No. 5 Jennies Entertain Pittsburg State Thursday, Travel to Missouri Southern Saturday

No. 5 Central Missouri (10-2, 3-1 MIAA) vs. Pittsburg State (9-4, 3-2 MIAA)
Thursday, Sept. 30 | 6 p.m. | Warrensburg, Mo. (Multipurpose Building)
Live Stats | Live Video

No. 5 Central Missouri at Missouri Southern (3-9, 0-3 MIAA)
Saturday, Oct. 2 | 7 p.m. | Joplin, Mo. (Robert Ellis Young Gymnasium)
Live Stats | Live Video

Match Notes (PDF)

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This Week
• The fifth-ranked University of Central Missouri Jennies volleyball team is scheduled to host Pittsburg State in an MIAA match Thursday, Sept. 30, at 6 p.m. at the UCM Multipurpose Building before traveling to Joplin, Mo., to take on Missouri Southern in a conference tilt Saturday, Oct. 2, at 7 p.m.
• The Jennies are coming off a 1-1 week, winning at Emporia State, 3-1, Thursday, Sept. 23, before dropping a 3-1 decision at home to No. 1 Washburn Saturday, Sept. 25.

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

Last Time Out
• Hannah Engelken hit .448 with 13 kills and Sydney Lierz added a season-best 14 kills as the No. 7 University of Central Missouri Jennies volleyball team dropped a 3-1 contest to the No. 1-ranked Washburn Ichabods Saturday, Sept. 25, inside the UCM Multipurpose Building. The set scored were 14-25, 25-19, 19-25 and 23-25.
• Engelken matched her season-high for the third time in 2021 with her 13 kills on 26 attempts with no errors, while Lierz had 14 kills on a team-high 52 swings with five miscues for a .173 attacking percentage.
• Ally Offerdahl posted her team-best eighth double-double of the season with 46 assists and 14 digs, Aubree Bell compiled a season-best 24 digs, and Audrey Fisher had a season-high three service aces, and added a team-best three block assists, rounding out the UCM leaders in the contest.
• Genna Berg had a match-high 18 kills on 57 attempts and added five block assists, while Allison Sadler tallied a match-best 49 assists, Sydney Fitzgibbons posted a match-high six blocks (one block solo, five block assists), and Faith Rottinghaus had a match-best 51 digs, leading the Ichabods.

Jennies in the MIAA Statistics
• Entering the week, the Jennies rank first in the MIAA in opponent hitting percentage (.126) and digs (19.00 per set), third in blocks (2.15 per set), fourth in assists (12.71 per set) and fifth in hitting percentage (.236).
• Individually, Hannah Engelken is second in the MIAA in blocks, averaging 1.20 blocks per set with 49 total blocks, while Ally Offerdahl is third in assists with 10.39 assists per set on 426 total assists. Audrey Fisher is fifth in hitting percentage at .339 and seventh in kills with 3.17 per set, and Kersti Nix is eighth in kills with 3.17 per set.

Individual Milestones
• Ally Offerdahl is seventh in program history in career assists with 4,380 going into Thursday's match against Pittsburg State.
• Audrey Fisher reached 300 career blocks with her two blocks (one block solo, one block assist) at No. 12 Northwest Missouri Sept. 17.
• Fisher is currently 10th in career hitting percentage at .339 in 402 career sets played. She's just two points shy of moving up to ninth.
• Hannah Engelken is three blocks shy of reaching 300 in her UCM career.

.300 or Better
• Under Coach Piontek, Central Missouri 121-0 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 Sept. 27. Washburn is this week's number one team, while UCM is fifth, Nebraska Kearney is 10th and Northwest Missouri is 13th.
• 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 begin a three-match homestand with a 6 p.m. contest vs. No. 10 Nebraska Kearney Friday, Oct. 8, at the UCM Multipurpose Building.