Jennies Travel to Denver For Annual Premier Challenge

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (August 29, 2018) - No. 14 Jennies Volleyball heads to Denver, Colo. this week to take on some of the top competition in Division II at the annual Colorado Premier Challenge.

Opponents: Aug. 31 - No. 13 West Florida (2-2)
                    Aug. 31 - No. 3 Lewis (4-0)
                    Sept. 1 - Two opponents to be determined based on results from Aug. 31

Where: Denver, Colorado hosted by Metro State University and Regis

When: Friday-Saturday, Aug. 31-Sept. 1
            Friday, Aug. 31 vs. West Florida - 3:30 p.m. CDT
            Friday, Aug. 31 vs. Lewis - 7 p.m. CDT
            Saturday, Sept. 1 first game - 10 a.m. CDT
            Saturday, Sept. 1 second game - TBD

How to Watch
• Check www.ucmathletics.com for information about live stats and video from the Colorado Premier Challenge. Live stats will be available for all tournament games, while video will available for select games. 

First Serve
• Central Missouri opened their season last week by going 4-0 at the Peggy Martin Challenge. They defeated two ranked opponents taking down No. 14 Arkansas Tech and No. 4 and 2017 national runner's-up Florida Southern. 
• This weekend, the Jennies will turn their attention to the Colorado Premier Challenge. The two-day tournament annually showcases the top teams in Division II. This year, the Jennies first two opponents will be No. 13 West Florida and No. 3 Lewis. Their two opponents on Saturday will be determined by their record Friday. 

Story Lines
• Last year at the Colorado Premier Challenge, the Jennies went 2-2. The Jens were ungracious guests, defeating both hosts, Regis and Metro State.
• Earlier this week, sophomore Audrey Fisher and Ally Offerdahl were named the MIAA Hitter and Specialist of the Week.
• The Jennies will look to go 5-0 for the first time since the 2015 season when they started out 6-0, en route to a 30-5 season.
• The Jennies difficult schedule doesn't get easier this week. After playing two ranked teams last week, their first two opponents this week are ranked in the AVCA top-25 with the chance to play more Saturday. 

Quick Hits
Last Time Out
• Last weekend the Jennies hosted the Peggy Martin Challenge, and although they faced some stiff competition (all four teams they faced are now at least receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll), the Jens went 4-0 with two wins over ranked teams. UCM defeated Drury, No. 14 Arkansas Tech, Truman State and No. 4 Florida Southern. 

Against West Florida and Lewis
• West Florida and Lewis are not teams the Jennies have seen often, but they do have success against both. UCM is 8-1 all-time against West Florida and 5-1 against Lewis. The Jennies defeated West Florida in Pensacola in 2016, 3-2, their last meeting with Lewis came back in 2011, also a 3-2 win. 

UCM in the Polls
• In the American Volleyball Coaches Preseason Poll, the Jennies moved up eight spots this week to No. 14. The Jens are second among MIAA teams with Nebraska-Kearney ranking fifth. Central Oklahoma fell from No. 16 to No. 19 and Missouri Western jumped into the rankings at No. 21. . Of the top-25 10 are from the Central Region and five of those Central Region teams make up the top-10. 
• 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 are back in action this week at various tournaments. Joining the Jennies in Colorado from the MIAA is Missouri Western. 

Individual Milestones
• Audrey Fisher went over 400 career kills last weekend. She now needs just three more blocks to reach 100. 
• Rylee Neigenfind picked up career kill number 100 and block 25 last weekend.
• Ally Offerdahl needs 40 more assists to get to 500. She is also three service aces away from reaching 25 and six blocks from getting 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. 

League Leaders
• Central Missouri is in the NCAA top-five in three categories and lead the MIAA in all three. They are second in kills per set at 15.64 (behind only this week's opponent, Lewis), third in attacked per set at 43.36 and fourth in assists per set with 14.50. The Jens are also 10th in D2 in digs per set with 20.21.
• Individually, Ally Offerdahl leads the MIAA and is 17th in Division II with 11.36 assists per set. Her 66 total digs also put her third in the league. 
• Carly Offerdahl needs four digs to get to 700.
• With eight more kills, Hannah VanBuskirk will reach 300. She went over 50 blocks last weekend. 
• Kylie Hohlen started the season ranked 10th all-time at UCM in digs. She has moved up to No. 9 with 1578. She is 22 away from 600 and tying 8th place Rhea Griffin and needs just 37 to move into sole possession of 6th place. 

