WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Sept 5, 2018) - No. 10 Central Missouri Jennies Volleyball gets in one final tune-up before MIAA action.
Opponents: Sept. 6 - at Newman (1-4)
Sept. 7 - vs. St. Edward's (6-2)
Sept. 7 - vs. Arkansas-Fort Smith (6-3)
Where: Wichita, Kan. hosted by Newman
When: Thursday-Friday, Sept. 6-7
Thursday, Sept. 6 at Newman - 5 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 7 vs. St. Edward's - 12 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 7 vs. Arkansas-Fort Smith - 4 p.m.
How to Watch
• Check www.ucmathletics.com for information about live stats and video from the Newman Jet Classic. Live stats will be available for all tournament games, while video will available for select games.
First Serve
• Central Missouri continues with their early season tournaments this weekend in Wichita. The Jennies take on three opponents from the Heartland Conference in Newman, St. Edward's, and Arkansas-Fort Smith.
• The Jennies moved up to number 10 this week in the AVCA coaches poll. The Jens went 2-2 last week at the Colorado Premier Challenge against four top-25 opponents. They started the year ranked 22nd before moving up to 14th last week and continued their climb up four spots.
Story Lines
• Central Missouri is off to a 6-2 start this year with conference play beginning next week.
• The Jennies opened their season with six of their first eight games against ranked opponents. They'll take on three unranked opponents this weekend.
• This is the Jennies final tune-up before MIAA play begins next week. After this weekend, they'll close the regular season with 18 of their last 19 games against MIAA opponents.
Quick Hits
Last Time Out
• Central Missouri played four games at the Colorado Premier Challenge last weekend. They went 2-2 against top-25 competition, defeating No. 3 Lewis and No. 21 Missouri Western. The Jennies fell in five sets to No. 13 West Florida and lost 3-0 to Concordia-St. Paul, but two of the sets were by two points, 30-28, 27-25.
Against This Weekend's Opponents
• The Jennies have never lost to any of their three opponents this weekend. They are 4-0 against both Newman and St. Edward's and are 1-0 vs. Arkansas-Fort Smith. The Jennies most recently played Newman in 2016, a 3-0 sweep. Their last match with St. Edward's came in 2011 and their only match with Arkansas-Fort Smith came in 2010, both 3-0 wins.
UCM in the Polls
• In the American Volleyball Coaches Poll, the Jennies moved up four spots this week to No. 10. The Jens are second among MIAA teams with Nebraska-Kearney ranking first. Central Oklahoma moved up to No. 18 from No. 19 and Missouri Western fell four spots to No. 25. Of the top-25 nine are from the Central Region and six 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 Wichita from the MIAA are Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri.
Individual Milestones
•
Audrey Fisher reached 100 total blocks last weekend is now needs 43 kills to get to 500.
•
Kylie Hohlen needs six more kills to reach 600 for her career. She started the season sixth all-time in digs and has now moved up with sixth with 1,642. She needs 53 more to move into sole possession of fifth place.
•
Rylee Neigenfind has already set a new single-season high for kills in a season. She needs 10 more to get to 150 for her career.
•
Ally Offerdahl needs two more blocks to get to 50 and seven more kills to reach 150.
•
Carly Offerdahl hit 750 career digs last weekend. She also needs one more service ace 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 3-12 when surrendering a .300 attack percentage to their opponent.
League Leaders
• Central Missouri is in the NCAA top-10 in four categories and lead the MIAA in all four. They are third in total attacks with 1,287, fourth in digs with 592, eighth in kills at 440 and ninth in assists at 412. UCM isn't far behind the leaders either, just 15 kills behind NCAA leaders Tampa and West Florida and 18 digs behind Tampa's 430.
• Individually,
Ally Offerdahl is third in the MIAA and 40th in the NCAA in assists per set at 10.59 and seventh in total assists with 339.
•
Hannah Engelken's 40 total blocks rank eighth in the NCAA and she's 30th in blocks per set with 1.25.
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 1.25 blocks per set which is second in the MIAA. She also has 65 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 eight games, with Skrastins as the starting libero. She has 141 digs this season and is averaging 4.41 digs per set. Neigenfind is third on the team with 74 kills and has four double-digit kills matches.
Players of the Week
• The MIAA has released two Player's of the Week so far this season, and both have gone to the Jennies. The Specialist of the Week has been
Ally Offerdahl each week and
Audrey Fisher has twice been named the Hitter of the Week.
Scouting the Opposition
Newman Jets - 1-4
• The Jennies take on a Newman team that is 1-4 this season with their only win coming over Midwestern State.
• The Jets don't rank in the NCAA top-100 in any statistical category yet this season. The closest is a 139th ranking in opponents hitting percentage which check in a .181.
• Newman's offensive leader has been Hailey Braddy who has 31 kills this season and 2.58 kills per set. She, along with Sophia Helsing are the only Jets to average more than two kills per set this season.
• Reagen Roth is the team's primary setter with 7.73 assists per set. She also leads the team with five service aces and is second with 2.53 digs per set.
• Newman has 18 blocks in 15 sets. Yemima Buana leads the team with seven blocks. Trinity Conley is right behind her with six
• As a team, Newman is hitting .071 with 140 kills and 105 errors. Kennadi Myers leads the Jets hittign .340 with 20 kills and just four errors.
• With 3.67 digs per set, Mackenzie Anderson is the team leader on the defensive end.
St. Edward's Hilltoppers - 6-2
• Like the Jennies, St. Edward's has gotten off to a 6-2 start on the season. They've won four straight matches going 4-0 at their home Hilltopper Classic last weekend.
• The Hilltopper defense is in the NCAA top-10 in both total digs and digs per set. They have 578 total digs to rank sixth and are eighth with 19.93 digs per set. Morgan Beckham leads the team with 5.21 digs per set which is tops in the Heartland Conference and 47th in the NCAA.
• Offensively, Alexa McAndrew has 96 kills on the season and leads St. Edward's with 3.56 kills per set. He is also hitting .248 for the season and is second on the team with 3.81 digs per set.
• The Hilltoppers have been a tremendous blocking team, averaging 2.36 blocks per set while allowing only 1.10. Nicole Peters has 29 blocks and 1.53 blocks per set.
• St. Edward's has deployed multiple setters this season. Five are averaging more than 3.5 assists per set. Olivia Rome has 5.10 in 10 sets and Emily Tran has 5.08 in 13 sets.
• The Hilltoppers have landed 35 service aces with Alexa McAndrew's nine leading the team.
Arkansas-Fort Smith Lions - 6-3
• The Lions enter this weekend at 6-3 overall, but are just 3-3 in their last six matches.
• Senior hitter Debra Rogers and freshman setter Taylor Stoops were named the Heartland Conference players of the Week last week. Rogers hit .347 and had 3.37 kills per set along with 26 blocks while Stoops averaged 8.76 assists per set with nine kills, six aces and 33 digs.
• Rogers is second on the team in kills with 104, trailing Anna Demmer who has 113 and 3.65 kills per set. Rogers is also hitting .370 for the season, best mark on the team as are her 1.06 blocks per set.
• Also defensively, Pilar Onstad has come up with 4.16 digs per set to lead UAFS. Demmer is also over 100 digs for the season with 108 and has 3.48 digs per set.
• Stoops is passing out 9.17 assists per set on the year and has 2.14 digs per set.
• Two Lions have double-digit service aces on the season. Erin Black leads the team with 12 and Stoops is right behind her with 10. No other Lion has more than five for the year.
• As a team, the Lions are hitting .201 and holding opponents to a .128 attack percentage.
