WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Sept. 13, 2018) - Central Missouri Jennies Volleyball starts their MIAA slate of games this weekend.
Opponents: Sept. 14 - at Missouri Western (7-4)
Sept. 15 - at Northwest Missouri (8-3)
Where: St. Joseph, Mo. / Maryville, Mo.
When: Friday, Sept. 14 at Missouri Western - 6 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 15 at Northwest Missouri - 6:30 p.m.
How to Watch
• Both games this weekend will be broadcast live on the MIAA Network. Fans can access the stream by visiting www.themiaanetwork.com/ucmmules. Both games will also feature live stats which can be found at www.ucmathletics.com
First Serve
• Central Missouri opens up MIAA play this weekend taking on Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri on the road.
• The Jennies went 9-2 during the tournament portion of their schedule.
• UCM moved up another spot in the rankings to No. 9 this week. They have climbed each week starting at No. 22 in the preseason and have been in the top-10 for the last two weeks.
• Last weekend the Jennies went 3-0 at the Newman Jet Invitational defeating Newman, St. Edward's and Arkansas-Fort Smith and have now won four straight games.
Story Lines
• Central Missouri and the Griffons have already met once this season. They faced off by chance at the Colorado Premier Challenge in the Third Place Game. The Jennies got the win 3-2 after falling behind 2-0.
• The Jennies lead the all-time series with both teams by a pretty large margin. The Jens are 81-7 against Missouri Western after their win two weeks ago and are 93-8 against the Bearcats. Northwest Missouri has gotten one win over UCM in each of the last two seasons.
• Win a win, Central Missouri will have their first five-game winning streak of the season.
• UCM can improve to 10-2 for the first time since 2016.
• The Jennies haven't been home since the Peggy Martin Challenge in August. They've gone 4-2 in neutral site games and 1-0 in their only true road game, last weekend at Newman.
Quick Hits
Last Time Out
• Central Missouri went 3-0 last weekend at the Newman Jet Invitational. The Jennies defeated Newman 3-0, St. Edward's 3-1 and Arkansas-Fort Smith 3-0. UCM has now won four straight games for the second time this season.
Previously Against Missouri Western & Northwest Missouri
• Don't have to go back too far to the last time the Jennies and Griffons met. UCM defeated Missouri Western 3-2 at the Colorado Premier Challenge September 1. The Jens trailed 2-0 before winning the final three sets in dramatic fashion.
Audrey Fisher had a career-best 26 kills and
Ally Offerdahl also set a new career-high with 66 assists.
• UCM last played the Bearcats in the first round of last year's MIAA Tournament. The Jens won 3-1in Warrensburg. Four Jennies had double-digit kills and
Kylie Hohlen had 28 digs while
Ally Offerdahl dished out 51 assists.
UCM in the Polls
• In the American Volleyball Coaches Poll, the Jennies moved up one spot this week to No. 9. The Jens have moved up each week after starting 22nd in the preseason poll. They were 14th after the first weekend and 10th in week two.
• 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
This week begins MIAA play for all 12 teams.
Individual Milestones
•
Audrey Fisher needs 11 more kills to reach 500 for her career.
•
Kylie Hohlen needs six aces to get to 100 in her career and 19 digs to reach 1700.
• With 10 more digs,
Rylee Neigenfind will hit 100. She also needs five blocks to get to 50.
•
Carly Offerdahl can get to 800 career digs with 13 more.
• With two more service aces,
Abby Skrastins will reach 25 for her career.
.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 3-12 when surrendering a .300 attack percentage to their opponent.
League Leaders
• Central Missouri remains in the NCAA top-10 in assists and kills per set. They rank ninth with 14.29 kills per set which is second in the MIAA. At 13.36 assists per set, the Jens are 10th in Division II and also second in the MIAA.
• Individually,
Ally Offerdahl is third in the MIAA and 43rd in the NCAA in assists per set at 10.69 and 22nd in total assists with 449.
•
Hannah Engelken's 49 total blocks rank 21st in the NCAA and she's 37th in blocks per set with 1.17.
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 11 games in the middle. She has provided a presence on defense, leading the team with 1.17 blocks per set which is second in the MIAA. She also has 78 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 11 games, with Skrastins as the starting libero. She has 212 digs this season and is averaging 5.05 digs per set. Neigenfind is fourth on the team with 97 kills and has four double-digit kills matches.
Home State Cookin'
• Against opponents from the state of Missouri, the Jennies are 105-5 all-time under Coach Piontek.
Quest For a Triple Double
•
Ally Offerdahl has come close on numerous occasions to achieving a triple-double with kills, assists and digs. She has nine double-doubles already this season and has three matches with at least seven kills. Against St. Edward's, Offerdahl had eight kills, 39 assists and 11 digs in her closest bid yet. The last time a Jennie had a triple-double came in 1997 courtesy of Sarah Dallas.
Scouting the Opposition
Missouri Western Griffons
• Missouri Western will be the Jennies first MIAA opponent this season. They had been ranked in the AVCA top-25 until falling out this week. The Griffons are 7-4, which includes a loss to the Jennies. MWSU was also at the Newman Invitational where they went 2-1.
• At 14 kills per set, the Griffons rank 16th in the NCAA. Stephanie Doak is the Griffons leader with 156 kills and her 4.11 kills per set rank second in the MIAA. Ali Tauchen is also over 100 kills with 107.
• Lauren Murphy is the Griffons setter. She leads the league and is sixth in the MIAA with 12 assists per set. She is just coming off of a 70 assist performance against St. Edward's in which she also had 18 digs.
• Defensively, Missouri Western isn't too high up in digs or blocks in the MIAA. They average 1.7 blocks per set with Rachel Losch's 32 a team best. Audrey Keim though it tops in the MIAA with 5.53 digs per set. She picked up 45 against St. Edward's last weekend and has 10+ in each of her last four matches.
• Missouri Western is hitting .230 as a team compared to .180 for their opponents.
• Tiana Butler has 13 service aces of MWSU's 45. They've allowed just 30 aces in 11 matches.
Northwest Missouri Bearcats
• Northwest Missouri has been a streaky team through 11 matches. They won their first four, dropped three of their next four and have since won three straight for an 8-3 record.
• Maddy Bruder is the Bearcats top offensive player averaging 4.13 kills per set and her 157 total kills rank second in the MIAA. Hallie Sidney is just shy of 100 with 97 kills on the season.
• Maddy Ahrens is the team's primary setter. She averages 10 assists per set and has also come up with 2.56 digs per set.
• Northwest's .257 attack percentage ranks 18th in the NCAA and is third in the MIAA. Bruder is hittiner .277 off of 386 attempts and Sofia Schleppenbach is hitting .388 with 82 kills and 18 errors on 165 attempts.
• With 66 service aces, the Bearcats rank sixth in the MIAA. Schleppenbach leads the way with 20. She is one of four Bearcats with more than 10 aces. Olivia Nowakowski has added 15.
• Nowakowski is also the team's leader with 168 digs, averaging 4.42 digs per set. She is also 105/106 in service receptions. Bruder has added 93 digs and is second on the team.
• Bethany Elkins is coming up with 1.12 blocks per set to lead the team and has five solo blocks.
