the NCAA.