WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Sept. 26, 2019) - The season rolls on for No. 14 Central Missouri Jennies Volleyball. They'll be on the road this weekend for two more conference matchups.
Opponents
Missouri Southern (8-4, 1-1 MIAA)
Pittsburg State (7-4, 2-0 MIAA)
Where
Joplin, Mo. • Pittsburg, Kan.
When
Friday, Sept. 27 - 6 p.m.at Missouri Southern
Saturday, Sept. 28 - 2 p.m. at Pittsburg State
How to Watch
• Both games will have live video that will be available on the Jennies BlueFrame portal page on the MIAA Network at www.themiaanetwork.com/ucmmules. Live stats for each match can be found at www.ucmathletics.com
First Serve
• Central Missouri Jennies Volleyball returns to the floor after a 1-1 weekend to begin MIAA play. They took down Missouri Western on the road 3-1, but fell in their home opener 3-1 against then 15th ranked Northwest Missouri.
• Central Missouri is slotted at No. 14 this week in the AVCA top-25 poll. They had been ranked 12th for the previous two weeks.
• This week, UCM continues MIAA play with two more road games at Missouri Southern and at Pittsburg State.
Story Lines
• Central Missouri has just six combined losses against this weekend's opponents. They are 69-1-1 all-time against the Lions and 61-5-1 against Pittsburg State
• The Lions only win came back in 1995.
• Coach Piontek has never lost to the Lions and has just one loss to the Gorillas, back in his first year in 2009. The Jens have gone 18-0 against Pittsburg State since that loss.
• This will be the first time all season the Jennies have not faced at least one ranked opponent in a weekend.
• So far UCM has played four true road games in their first 10 contests. They are 2-2 in those four games and 6-3 overall away from Warrensburg.
Quick Hits
Last Time Out
• Central Missouri began MIAA play last weekend with a 3-1 win over Missouri Western before losing to then-15th ranked Northwest Missouri, also 3-1.
Sydney Lierz had 13 kills in the win over Western and recorded her first career double-double with 11 kills, 10 digs vs. Northwest Missouri.
Ally Offerdahl totaled 91 assists.
Previously Against This Weekend's Opponents
• The Lions were one of the Jennies final opponents in 2018. They picked up a 3-0 win at home, winning all three sets by 10 or more points. The Jens hit .294 for the match and limited the Lions to a .033 attack percentage.
Rylee Neigenfind had 10 kills. The last time the Jens and Gorillas met was also in Pittsburg. That was a 3-1 win for UCM.
Audrey Fisher landed 20 kills while hitting .314. UCM totaled 89 digs.
UCM in the Polls
• In the American Volleyball Coaches Association Preseason Poll, the Jennies slid two spots to number 14. It is their 429th 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
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Rylee Neigenfind needs seven more digs to get to 300 for her career.
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Ally Offerdahl needs six more blocks for 100 and 25 more digs for 800.
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Aubree Bell is approching 500 kills needing 21 more. She is also six digs away from 400.
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Hannah VanBuskirk needs just 11 more kills to reach 500.
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Abby Skrastins will reach 900 digs with 22 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 112-0 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. Twice the Jennies hit better than .300 on opening weekend, defeating Valdosta State and Florida 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. The Jennies finally get a reprieve from ranked opponents this weekend. 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. Their next ranked opponent is likely to be Nebraska-Kearney Oct. 4.
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 four matches to four sets and four to five sets.
• Of their 42 sets, 23 have been decided by just five points or less. The Jens are 11-12 in those 23 sets.
MIAA Leaders
• Thus far, Central Missouri ranks third in the MIAA in service aces averaging 1.57 aces per set. They are also fifth in assists with 12.05 per set.
• Speaking of assists,
Ally Offerdahl has moved to third in the league with 10.24 assists per set. She has 430 which is second in the conference.
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Audrey Fisher sees her name a bunch of times in the MIAA top-10. She ranks eighth in hitting percentage at .329. She is also just outside the top-10 in service aces with 0.33 per set to rank 11th. Fisher is also in the MIAA top-20 in blocks and kills. She is one of just two players in the league in the top-20 in those four categories.
• On the defensive end,
Abby Skrastins is fifth in the league with 4.95 digs per set. She is also one of two with more than 200 total digs.
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Hannah Engelken is tied for fourth with 0.88 blocks per set. Her 37 total are also fourth.
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 Southern (8-4, 1-1 MIAA)
• Missouri Southern is off to one of their best starts this decade. With an 8-4 record the Lions already have more wins than they've had in seven of the last eight years. The Lions have started MIAA with a win over Newman and a loss to Pittsburg State.
• One area the Lions have been excelling in is defense. Missouri Southern is third in the MIAA with 17.42 digs per set. They also are fifth in block with 1.81 per set. Emalee Lowe has been the leader when it comes to digs. She has 4.03 digs per set this season. Janelle Brehm and Brooklynn McCain also average more than 3.0 digs per set. Alicia Pickett leads the Lions with 0.91 blocks per set which is second in the MIAA
• Brehm is also the Lions top offensive threat. She is in the top-10 in the MIAA with 3.04 kills per set. She has 152 on the season and is hitting .122.
• The Lions are only hitting .161 as a team which is next to last in the league. Alyssa Diaz is hitting .261 with 88 kills and Morgan Nash has 103 kills while hitting .185.
• Lion opponents are also hitting right at .161.
• In the absence of setter Kylee Kaaihue, Makenzie Fa'amausili-Cacoulidis has filled in. She dished out 39 assists in the Lions with last week over Newman.
• Missouri Southern is not getting much off of serves. They have just 53 aces this season and their 1.06 aces per set is ninth out of 11 in the league.
Pittsburg State (7-4, 2-0 MIAA)
• Pittsburg State has started the conference season off unbeaten with news over Missouri Southern and Central Oklahoma. The Gorillas are 7-4 to start the year after a 3-0 loss to No. 13 Rockhurst earlier this week.
• Erika Ivkov sits just outside the MIAA in kills per set with 3.44. She has 134. Also with more than 100 kills on the season is Morgan Henning with 106. Henning is also fourth in the MIAA hitting .342.
• As a team, the Gorillas are hitting .189 and keeping opponents under .150 at .145.
• Blocking has been an issue for Pittsburg State. They are last in the league having allowed 2.12 blocks per set and next to last with just 1.55 of their own per set.
• Pitt State typically shares setting duties. Brianna Richard and Laura Willoughby each average more than six assists per set. Richard is at 6.95 while Willoughby has 6.12.
•Ivkov also scores for the Gorillas off the serve. she has a team-best 15 this season. The Gorillas have 56 this season and have committed 63 service errors. Their. 1.02 opponent service aces are fourth lowest in the MIAA.
• Pittsburg State is digging out 17 attacks per set. They have three with more than three digs per set and five with more than two. Marissa Bates leads the squad with 3.83 digs per set.
• Emily Regier and Claire Sandvig are both in the MIAA top-15 in blocks per set. Regier is ninth with 0.83 and Sandvig is 12th with 0.74.
