ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Top seed Central Missouri Jennies (23-7, 18-2) defeated the four seed Missouri Western Griffons (21-10, 13-7) by a final score of 3-1 (25-23, 25-13, 23-25, 25-20) on Friday, Nov. 17, in the 2023 MIAA Volleyball Tournament Semifinals from the St. Joseph Civic Arena in downtown St. Joseph, Mo.
Tied at 15 in the opening set of the match, the Jens went on a 6-2 run beginning with a kill from redshirt senior
Kersti Nix (10 kills, three blocks, and three digs overall) and ending with a kill from right side hitter
Emma Siron (12 kills and career-high five blocks overall) as UCM took a 1-0 lead.
The Griffons responded by taking the opening three points of the second, but Central Missouri answered with an 8-2 run as redshirt senior
Sydney Lierz (17 digs and team-high 13 kills overall), middle blocker
Rachel Ziesman (career-high 11 blocks, 10 kills, and four digs overall), and Siron had two kills each doubling the Jens advantage.
After taking the third set by a score of 25-23 the Griffons jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the fourth, but the Jens responded with a 10-1 run of their own highlighted by three kills and two blocks from Ziesman as Central Missouri advances to the MIAA tournament finals with a 25-20 victory.
The Jennies had three players finish the match with double-double performances including MIAA Player of the Year
Olivia Olson (match-high 50 assists, 10 digs, seven kills, and four digs overall) while freshman
Elinor Engel added 12 kills on 25 swings (.320 hitting percentage) and two blocks respectively.
UCM outhit the Griffons by a margin of .259 to .199 percent on the evening thanks to defensive specialist
Arley Anderson's match-high 19 digs and redshirt sophomore
Grace Winkelmann's 12 digs in the winning effort.
No. 1 Central Missouri returns to the court on Saturday, Nov. 18, as they take on No. 3 Nebraska-Kearney in the 2023 MIAA Volleyball Tournament Championship match with first serve scheduled for 6:00 p.m. from the St. Joseph Civic Center in St. Joseph, Mo.
