No. 2 Central Missouri (22-2, 15-1 MIAA) at Fort Hays State (12-14, 6-11 MIAA)
Friday, Nov. 5 | 6 p.m. | Hays, Kan. (Gross Memorial Coliseum)
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No. 2 Central Missouri at No. 15 Nebraska Kearney (21-5, 12-5 MIAA)
Saturday, Nov. 6 | 3 p.m. | Kearney, Neb. (Health and Sports Center)
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No. 2 Central Missouri at Central Oklahoma (18-7, 11-6 MIAA)
Tuesday, Nov. 9 | 6 p.m. | Edmond, Okla. (Hamilton Fieldhouse)
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Match Notes (PDF)
Scene Setter
• The second-ranked University of Central Missouri Jennies volleyball team is scheduled to wrap up a four-match road swing with MIAA contests in Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma Nov. 5, 6 and 9. The Jennies will travel to Hays, Kan., for a 6 p.m. contest at Fort Hays State Friday, Nov. 5, before heading north to Kearney, Neb., for a showdown at No. 15 Nebraska Kearney Saturday, Nov. 6, at 3 p.m. UCM venture to Edmond, Okla., for a tussle with Central Oklahoma Tuesday, Nov. 9, at 6 p.m., wrapping up Central Missouri's stretch of four-straight road matches.
• The Jennies are coming off a perfect 3-0 week with a five-set win over then No. 3-ranked Northwest Missouri at home Oct. 26 and sweeps against Missouri Southern Oct. 28 and at Pittsburg State Oct. 30. UCM has won 12 consecutive matches going into Friday's contest at Fort Hays State -- its longest winning streak since winning 22 straight contests in 2013.
How to Watch
• Live video and live statistics will be available for three matches. For links, please visit www.UCMAthletics.com.
Last Time Out
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Sydney Lierz tallied 13 kills and hit .423, and
Kersti Nix hit a career-best .579 to lead No. 2-ranked University of Central Missouri Jennies volleyball to a 3-0 sweep at Pittsburg State Saturday, Oct. 30, inside John Lance Arena. The set scores were 25-15, 30-28 and 25-15.
• The Jennies upped their season-best winning streak to 12 matches with the victory and continued the program's longest winning streak since 2013, when UCM won 22 consecutive matches.
• Lierz compiled her 13 kills on a team-high 26 attempts with just two errors for her .423 hitting percentage, while Nix posted 11 kills on 19 attempts with no miscues for her blistering .579 hitting percentage.
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Ally Offerdahl added a match-high 37 assists,
Rylie Barnum made a team-high 11 digs, and
Hannah Engelken had a match-high three blocks.
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Audrey Fisher compiled eight kills on 16 swings and didn't commit an error for .500 hitting, marking the 12th straight match she has hit at least .300.
• Central Missouri hit .470 for the match, including a sizzling .556 in the first set, 326 in set two and .630 in the third and decisive set, while holding the Gorillas (13-11, 7-9 MIAA) to .246 hitting.
Jennies Sweep MIAA Athlete of the Week Honors for Second Straight Week
• Central Missouri volleyball swept the MIAA Athlete of the Week honors for the second time this season as
Hannah Engelken was named the Defensive Athlete of the Week,
Sydney Lierz garnered Offensive Athlete of the Week accolades, and
Ally Offerdahl received Setter of the Week honors on Nov. 1.
• Engelken garnered her first Defensive Athlete of the Week award of the season after averaging a team-high 1.64 blocks per set with 18 block assists and just one blocking error in her 11 sets played. In UCM's five-set win over No. 3 Northwest Missouri, Engelken posted a new UCM single-match record with 14 block assists. She also tied the UCM single-match record for total blocks with 14 in the match with the Bearcats. The Overland Park, Kan., native completed a double-double against Northwest Missouri with 11 kills and hit .409. She then hit .619 with 13 kills in the sweep over Missouri Southern before tallying a trio of block assists and six kills in the win at Pittsburg State.
• Lierz, who earned her first Offensive Athlete of the Week nod of 2021, averaged 2.45 kills per set with 27 kills on 70 attempts and just four errors for a .329 hitting percentage in the Jennies' three victories last week. The sophomore outside hitter recorded a team-best seven service aces with just one service error in her 11 sets played. Lierz also helped UCM defensively with 20 digs and seven block assists. In Central Missouri's five-set win over the No. 3 Bearcats, Lierz compiled a career-high six service aces, which is 14th in UCM's single-match history. She then added six kills against the Lions before tallying a match-high 13 kills on 26 attempts with only two miscues for .423 hitting in UCM's sweep at Pittsburg State.
