No. 4 Washburn Defeats Jennies in Four

TOPEKA, Kan. (Oct. 18, 2019) - No. 9 Central Missouri Jennies Volleyball saw their four-match winning streak come to an end Friday night in Topeka. The Ichabods won't a tight battle as all four sets were decided by six points or less. The loss puts the Jennies at 13-6 this season and 7-3 in the MIAA.

How it Happened
• Washburn scored nine more points than the Jennies, 100-91. They landed 64 kills to the Jens 52 and had a .223 attack percentage for the match while the Jens hit just under .200 at .199.
• Washburn's defense was a force with 91 digs while UCM managed just 64.
• Service was a factor as the Ichabods landed six aces to the Jennies four. UCM also had nine errors while the Ichabods hit just five service errors. 
• The Jennies got off hot to start the match, scoring the first four points. They led until the Ichabods tied things at seven-all, but the Jens answered right away with another four straight points getting kills from Hannah Engelken and Sydney Lierz and a service ace from Aubree Bell. UCM built their lead to six, 16-10, but the Ichabods began to claw their way back. Following a timeout, Washburn scored five straight to take their first lead, 20-19. The Jennies got back on top, 21-20 with a Washburn service error and another Lierz kill, but the Ichabods scored five of the final six points, including the last four with two kills and two blocks to steal the set.
• Set two was looking like a replay of the first. The Jens scored the first three points and raced out to a 9-3 lead. UCM still led by six, 16-10, the same score as set one, when Washburn started to make their comeback. They scored five straight to get to within one, 16-15. From that point on it was tight throughout. Washburn took their first lead at 22-21, and held set point at 24-23. A block from Ally Offerdahl and Audrey Fisher kept the frame alive and it was Fisher who gave the Jennies a 26-25 lead and UCM tied the match with a Washburn attack error for a 27-25 win.
• Washburn led for the entirely of set three. They scored the first five and survived as the Jennies rallied to get to within one, 8-7. From there, Washburn went on a 7-2 run to jump back out in front by six, 15-9. They pushed their lead to 22-13 and despite a late Jennies rally, held on for a 25-19 win to go up 2-1 in the match. 
• The Jennies again started off well, getting on top 5-1. Still leading by four, 9-5, the Ichabods went on an 8-4 to tie the set at 13-all. They took their first lead at 14-13 and never trailed again. Central Missouri tied the set on a number of occasions, including getting a block and kill from Aubree Bell to tie things at 22. But the Ichabods scored two of the final three with a block and a kill.

Jennies Stat Leaders
• Audrey Fisher scored 14.5 points with 10 kills, one aces and six total blocks (one solo, five block assists).
• Sydney Lierz, Rylee Neigenfind and Aubree Bell all landed 10 kills as well. 
• Bell picked up a double-double with 10 digs.
• Neigenfind put back five total blocks.
• Ally Offerdahl filled out the box score with 41 assists, eight digs, four blocks, three kills and one ace.
• Abby Skrastins recorded a team-best 20 digs.

For the Ichabods
• Allison Maxwell had a game-high 16 kills and hit .667 for the match.
• Genna Berg tallied a double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs.
• Allison Sadler passed out a game-high 43 assists along with 19 digs.
• Erica Montgomery chipped in 11 kills with seven digs and four blocks.
• Faith Rottinghaus scooped up 26 digs.
• Aubree Bell has kills-digs double-doubles in four of her last five matches. 

News and Notes
• The Jennies three set losses were by a combined 11 points, two sets by three or less.
• Central Missouri's season-high four-match winning streak comes to an end.
• This is the Jennies first conference road loss of the season.
• The Jennies and Ichabods have split the last 16 games, eight wins each.
• Rylee Neigenfind landed 10 kills in a match for the first time since Sept. 14 against Tarleton State. 
• The Jennies 91 points scored are a season-high. 

Up Next
• UCM will stay on the road one more time for a match at Emporia State Saturday night. The start time has been moved up to 7 p.m.