Jennies on the Road for Mid-Week Top-25 Battle

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Oct. 15, 2019) - No. 9 Central Missouri Jennies Volleyball kicks off their week tonight with an AVCA top-25 rematch from last month.

Opponent
No. 14 Northwest Missouri (13-3, 6-2 MIAA)

When
Tuesday, Oct. 15 - 7 p.m.

Where
Maryville, Mo. (Bearcat Arena)

How to Watch
• Tonight's match will have live video that will be available on the Jennies BlueFrame portal page at www.themiaanetwork.com/ucmmules. Live stats for each match can be found at www.ucmathletics.com

First Serve
• Central Missouri plays three matches this week all on the road
• Before their weekend games, UCM goes on the road to take on Northwest Missouri.
• Last week, UCM went 2-0 with home wins over Newman and Central Oklahoma.
• Central Missouri cracked the AVCA top-10 this week and come in at No. 9 in the rankings. It is the Jennies highest ranking this season.

Story Lines
• This will be the second meeting this season for the Jennies and Bearcats. The two teams met in UCM's home opener, a 3-1 Bearcat win.
• All-time UCM is 95-10 against the Bearcats. Four of those 10 losses have come recently though, as the Bearcats have picked up a win over UCM in each of the last four seasons. 
• All-time in Maryville, the Jennies are 27-2 against Northwest Missouri.
• The last time UCM was in Maryville was in the quarterfinals of the MIAA Championships last season, a 3-1 Jennies win.
• UCM completed a season-long four-game homestand last weekend going 3-1, winning their last three matches.
• The Jennies have not won four straight games this season. This is the third time they have won three straight. 
• On the road this season, the Jennies are 5-2. They are 2-0 in conference road matches after defeating Missouri Southern and Pittsburg State three weekends ago. 

Quick Hits
Last Time Out
• Central Missouri won a pair of matches last weekend defeating Newman and Central Oklahoma. UCM took down the Jets in straight sets while defeating Central Oklahoma 3-1 to cap a four-game homestand. The Jennies hit better than .300 in both matches and better than .450 against Newman.

Previously Against Northwest Missouri
• The Jennies fell in their 2019 MIAA and home opener to the Bearcats 3-1. After each team got a win in sets one and two, UCM dropped the final two sets, each by less than five points. Sydney Lierz had a double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs. Hannah Engelken added 10 kills. 

UCM in the Polls
• In the American Volleyball Coaches Association Preseason Poll, the Jennies moved up four spots into the top-10 at number nine. It is their 432nd time ranked in the top-25, by far the most in Division II.  
• In the MIAA preseason poll, the Jens were picked to finish third behind Washburn and Nebraska-Kearney. They finished with 83 points and two first place votes. 

Individual Milestones
• Ally Offerdahl is closing in on the UCM all-time top-10 in assists. Tenth place is 3,627. Offerdahl needs 295 more to get into the top-10. 
• Aubree Bell is nearing 500 digs needing 28 more.
• Hannah Engelken will get to 200 blocks with 10 more and 400 kills with 11 more.
• Abby Skrastins needs two more service aces for 50 in her career.
• Rylee Neigenfind will hit 500 kills with 31 more.

.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 116-0 when they hit at least .300. While it hasn't happened often under Piontek, UCM is just 3-13 when surrendering a .300 attack percentage to their opponent. The Jennies hit a season-high .488 in their win over Newman and they hit better than .300 in two straight matches. 

Top-25 Opponents
• Last season, the Jennies played 12 top-25 ranked teams among their 33 matches. They went 5-7 in those games. Things weren't much different to start 2019. Eight of the first 10 teams they faced were ranked or receiving votes in the top-25, including No. 1 overall, and defending champions Tampa. The Jennies are off to a 2-5 start this season against ranked opponents. The Jennies will play two top-25 ranked teams on the road this week when they travel to Maryville, Mo. to face Northwest Missouri and Topeka, Kan. to face Washburn. 

Drama Club
• Facing a number of tough opponents, it's not hard to see why so many of their matches have gone to four and five sets. They've played five matches to four sets and five to five sets. 
• Of their 67 sets, 32 have been decided by just five points or less. The Jens are 16-16 in those 32 sets. 

MIAA Leaders
• Thus far, Central Missouri is in the MIAA top-five in hitting percentage (4th), assists (2nd), kills (3rd), service aces (2nd), opponent kills (3rd) and opponent digs (3rd).
• Audrey Fisher sees her name a bunch of times in the MIAA top-10. She has moved up to the top of the league in hitting percentage at .387. She is also in the top-20 in service aces (5th - 0.28) and kills (16th - 2.69)
• Ally Offerdahl has moved to third in the league with 10.78 assists per set. She has 722 which leads the MIAA.
• On the defensive end, Abby Skrastins is third in the league with 5.12 digs per set. She is also 2nd with 343 total digs.
• Hannah Engelken is fourth with 0.94 blocks per set. Her 63 total are second, two off the league lead. 
• Sydney Lierz has accumulated enough time to join the MIAA leaderboards. She is now 12th in the MIAA in kills per set with 2.80. Both Fisher (180) and Lierz (165) are in the top-15 in total kills. 

50 Years of Excellence 
• The 2019 season will mark the 50th in the storied history of Jennies Volleyball. All season long the Jennies will be celebrating that history with special events.
• Similar to the Silver Anniversary Team of 1994, the Jennies came out with a Gold Anniversary Team, adding 18 players from the past 25 years to the Silver Anniversary Team.
• The biggest event will be Oct. 12 during homecoming, when members of the 50 year team are invited back for a special celebration, including an on-court ceremony. 
• During each home match this season, UCM will recognize two of the newest members of the 50 year team. 

Scouting the Opposition
Northwest Missouri Bearcats (13-3, 6-2 MIAA)
• Northwest Missouri is in the midst of a five-game homestand. This is their final game of the homestand and NWMSU is 2-2. They've lost two of their last three against Nebraska-Kearney and Central Oklahoma. This season, NWMSU is 13-3 and 6-2 in the MIAA. 
• Northwest is 2nd in the MIAA in hitting percentage at .251 while also holding opponents to a .165 attack percentage.
• Four Bearcats have more than 100 kills. Hallie Sidney leads the team and the MIAA both with 241 kills and 4.23 kills per set. Morgaan Lewis has 180 kills and Bethany Elkins has 155.
• Both Elkins and Lewis are in the MIAA top-10 in hitting percentage. Elkins sits third in the league hitting .359 while Lewis is hitting .337.
• Bearcat setter Maddy Ahrens leads the MIAA with 11.21 assists per set. The Bearcats have 872 kills and 14.30 kills per set and Ahrens has been the primary setter.
• Northwest is also efficient scoring off the block. They average 1.97 blocks per set. Elkins is one of just two in the MIAA averaging more than one block per set at 1.02. 
• Northwest Missouri is in the MIAA top-five in digs with 17.72 digs per set. Hannah Koechl leads the team with 226. She is one of six Bearcats with more than 100 digs this season. 
• The Bearcats have started scoring more on service aces. They are now fifth in the league with 1.34 aces per set. Maddy Ahrens is up to third in the league with 0.36 aces per set and her 22 are tied for the second most.