Jennies Start MIAA Tournament Tomorrow Afternoon

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Nov. 20, 2019) - Jennies Volleyball fans, it's MIAA Tournament time! The Jennies are back in the conference tournament which starts Thursday afternoon. All three rounds are played on back-to-back-to-back days with a winner determined Saturday evening.

Opponent
#6 seed Central Oklahoma Bronchos (18-12, 10-10 MIAA)

Where
Kansas City, Mo. - HyVee Arena

When
Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 21-23
Quarterfinals vs. UCO - Thursday, Nov. 21, 2:30 p.m.

Format
For the first time all three rounds of the MIAA will be played at one site over three consecutive days, Thursday-Saturday. The tournament will be held at the new HyVee Arena in Kansas City. 

First Serve
• Central Missouri is back in the MIAA Championship Tournament this weekend.
• The MIAA Tournament has a new format this season as all games will be played at HyVee Arena in Kansas City Thursday-Saturday.
• The Jennies finished the regular season at 21-8 and 15-5 in the MIAA and earned the number three seed.
• Central Missouri has been ranked in the AVCA top-10 for the last six weeks. This week they sit 10th for the third straight week.

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
• All-time against Central Oklahoma, the Jennies are 16-4. Dating back to 2015 however, the Jennies hold a 5-4 edge. 
• Central Missouri is 2-0 against Central Oklahoma this season. The Jennies have never won three matches against UCO in the same season.
• When facing Central Oklahoma in the MIAA tournament, the Jennies are 2-0 all time.
• The Jennies have finished in third place in the MIAA in back-to-back years. Due to tiebreakers though, they were the No. 5 seed in 2018.
• The Jennies have never been left out of the MIAA semifinals in postseason play.
• After winning the MIAA Tournament in 2015, the Jennies have gone 1-1 the past three seasons, losing in the semifinals to Nebraska-Kearney each year.
• Central Missouri is still in the hunt for the NCAA postseason. After two sets of regional rankings, the Jennies were ranked seventh. The top eight teams make the NCAA postseason with the winners of the MIAA, Northern Sun and Great American Conference Tournaments receiving an automatic bid. 

Quick Hits
Last Time Out
• Central Missouri went 1-1 over the final week of the regular season. They swept Emporia State and despite 19.5 blocks, most in more than 10 years, fell in a tough five sets to No. 3 Washburn in the regular season finale. 

Previously Against Central Oklahoma
• It wasn't all that long ago that these two teams met in Edmond. They Jens picked up a 3-1 win Nov. 8. UCO took set one 25-12, but the Jennies responded by winning three straight with all three set wins within four points or less. Audrey Fisher had 12 kills and the Jens defense scooped up 82 digs. 

UCM in the Polls
• In the American Volleyball Coaches Association Preseason Poll, the Jennies remained ranked 10th It is their 436th time ranked in the top-25, by far the most in Division II, and sixth straight week in the top-10.
• The second NCAA Central Region rankings came out last week. The Jennies sit seventh once again. The top-8 teams make the NCAA Postseason Tournament with the winners of the NCAA, Northern Sun and Great American Tournaments all receiving an automatic bid. The final ranking comes out Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 20. 
• 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 now in the UCM all-time top-10 in assists with 3,774. Offerdahl needs 146 more to get into ninth place. She is also 8 digs away from 1,000.
• Aubree Bell is nearing 600 kills and digs needing just one more kill and two more digs.
• Hannah Engelken is 25 kills away from 500.
• Sydney Lierz is 25 kills shy of 300 and 16 digs shy of 200.
• Jackie Storm needs five more digs for 200. 

.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 120-0 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 better than .300 in 10 matches this season.

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 haven't been much different in 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 3-8 this season against ranked opponents. The Bronchos are receiving votes in the top-25 poll and the Jennies semifinal round opponent could be a rematch from last week with No. 3 Washburn. 

MIAA Leaders
• In MIAA only games, the Jennies have the best attack percentage in the league at .249. They are also third in kills and assists. 
• Audrey Fisher is once again leading the league in hitting percentage at .367. She is also seventh in the league in service aces with 0.28 aces per set. 
• Hannah Engelken also sees her name twice in the top-10. She is third in the league in blocks per set with 0.95. Her .272 attack percentage is also in the top-20 at 13th.
• Sydney Lierz ranks 12th with 2.84 kills per set overall and seventh in MIAA games with 3.22. 
• In MIAA games, Ally Offerdahl's 11.00 assists per set are third in the league. 
• Abby Skrastins is fourth in digs in conference games with 5.54 and overall with 5.25. 

MIAA Championships
• Central Missouri has won 14 MIAA Tournament titles in their history.
• The Jennies have never failed to qualify for the MIAA Championship tournament.
• The Jennies last MIAA Tournament win came in 2015.
• Central Missouri has advanced to the semifinals each of the last three seasons, where they were knocked out by Nebraska-Kearney. 

First in a Decade
• Central Missouri put up impressive blocking numbers last week vs. Washburn, blocking 19.5 attacks, their most since blocking 20 vs. Harding in 2006. Hannah Engelken is also the first Jennie with 10+ blocks in a match since Jacquelyn Williams had 10 in 2007.

Scouting the Opposition
#6 Central Oklahoma Bronchos (18-12, 10-10 MIAA)
• The Bronchos enter the MIAA Tournament as the No. 6 seed after a 10-10 conference mark. The Bronchos lost their final game to Missouri Western which dropped them to sixth place.
• One thing in the Bronchos favor is their penchant for neutral site games. This season they are 7-0 when playing at a neutral venue. 
• This season, the Bronchos are hitting .202 and averaging 12.8 kills per set. Four Bronchos are hitting more than two kills per set with Courtney Lane's 2.82 leading the team. She finished the year with 10+ kills in six of her last seven matches.
• Amanda Desch has been a big part of the Broncho offense. She averages 2.34 kills per set but is also passing out a team-best 5.84 assists per set. On defense, she's averaging 3.31 digs per set and has a team-best 52 blocks. 
• The Broncho defense is second in the MIAA in digs per set. They average 19.79 which is also seventh in the country. The defense is led by Dominique Lipari. She leads both the MIAA and the NCAA with 6.84 digs per set. Lipari also has a service reception of 96.3%.
• No team allows fewer blocks in the MIAA than the Bronchos. While they have 158.5 this season, they've given up just 141 and their 1.34 allowed per set is the fewest in the league. UCM picked up 15 blocks in their two matches vs. UCO this season.
• UCO scores a bunch off of the serve. They have 126 service aces this season led by Ericka Scholl and Amanda Desch with 23. Dominique Lipari also has 20 aces. 
• When Desch isn't setting, look for Scholl to play setter. She is second on the team with 4.49 assists per set.