Not So Fresh Faces
• Last year, for first-year players made a big impact for the Jennies. This year, they're back at it again, leaving little room for true freshman to see court time. The exception to that is Hannah Engelken who has started all four games in the middle. She has provided a presence on defense, leading the team with 1.36 blocks per set which is second in the MIAA. She also has 33 kills this season.
• While they aren't freshman, juniors Rylee Neigenfind and Abby Skrastins are seeing more playing time than ever before. They have both started all four games, with Skrastins has the starting libero. She has 64 digs this season and is averaging 4.57 digs per set. Neigenfind is third on the team with 39 kills and has three double-digit kills matches.

First Since 2014
• Two things happened last weekend that hadn't been done since the 2014 season. When the Jennies defeated No. 4 Florida Southern, it was their first win over an opponent ranked fourth or higher since defeating No. 4 Nebraska-Kearney. 
• The Jennies didn't just beat the Mocs though, in set one, they held them to just five points, the first time holding an opponent to five points or less since doing so against Pittsburg State in 2014. 

Scouting the Opposition
No. 13 West Florida Argonauts (2-2)
• West Florida faced four top-25 opponents last weekend and went 2-2. They took down second-ranked Southwest Minnesota State 3-1, but dropped two five-set matches to No. 24 Wheeling Jesuit and No. 5 Western Washington.  
• In terms of total kills, nobody does it better than West Florida. They lead the NCAA with 247 total kills. They have two in the NCAA top-100 in total kills, Jordyn Poppen is 17th with 62 and Nadine Williams is 71st with 48. 
• The Argonaughts scored 26 points of service aces and 11 of them came from Logan Kael. She leads the Gulf South and s ninth in the NCAA with her 11 aces.
• As a team, the Argonaughts are hitting .224 having landed 247 kills with 89 attack errors. 
• Defensively, their 303 total team digs ranks eighth in the NCAA. Kael again tops that category with 72 while Nadine Williams isn't far behind with 65.
• West Florida has deployed two setters already this season. Brogan Wallin has gotten in the most work with 134 assists and 7.44 assists per set. Taylor Vaneekeren has 57 assists in 15 sets played. She is more dangerous on the servce with five aces and helps out more on defense with 2.33 digs per set.
• Makenzie Chrisman leads the team with 22 total blocks including eight solo and ranks fourth in the NCAA. 

No. 3 Lewis Flyers (4-0)
• The Lewis Flyers went 4-0 last weekend without dropping a set in San Marcos, Cali. They moved up three spots in the AVCA rankings from No. 6 to No. 3.
• The Flyers needed to dig deep in their first set of game two against Cal State Dominguez Hills, as they won a thriller, 40-38. 
• The high-scoring affair may have helped their per-set averages as they lead the NCAA in assists and kills per set. Lewis is averaging 16.33 kills per set and 15.92 assists per set. Alexandra Preuss is 25th in the NCAA and sescond in the GLVC in kills per set after week one with 4.18. She also has seven aces and six blocks, giving her 5.23 points per set. 
• Abby Becker leads the team with 12.64 assists per set which puts her sixth in Division II.
• The Flyers are hitting .257 as a team. That ranks 14th in the NCAA.
• Defensively, the Flyers, like the Jennies average more than 20 digs per set. They also do it in a variety of ways with four averaging more than 3.7 digs per set. Jamie Ppen leads the way with 4.64 digs per set.
• Morgan Goodman is tied with Preuss with seven service aces on the team.
• Caroline Stefanon provides defense up the middle. She has 18 blocks and her 1.64 blocks per set is 10th in the NCAA. The Flyers block 2.25 opponent attacks per set.