No. 3 Jennies Volleyball Travels to Missouri Western for Tuesday Night Match

No. 3 Central Missouri (16-2, 9-1 MIAA) at Missouri Western (12-8, 4-7 MIAA)
Tuesday, Oct. 14 | 6 p.m. | St. Joseph, Mo. (MWSU Fieldhouse)
Live Stats | Live Video
 

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Scene Setter
• Third-ranked University of Central Missouri Jennies volleyball is scheduled to travel to St. Joseph, Mo., for an MIAA match at Missouri Western Tuesday, Oct. 19, at 6 p.m. inside the MWSU Fieldhouse.
• UCM enters the match at 16-2 overall and 9-1 in the MIAA after posting a pair of wins last week, defeating Central Oklahoma in Warrensburg, 3-0, before taking down Newman in Wichita, Kan., 3-1.
• Central Missouri has won six straight matches going into Tuesday's contest against the Griffons. 

How to Watch
• Live video (pay-per-view) and live statistics will be available for the match. For links, please visit www.UCMAthletics.com.

Last Time Out
• Kersti Nix tallied 12 kills and Audrey Fisher had 11 kills and a career-high four block solos leading the No. 4-ranked University of Central Missouri Jennies volleyball team to a 3-1 win over the Newman Jets Saturday, Oct. 16, inside Fugate Gymnasium. The set scores were 20-25, 25-17, 25-8 and 25-17.
• Nix hit a match-best .345 with 12 kills on 29 attempts and two errors, while Fisher tallied a .308 attacking percentage with 11 kills on 26 swings and three errors. Her career-best four block solos were four of her team-high five blocks in the game, as she also compiled a block assist.
• Hannah Engelken also reached double figures in kills with 10 on .308 hitting.
• Ally Offerdahl added a match-high 25 assists, Rylie Barnum made a match-high 20 digs, and Chandler Vaughan compiled a match-best two service aces, rounding out the Central Missouri leaders in the match.
• After hitting just .150 and dropping set one to the Jets, the Jennies hit .406 in the second set, .240 in the third set and .176 in the deciding fourth set while holding Newman to negative hitting in two of the final three sets (-0.206 set three, -0.023 set four).
• Central Missouri ended the contest outhitting the Jets, .230 to .041, marking the seventh time in 2021 UCM has held an opponent under .100 hitting. The Jennies 25-8 win in set three was the first time since 2019 Central Missouri has limited an adversary to less than 10 points in a set.

Jennies in the MIAA Statistics
• Entering Tuesday, the Jennies rank second in the MIAA in opponent hitting percentage (.134), digs (18.68 per set) and blocks (2.21 per set), third in hitting percentage (.249), fourth in assists (12.89 per set) and kills (14.05 per set), and sixth in service aces (1.54 per set).
• Individually, Hannah Engelken is third in the MIAA in blocks, averaging 1.05 blocks per set with 66 total blocks, while Ally Offerdahl is fifth in assists with 9.52 assists per set on 600 total assists. Audrey Fisher is fourth in hitting percentage at .349, seventh in blocks with 0.95 blocks per set and 60 total blocks and kills with 3.14 per set, and Kersti Nix is eighth in kills with 3.13 per set. Rylie Barnum is sixth in digs with 299 digs and 4.82 digs per set.

Individual Milestones
• Ally Offerdahl is sixth in program history in career assists with 4,546 and fourth in career assists per set at 10.70 entering Tuesday's match at Missouri Western.
• Audrey Fisher is currently tied for ninth in career hitting percentage at .341 in 424 career sets.

.300 or Better
• Under Coach Piontek, Central Missouri 123-0 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. 4. Washburn dropped to numbe two this week, while UCM is up to third, Northwest Missouri is up to No. 6 and Nebraska Kearney is 16th. 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 travel to Topeka, Kan., for a showdown at No. 2 Washburn Thursday, Oct. 21, at 6 p.m. before hosting Emporia State at the Multipurpose Building Saturday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m.