WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Oct. 4, 2019) - A battle of AVCA top-25 teams lived up to its billing Friday night in Warrensburg. The No. 13 Central Missouri Jennies and No. 4 Nebraska-Kearney Lopers battled to five sets where the Lopers were able to sneak out of Warrensburg with a 3-2 win (25-18, 21-25, 22-25, 25-15, 9-15).
How it Happened
• There were moments of Jekyll and Hyde for the Jennies. They hit .254 for the match and scored 82 points, but were undone by a total of 41 errors.
• UCM's offense bested the Lopers 67-49 in kills and .254-.170 in attack percentage.
• Both teams ratcheted up the defense. The Lopers put back 11 blocks and UCM nine. The Jennies scooped up 88 digs and UNK 77.
• The whole match saw a total of 22 ties and nine lead changes as things were tense for most of the match.
• UCM broke a six-all tie in set one with four straight points, helped out by two kills from
Hannah Engelken and forced a Loper timeout. UNK fought back and tied the set at 14-apiece before another 4-0 Jennies run put them right back on top,18-14. Central Missouri led the rest of the way and
Rylee Neigenfind put the match away with a solo block.
Sydney Lierz landed six kills and UCM hit .273 in the frame.
• The Lopers took the next two sets, winning by a combined seven points. The Jennies in set two jumped out to an early lead, 7-2, looking to go up 2-0. But an 8-1 run by the Lopers gave them a two-point edge, 10-8. The Lopers continued to pad their lead and despite four straight UCM points near the end of the set, UNK tied the match at one with a 25-21 win.
• Set three started out similar to the second. The Jennies got on top with a 7-4 lead, but it quickly evaporated. The Lopers scored four straight, getting two service aces from Julianne Jackson, and led 8-7. From there, the Lopers went on an 11-4 run and pushed their lead to eight, 19-11. The Jennies weren't done though and crawled back into the set, getting to within two, 23-21, on a UNK attack error. Following a Loper timeout, UNK got kills from Mary Katherine Wolfe and held on for a 25-22 win.
• There was no stopping the Jennies in set four. The set was tied at five before UCM turned on the jets. The quickly built a 21-12 lead, outscoring Nebraska-Kearney 13-4. They cruised to a 10-point set win, 25-15. The Jennies hit .424 in the set with 18 kills, while the Lopers scored just four kills with four errors.
• The Jennies win forced a decisive fifth set. Though played to just 15, set five saw more ties than any other set, six of them in total with two lead changes. The Jennies led 5-3 early on, but the Lopers scored four straight to flip the script to a 7-5 Loper lead. With UNK leading 9-8, a call that went the Jennies way was challenged by the Loper bench. After the officials determined the point needed to be replayed, the Jennies point was taken off the board and UNK was able to pick up the point on the replay. Instead of being tied at nine it was now a 10-8 UNK lead. Nebraska-Kearney never lost the lead after that and went on to take the set and match, 15-9.
Jennies Stat Leaders
•
Sydney Lierz picked up a double-double with 20 kills and 14 digs.
• Also with a kills-dig double-double was
Aubree Bell. She scored 14 kills and 13 digs.
•
Ally Offerdahl passed out 55 assists and came up with 19 digs.
•
Abby Skrastins scooped up a game-high 32 digs.
•
Audrey Fisher and
Hannah Engelken each landed 13 kills. Fisher also scored three blocks and two aces.
For the Lopers
• Julianne Jackson scored 19 points with 10 kills, seven service aces and two blocks. She also had 16 digs.
• Mary Katherine Wolfe led UNK with 14 kills.
• Madison Squires passed out 38 assists.
• Lindsay Nottleman was the defensive leader with 29 digs.
• Anna Squires chipped in nine kills and four blocks.
News and Notes
•
Aubree Bell picked up career kill number 500.
•
Ally Offerdahl is up over 3200 career assists.
•
Rylee Neigenfind surpassed 300 career digs.
• In sets determined by five-points or less, the Jennies were 0-2 tonight and are 13-15 this season.
• The Lopers have had UCM's number of late. They have won eight straight over the Jennies.
• Against ranked opponents, UCM is 2-5 this season.
•
Ally Offerdahl's 55 assists tonight are a season-high. The last time she picked up more than 50 assists was Oct. 27 of last season.
•
Sydney Lierz becomes the first Jennie to record 20 kills in a match this season. She also has two straight double-doubles.
• UNK entered the night fourth in the NCAA in opponent hitting percentage at .077. The Jennies .254 attack percentage tonight is the highest of any UNK opponent this season.
Up Next
• The Jennies will be back on the court tomorrow afternoon to take on Fort Hays State. First serve is set for 3 p.m.
