WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Hannah Engelken and Audrey Fisher combined for 29 kills and seven blocks helping third-ranked University of Central Missouri Jennies volleyball win their 14th MIAA Volleyball Tournament Championship in program history with a five-set victory over No. 4-ranked Northwest Missouri State Saturday, Nov. 20, at the UCM Multipurpose Building. The set scores were 13-25, 20-25, 25-20, 25-18 and 15-10.

The tournament title was the first since 2015 for UCM and the third under Central Missouri head coach Flip Piontek.

Engelken, a redshirt junior from Overland Park, Kan., tallied a team-high 17 kills on 40 attempts with just two errors for a .375 attack percentage and made three block assists while Fisher, a redshirt senior from Lenexa, Kan., hit .308 with 12 kills on 39 swings and zero errors and had one block solo and three block assists.

Ally Offerdahl added a team-high 44 assists, and Jackie Storm posted team and career-highs in both digs (25) and service aces (4). Arley Anderson also compiled a career-best in the contest with 17 digs and a pair of service aces, and Rylie Barnum had 21 digs.

Fisher, Engelken, Offerdahl and Barnum were all named to the All-Tournament Team.

After the Bearcats (26-5) won the first two sets to go up in the match, 2-0, the Jennies (28-3) took control of the contest in the final three sets, outhitting Northwest Missouri .270 to .146 in the third set, .300 to .167 in the fourth and a blistering .400 to .217 in the fifth and decisive set.

UCM limited Northwest Missouri to just eight kills on 23 attempts in the fifth set while posting 12 kills of its own on 25 swings.

Avery Kemp (18 kills), Peyton Kirchhoefer (17 kills) and Kelsey Havel (16 kills) led the Bearcats.

Central Missouri will find its NCAA-II Central Region tournament opponent and location during the NCAA-II Volleyball Tournament Selection Show Monday, Nov. 22, at 6:30 p.m. on NCAA.com. The Jennies will be making their 36th appearance in program history in the NCAA tournament.

2021 MIAA Volleyball Championship All-Tournament Team
Emersen Cyza – Nebraska Kearney
Fallon Stutheit – Nebraska Kearney
Maddie Squiers – Nebraska Kearney
Faith Rottinghaus – Washburn
Kelsey Gordon – Washburn
Alyssa Rezac – Northwest Missouri
Kelsey Havel – Northwest Missouri
Payton Kirchhoefer – Northwest Missouri
Hannah Engelken – Central Missouri
Rylie Barnum – Central Missouri
Ally Offerdahl – Central Missouri
Audrey Fisher – Central Missouri