WARRENSBURG, Mo. – The Central Missouri Jennies (11-14, 7-9 MIAA) defeated the Pittsburg State Gorillas (10-16, 5-11 MIAA) by a final score of 3-2 (25-17, 18-25, 25-20, 22-25, 15-11) on Saturday, Nov. 16, during Senior Night, HOA Club Night, and the annual Black Out Match from Dr. Peggy Martin Court inside the Jerry M. Hughes Athletics Center in Warrensburg.
After splitting the first four sets of the match, the Jens began the fifth on an 8-3 run highlighted by three kills from sophomore
Maya Fergerson (match and career-high 23 kills on 46 swings for a .370 hitting percentage) and never relinquished en route to their 11
th win of the season.
Central Missouri had four players end the match with double-digit kills on the night including middle blocker
Rachel Ziesman (team-best four blocks) with 17 on 34 attempts for a .382 attack percentage, sophomore
Elinor Engel (four digs and two blocks) had 16, and senior
Tiffany Little (four digs) with 13.
Libero
Grace Winkelmann paced the back row defensively with 20 digs while senior
Arley Anderson and defensive specialist
Brenna Kelly ended the match with 12 digs and one service ace each for good measure.
Dallas, Texas native
Regan Willms ended the match with a career and match-high 65 assists, a career-best three blocks, and a match-high three service aces while defensive specialist
Emma Wheeler contributed seven digs and freshman
Grace Wagers added a career-high six digs and five kills.
After the conclusion of the match, the Jens honored their five seniors in a ceremony on the court recognizing
Ellie Erdman,
Arley Anderson,
Tiffany Little,
Justine Bichelmeyer, and
Regan Willms for their contributions to the program.
With the win, Central Missouri has earned the seventh seed in the 2024 MIAA Volleyball Championships and will take on the Missouri Western Griffons (22-6, 12-4 MIAA) with first serve slated for 12:00 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 21, from the St. Joseph Civic Arena in downtown St. Joseph, Mo.