• Offerdahl, who is the conference's Setter of the Week for the second consecutive week, averaged a team-high 9.18 assists per set with 101 assists in 11 sets played and 235 total attempts. She was a spark for UCM on the attacking front with eight kills on 16 swings with just one error for a .438 attacking percentage in her 11 sets played. In addition, the senior had 23 digs, five service aces and four blocks on the week. Offerdahl tallied 38 assists and 10 digs for her team-high 12th double-double of 2021 in UCM's five-set win over No. 3 Northwest Missouri. She then added 26 assists in the sweep of Missouri Southern before compiling 37 assists and seven kills on seven attempts with no errors for perfect 1.000 hitting in the sweep at Pittsburg State.
National Recognition: Engelken Named Sports Imports/AVCA Division II National Player of the Week
• Redshirt junior middle blocker
Hannah Engelken was selected the Sports Imports/American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II National Player of the Week for her performance on the volleyball court during the week of Oct. 25-31, the organization announced Tuesday, Nov. 2.
• Engelken is the ninth Jennies volleyball student-athlete to garner the honor and the first since Kasey Hohlen in 2017.
• Jennies Volleyball AVCA National Players of the Week:
1999: Daria McConnell: Sept. 13-19 and Sept. 27-Oct. 3; 2005: Kaci Young: Aug. 25-30; Becky Haug: Oct. 12-18; 2014: Haley Thompson: Sept. 2-8; Carly Sojka: Sept. 30-Oct. 6; 2015: Carly Sojka: Sept. 29-Oct. 5; 2017: Kasey Hohlen: Oct. 17-23; 2021:
Hannah Engelken: Oct. 25-31
Jennies in the MIAA Statistics
• Entering the weekend, the Jennies lead the MIAA in blocks (2.31 per set), rank second in opponent hitting percentage (.144), third in digs (18.08 per set) and hitting percentage (.263), and fourth in assists (12.86 per set), kills (14.05 per set) and service aces (1.62).
• Individually,
Hannah Engelken leads the MIAA in blocks, averaging 1.15 blocks per set with 99 total blocks and seventh in hitting percentage at .333, while
Ally Offerdahl is fifth in assists with 9.49 assists per set on 816 total assists.
Audrey Fisher is fourth in hitting percentage at .366, sixth in blocks at 0.93 per set with 80 total blocks, and 11th in kills with 3.03 per set, and
Kersti Nix is eighth in hitting percentage at .318 and 10th in kills with 3.09 per set.
Rylie Barnum is fifth in digs with 406 digs and 4.78 digs per set, and
Aubree Bell is ninth in service aces with 0.32 per set and 25 total service aces.
Individual Milestones
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Ally Offerdahl is sixth in program history in career assists with 4,762 and fourth in career assists per set at 10.70 entering the weekend.
• In the latest NCAA Division II national statistics, Offerdahl is third in the Division II active career leaders assists list with her 4,762 career assists.
• Fisher is currently eighth in career hitting percentage at .344 in 447 career sets played. She's just one point shy of moving up to eighth. Fisher is only two points away from tying former Jenny Stacy Piontek, who hit .346 from 1986-87.
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Hannah Engelken is one block shy of reaching 100 for the 2021 season.
.300 or Better
• Under Coach Piontek, Central Missouri 125-0 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 have hit .300 or better in five matches this season.
UCM in the Polls
• The Jennies remained No. 2 in the latest AVCA Division II Coaches' Poll released Monday, Nov. 1. Washburn moved up one spot to No. 3 third week, while Northwest Missouri dropped two spots to No. 5, and Nebraska Kearney stayed at No. 15.
• The first NCAA-II Central Region Rankings were released Nov. 4, at UCM is in the top spot. Fellow MIAA members Northwest Missouri (3), Washburn (4) and Nebraska Kearney (7) are also in the inaugural rankings. The top eight teams in the final rankings will advance to the NCAA-II Central Region Tournament, which is hosted by the No. 1-ranked team in the final rankings.
• In the MIAA preseason poll, the Jens were picked to finish fourth behind Nebraska-Kearney, Washburn and Northwest Missouri. They finished with 75 points.
Up Next
• The Jennies return home to the UCM Multipurpose Building to host Newman for their 2021 regular season finale Thursday, Nov. 11, at 6 p.m. Senior Night will occur after the match.
