Fourth-Ranked Jennies Host Central Oklahoma Thursday, Venture to Newman Saturday

No. 4 Central Missouri (14-2, 7-1 MIAA) vs. Central Oklahoma (14-4, 7-3 MIAA)
Thursday, Oct. 14 | 5 p.m. | Warrensburg, Mo. (Multipurpose Building)
Live Stats | Live Video

No. 4 Central Missouri at Newman (7-9, 3-7 MIAA)
Saturday, Oct. 16 | 3 p.m. | Wichita, Kan. (Fugate Gymnasium)
Live Stats | Live Video

Match Notes (PDF)

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This Week
• The fourth-ranked University of Central Missouri Jennies volleyball team is scheduled to play a pair of MIAA matches Thursday, Oct. 14, and Saturday, Oct. 16. The Jennies will host Central Oklahoma Thursday at the UCM Multipurpose Building at 5 p.m. before taking on the Newman Jets in Wichita, Kan., Saturday at 3 p.m.
• Central Missouri is coming off a 2-0 week, downing then No. 14-ranked Nebraska Kearney, 3-2, Friday, Oct. 8, before sweeping Fort Hays State, 3-0, Saturday, Oct. 9.

How to Watch
• Live video and live statistics will be available for both matches. For links, please visit www.UCMAthletics.com.

Last Time Out
•  Audrey Fisher tallied 12 kills and hit .458 and Hannah VanBuskirk tied her career-high with five blocks leading No. 5-ranked University of Central Missouri Jennies volleyball to a 3-0 sweep over the Fort Hays State Tigers Saturday, Oct. 9, in the annual Pink Match for breast cancer awareness at the UCM Multipurpose Building. The set scores were 25-22, 25-19 and 26-24.
• Fisher tallied her match-high 12 kills on 24 attempts with just one error, while Sydney Lierz compiled her second consecutive double-double with 10 kills and 14 digs. Ally Offerdahl posted her team-best 10th double-double of the season with a match-best 25 assists and 11 digs, and Rylie Barnum added a team-high 17 digs, rounding out the Central Missouri leaders in the contest.
• UCM outhit Fort Hays State, .237 to .147, and bested the Tigers in kills (46-42), assists (42-36), service aces (5-4), digs (69-63) and blocks (7-6).
• Morgan Christensen had 10 kills on .217 hitting, pacing Fort Hays State.

Jennies in the MIAA Statistics
• Entering Thursday, the Jennies rank second in the MIAA in opponent hitting percentage (.137), second in digs (18.61 per set), third in hitting percentage (.245) and blocks (2.16 per set), fourth in assists (12.73 per set) and kills (13.89 per set), and fifth in service aces (1.59 per set).
• Individually, Hannah Engelken is second in the MIAA in blocks, averaging 1.11 blocks per set with 62 total blocks, while Ally Offerdahl is fifth in assists with 9.65 assists per set on 540 total assists. Audrey Fisher is fourth in hitting percentage at .344 and ninth in kills with 3.05 per set, and Kersti Nix is eighth in kills with 3.07 per set. Rylie Barnum is sixth in digs with 261 digs and 4.75 digs per set.

Weekly Honors
• Audrey Fisher was named the MIAA Offensive Athlete of the Week for her performance on the court during the week of Oct. 4-10, the conference office announced Monday, Oct. 11. It's Fisher's second athlete of the week honor of the 2021 season.
• Fisher averaged a team-high 2.88 kills and 1.25 blocks per set, helping the No. 5 Jennies to a pair of MIAA victories over No. 14 Nebraska Kearney and Fort Hays State Oct. 8-9.
• On the week, the senior middle tallied 23 kills on 53 attempts with just three errors for a .377 hitting percentage. She also added 10 block assists, three digs, one assist and one service ace in the contest.
• In UCM's five-set win over the Lopers Oct. 8, Fisher hit .310 with 11 kills on 29 swings and three errors and had a season-best seven block assists, just one shy of her career-high. In the Jennies sweep of the Tigers Oct. 9, she compiled 12 kills on 24 attempts with just one error for a .458 hitting percentage while also posting a trio of block assists.

Individual Milestones
• Ally Offerdahl is seventh in program history in career assists with 4,494 and fourth in career assists per set at 10.78 entering Thursday's match against Central Oklahoma.
• Fisher is currently 10th in career hitting percentage at .340 in 417 career sets played. She's just one point shy of moving up to ninth.

.300 or Better
• Under Coach Piontek, Central Missouri 122-0 when they hit at least .300. While it hasn't happened often under Piontek, UCM is just 3-14 when surrendering a .300 attack percentage to their opponent. The Jennies hit better than .300 in 10 matches in 2019.

UCM in the Polls
• The Jennies are one of four MIAA volleyball teams in the latest AVCA Top-25 Coaches' Poll released Oct. 11. Washburn is this week's number one team, while UCM is fourth, Northwest Missouri is ninth and Nebraska Kearney is 15th. Central Oklahoma is receiving votes, respectively.
• In the MIAA preseason poll, the Jens were picked to finish fourth behind Nebraska-Kearney, Washburn and Northwest Missouri. They finished with 75 points.

Experience Throughout the Lineup
• Central Missouri welcomes back five of its starters from the 2019 team that posted an overall record of 23-10 and finished third in the MIAA at 15-5.
• The Jennies return six All-MIAA honorees from 2019 in 2021, including middle blockers Audrey Fisher (first team) and Hannah Engelken (honorable mention), outside hitters Sydney Lierz (first team), Aubree Bell (honorable mention) and Hannah VanBuskirk (honorable mention), and setter Ally Offerdahl (first team). Lierz was also the 2019 MIAA Freshman of the Year, while Engelken was the 2018 Freshman of the Year.

Welcome to Warrensburg!
• UCM welcomes four newcomers to the team in 2021 in freshmen Grace Winkelmann (Rhineland, Mo.), Tiffany Little (Parker, Colo.), Arley Anderson (Kansas City, Mo.) and Justine Bichelmeyer (Shawnee, Kan.). Winkelmann is the younger sister of former Jennies basketball and volleyball standout Shelby Winkelmann (2012-15).

Up Next
• The Jennies play a pair of MIAA road matches at Missouri Western Oct. 19 in St. Joseph, Mo., before a showdown with No. 1-ranked Washburn in Topeka, Kan., Oct. 21.