Volleyball Prepares for Mid-Week Match with Griffons

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Oct. 28, 2019) - Central Missouri Jennies Volleyball wraps up their three-game homestand Tuesday night at the Multipurpose Building.

Opponent
Missouri Western Griffons (12-9, 6-7 MIAA)

Where
Warrensburg, Mo. - UCM Multipurpose Building

When
Tuesday, Oct. 29 - 7 p.m.

Toy Drive
• Any fan who donates a toy or makes a $5 monetary donation will be automatically entered to win a $25 gift certificate to Fitter's of Warrensburg. The drawing will be held during the game, must be present to win.
• All donations will be going towards Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.
• Toys most needed include Hot Wheels, stuffed animals, coloring books and puzzles.

Military Appreciation Day
• Jennies Volleyball will also be holding Military Appreciation Day. All active and retired military members and their families will receive free admission to the game. 

First Serve
• Central Missouri finishes off a three game home stand Tuesday evening against the Missouri Western Griffons. 
• This past weekend, the Jennies went 2-0 with a 3-1 win over Pittsburg State and a 3-0 sweep of Missouri Southern. 
• In their last eight games, the Jennies have gone 7-1.
• Central Missouri has been ranked in the AVCA top-10 for the last three weeks. This week they move up one spot to No. 9. 

How to Watch
• This weekend's matches 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

Story Lines
• At home this season, the Jennies are 5-2. All of their home games have been MIAA contests and they've won five straight at the Multi after dropping their first two. They have just three more matches at home including Tuesday night. They'll finish the regular season at home November 15-16.
• Following Tuesday's match, the Jennies will be on the road for four straight matches over the next two weekends. 
• The Jens have an extended history with Missouri Western. UCM is 84-7 all-time against the Griffons. 
• After splitting the series from 2015-17, the Jennies got the better of the Griffons winning four straight matches.
• Coach Piontek is nearing 300 career wins. He is four away from that total with seven games left in the regular season.
• Coach Piontek has also had great success on Tuesday's. All-time he has never lost on a Tuesday and has a 42-0 record. 

Quick Hits
Last Time Out
• Central Missouri picked up a pair of home wins last weekend defeating Pittsburg State (3-1) and Missouri Southern (3-0) getting strong performances by the Hannah's - VanBuskirk and Engelken. 

Previously Against Missouri Western
• The Jennies were on the road earlier in the season in St. Joseph, Mo. the first time they met the Griffons. The Jennies defeated MWSU 3-1, including a 25-11 set three win. Sydney Lierz led the team with 13 kills and Aubrey Fisher hit .588 with 10 kills. Ally Offerdahl averaged 12 assists per set and Abby Skrastins helped out with 25 digs.

UCM in the Polls
• In the American Volleyball Coaches Association Preseason Poll, the Jennies moved up a spot and this week rank ninth. It is their 434th 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 112 more to get into the top-10. She is also five kills away from 300.
• Aubree Bell is nearing 600 kills needing 24 more.
• Audrey Fisher is seven blocks away from 250.
• Rylee Neigenfind will hit 500 kills with three more.
• Abby Skrastins is seven digs away from 1,100 and five assists shy of 200. 
• Hannah VanBuskirk is 11 blocks away from 100. 

.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 117-0 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 last week vs. Missouri Southern. 

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 3-6 start this season against ranked opponents. The Jennies next likely ranked opponent will be Nebraska-Kearney November 2. 

Group Effort
• It's hasn't been the efforts of one player that has gotten the Jennies to 16-6 this season. They've gotten contributions from everyone. Five Jennies are averaging at least two kills per set and at different points in the season, six Jennies have led the teams in kills for a match at least once. Defensively, six Jennies average more than one dig per set, four are at more than two per set and two more than three per set. 

MIAA Leaders
• In MIAA only games, the Jennies have the best attack percentage in the league at .264. They also average the most aces at 1.50.
• Audrey Fisher leads the league in hitting percentage at .363. She is also eighth in the league in service aces with 0.30 aces per set. 
• Hannah Engelken also sees her name twice in the top-10. She is fourth in the league in blocks per set with 0.95. Her .266 attack percentage is also in the top-20 at 16th.
• Sydney Lierz ranks 10th with 2.87 kills per set overall and fourth in MIAA games with 3.46. 
• In MIAA games, Ally Offerdahl's 11.33 assists per set are tied for second in the league. 
• Abby Skarstins is fourth in digs in conference games with 5.30 and fifth overall with 5.04. 

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
Missouri Western Griffons (12-9, 6-7 MIAA)
• Missouri Western comes to Warrensburg with a 12-9 record and are right in the middle of the pack in the MIAA at 6-7. The Griffons are 4-4 in road games this season.
• MWSU lost 3-1 at home to UCM back in September.  
• As a team, Missouri Western is struggling on the serve with 82 aces this season while opponents have hit 104 against them. Ali Tauchen leads the team with 19 and she's just outside the MIAA top-10 with 0.26 per set. 
• Tauchen is also the team's leading offensive threat with 248 kills and 3.35 kills per set. She is five in the MIAA in kills per set and hitting percentage at .338. She is the only player in the MIAA top-five in both categories.
• The Griffons have three in the MIAA top-20 in kills per set. After Tauchen, Sam Duncan is 13th at 2.76, and Allie Kerns is 16th with 2.63 kills per set. 
• Lauren Murphy has been at the center of it all with 10.26 assists per set which is fifth in the league. She also has 58 kills and averages 2.14 digs per set.
• Defensively, Tiana Butler is second in the MIAA coming down with 5.97 digs per set. Three other Griffons are averaging more than two digs per set and the team averages 17.36
• The Griffons have a slight advantage in blocking with 140.5 this season as opposed to 135 for their opponents. Tauchen is third in the MIAA with 0.99 blocks per set. MWSU has three in the league's top-15 in blocking.
• Missouri Western is hitting .218 this year while holding opponents to a .185 attack percentage.