WARRENSBURG, Mo. ( August 24, 2018) -- No. 22 ranked Jennies Volleyball had two hard fought battles on day two of the
Peggy Martin Challenge. First, they battled No. 14 Arkansas Tech in an AVCA Top 25 matchup and defeated the Golden Suns after four tough sets 3-1 (28-26, 25-21, 25-16, 35-33) Just a few hours later, the Jennies had another tight four-set win over Truman State (25-19, 26-24, 26-28, 25-23) with three of the sets determined by two points.
Game One:
Central Missouri 3, Arkansas Tech 1 (28-26, 25-21, 25-16, 35-33)
Play-by-Play
• In the first set the teams played close, the score was tied 10 times, and there were four lead changes. The Golden Suns attacked slightly better in the first set, outhitting UCM .188 to .113. Arkansas Tech landed 15 kills to the Jennies 14. The teams were even with 14 assists and 26 digs each in the set. UCM had a 7-2 lead early in the first set, and the Jennies held on to that lead until a few UCM errors allowed Arkansas Tech to tie the game 15-15. The visitors didn't let up, tied it again at 22, then more Jennie errors allowed the Golden Suns to reach set point at 24-22. UCM responded tying the game 24-24, but an Arkansas Tech kill from Amanda Milnick and back-to-back UCM attack errors gave the Golden Suns set one 28-26.
•In the second game the Jennies came out strong with the lead early 12-9. Arkansas Tech quickly answered by tying up the set 16-16. UCM tries to take back the lead with a kill from
Hannah VanBuskirk to put the Jennies up 20-18.
Rylee Neigenfind's fourth kill put the Jennies up to win the second set 25-21.
• The Jennies led the majority of the third set until Arkansas Tech came back with a kill to put them within four 19-15. UCM came back with a kill from
Rylee Neigenfind to put them up 20-15.
Rylee Neigenfind came right back with another point for the Jens with a service ace 22-15. UCM wins the third set on an attack error from Arkansas Tech 25-16.
• The fourth and final set was the set to see with both teams going point for point. Then
Hannah VanBuskirk slams down a kill to extend the lead 20-14. Arkansas Tech ties it up with a big kill leaving the score 24-24. From then on it got intense, going kill for kill on both sides of the net. But
Hannah VanBuskirk had the final say, with the game winning kill for the Jennies ending the fourth set 35-33.
Stat Leaders
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Kylie Hohlen recorded a double-double in today's match-up landing 13 kills and 18 digs.
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Ally Offerdahl also contributed a double-double with 47 assist with 26 digs.
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Hannah VanBuskirk recorded 15 kills and hit .355 for the match.
• Freshman
Hannah Engelken notched 14 kills and hit .300 for the match.
For the Golden Suns
• Lexie Johnston put down a team-best 12 kills..
• Hunter Eshnaur finished with 11 kills and 20 digs on the match for a double-double.
• Amanda Milnick had a double-double on the match with 37 assist and 15 digs.
News and Notes
• The Golden Suns out blocked the Jens 12-7 overall.
• The Jennies outhit the Golden Suns .198 to .174.
• First time the Jens have scored 35 or more in a set since October of 2006, when they scored 36 in a set against Northwest Alabama.
Game Two: Central Missouri 3, Truman State 1 (25-19, 26-24, 26-28, 25-23)
Play-by-Play
• The opening set was the only one determined by more than two points. The Jennies built a four-point lead, breaking a 7-all tie with four straight points, getting two kills from
Ally Offerdahl during the stretch. Though the Jens never trailed again, Truman State did manage to tie the set on two more occasions. After a Bulldog kill cut the Jennies lead to one, 18-17,
Kylie Hohlen and
Hannah VanBuskirk landed kills to put UCM back up three and the Jens maintained a two-point edge the rest of the way, ending set one on a Bulldog error. Truman outhit the Jennies .273-.257 in the set, but the Jennies netted five points on the serve with three aces and Bulldog service errors.
