WARRENSBURG, Mo. – No. 21 Central Missouri Jennies (21-7, 18-2) clinch their MIAA-leading 26th regular season title outright sweeping No. 10 Nebraska-Kearney Lopers (26-4, 16-4) by a final score of 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-18) on Saturday, Nov. 11, on center court in front of a record breaking 1,435 spectators inside the Multipurpose Building in Warrensburg.
With the score knotted at four in the opening set, the Jens went on an 8-1 run beginning with a kill from freshman
Emma Siron (team-high 10 kills, a career-high five blocks, and two digs overall) and ending with one of three service aces from the Sedalia, Mo. native helping UCM take a 1-0 advantage. In the second, Central Missouri jumped out to an early 7-2 lead ending the run on block assists from Siron and middle blocker
Elinor Engel (10 kills on 23 swings, for a .304 hitting percentage adding three blocks overall) as the Jennies doubled their lead.
In the third set leading 22-17, UCM clinched the outright MIAA regular season championship on a 4-1 run beginning with a kill from reigning MIAA Offensive Athlete of the Week
Kersti Nix (10 kills on 26 attempts, for a .308 attack percentage) from redshirt senior setter
Olivia Olson who recorded a team-best 16
th double-double performance (35 assists, 10 digs, five blocks, and four kills overall) and ending on block assists from redshirt seniors
Sydney Lierz (11 digs overall) and
Grace Southern.
The Jens outhit UNK by a margin of .276 to .152 on the afternoon thanks to middle blocker
Rachel Ziesman's match and career-high eight blocks (including seven block assists) adding six kills, while defensive specialist
Arley Anderson had a team-high 14 digs. Libero
Grace Winkelmann collected 10 digs and two assists, plus, redshirt senior
Jackie Storm had four digs in the winning effort.
No. 21 Central Missouri returns to the court on Thursday, Nov. 16, as they play in the opening round of the MIAA Conference Tournament as the number one seed from the St. Joseph Civic Center in St. Joseph, Mo.
