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WARRENSBURG, Mo. - After a slow start, the 7th-ranked Central Missouri Jennies rallied to defeat the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns, 21-25, 25-14, 26-24, 25-15 in the first night of the Peggy Martin Challenge. Senior
Bradye Peniston led the Jennies offense with 17 kills, and a .533 hitting percentage.
Taking the first two points of the match, Arkansas Tech stayed close in the early portion of the first set. Once a
Taylor Goodness kill gave the Jens a 10-7 advantage, the Golden Suns rallied off eight straight points to turn the set into a 15-10 Arkansas Tech lead. The Jennies were never quite able to recover, as Tech led the rest of the way, recording two kills and a block for the final three points. The Jennies gave up eight attack errors in the opener, and allowed a .333 hitting percentage for the Golden Suns.
The Jennies' offense awoke in the second game, quickly taking a 6-1 lead. UCM never relinquished the lead from that point on, scoring 13-of-15 on sideout points. An 8-2 run, capped off by a pair of kills from
Hillary McCormick sandwiched around two
Aubri Renshaw service aces put the Jens up ten points at 14-4. Peniston and
Julia Bates teamed up for the set point, blocking the attack for the 25-14 win.
Again, Central Missouri took an early lead in the third set, going up 4-0 to start the game. The Jens controlled the first half of the set, until at 13-10, Arkansas Tech rallied for six straight scores and a 16-13 lead. Facing set point and the possibility of going down two sets to one, the Jennies clawed their way back, as Goodness led the way. Goodness scored the first kill at set point, making it 24-23, then knocked down the solo block to tie the match at 24-24. After an Arkansas Tech timeout, the junior knocked down two straight kills to clinch the set. Peniston had her best set of the night, recording a team high eight kills off only 11 attempts, for a .727 hitting percentage.
Another strong start in the fourth set gave the Jens a 6-0 advantage early. The lead swelled to 11-3 before the Golden Suns responded with a four point run to close the gap to 11-7, before Peniston recorded a kill to end the rally. The Jens were able to keep the comeback at bay, trading serves back and forth until a four point run for the Jennies put the game out of reach, making a 20-14 Jennies advantage into match point at 24-15. Freshman
Carly Sojka earned the final kill to win the set, 25-15.
Three Jennies finished the match with double-doubles, as Sojka recorded 12 kills and 14 digs, Renshaw posted 12 kills and 12 kills, and the setter Bates finished with 10 digs and 55 assists. Freshman
Annie Reilly led the defense with 24 digs. Renshaw, Peniston and McCormick all had a total of four blocks each.
The Jens improve to 14-3 on the season with the win, and host Pittsburg State in the finale of the Peggy Martin Challenge. The non-conference matchup is set for Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.