• Set two proved to be a thrilled with 11 ties and four lead Jennies, but the Jennies were up to the task and took a 2-0 match lead. Though 25 points weren't enough, the Jennies pulled out the final two points in the 26-24 set win. Truman held a lead for much of the early portion of the set, but couldn't put UCM away. A kill from VanBuskirk gave UCM a 16-15 lead, their first since being on top 2-1 at the beginning of the set. From there, the set was retied seven more times with neither team gaining more than a three-point advantage. It looked like UCM had some momentum leading 21-18, but a Bulldog kill and two Jennie attack errors brought the set back even at 21-apiece. Still tied at 24-all,
Ally Offerdahl landed her third kill of the set and a pair of Hannah's, VanBuskirk and Engelken put it away with block. The Jens had 18 kills in the set, their most in any in the match.
• While the final score of set three resembled the others, the path to getting there wasn't quite the same. Truman State built an early 7-2 lead and seemed to have control of the set. That lead quickly disappeared though as UCM scored six of the next eight points, getting to within one, 9-8. UCM tied the set at 11-all and took their first lead, 12-11 on a Bulldog set error. The Jens kept their foot on the gas, going up 20-16, their largest lead in the set. That's when the tides turned once again, this time in favor of the Bulldogs who crawled back to tie the set at 22-all. From their, neither team gained more than a one-point lead until Truman was able to steal the set, 28-26 after back-to-back UCM attack errors. UCM committed seven attack errors in the set while the Bulldogs landed 19 kills and hit .350.
• Set four saw another 10 ties and four lead changes, most coming at the beginning and the end. Both teams went back-and-forth early until UCM was able to build a three-point lead, 9-6. The Jens saw that lead grow to five, 15-10 and seemed to be in good position. That changed with a Bulldog 5-1 run, getting five kills and forcing a UCM timeout now trailing by just one, 16-15. Truman got back to even at 17-all and then again at 20, 21, 22 and 23-apiece. The Jennies put a stop to the Truman comeback bid with kills from
Audrey Fisher and
Hannah Engelken to walk out with the win. The Jennies put back three blocks in the frame while Rylee Niegenfind led the way with five kills.
Jennies Stat Leaders
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Audrey Fisher led the Jens with 18 kills. She also had two service aces and hit .500 for the match.
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Ally Offerdahl filled the box score with 44 assists, nine digs, six kills and three blocks and three service aces, scoring 10.5 points.
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Rylee Neigenfind added 14 kills while hitting .324 for the match.
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Hannah Engelken landed eight kills and had a game-high seven blocks.
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Abby Skrastins led the Jennies defense with 23 digs.
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Kylie Hohlen added 17 digs and five kills.
For the Bulldogs
• Elle Kaat scored a game-high 19 kills and took 50 attempts. She hit .300 for the match.
• Jocelynn Livingston added 14 kills and had four blocks.
• Setter Savvy Hughes picked up a game-high 48 assists while also recording 13 digs and five kills.
• Lauren Wacker totaled 18 digs to lead TSU.
News and Notes
• Truman State outhit the Jennies .250-.221 and landed 10 blocks to the Jens eight.
• UCM was terrific on the serve with eight aces while the Bulldogs didn't get one down on the Jens defense. The eight aces is one fewer than their season-high for a match in 2017.
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Audrey Fishers 18 kills are a new career-high, as are
Abby Skrastins 23 digs.
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Ally Offerdahl's 10.5 points and three service aces are both career-bests.
• UCM moves to 60-31 all-time against Truman State.
• When opponents have 10 or more blocks in a match, as Truman State did tonight, the Jennies were 0-4 in 2017 and 20-20 all-time under Coach Piontek.
Up Next
• The final day of the Peggy Martin Classic tomorrow. The Jens play once with their match scheduled for 1 p.m. against No. 4 Florida Southern.
