No. 17 Jennies vs. Northwest Missouri State
Tuesday, Nov. 11 | 7 p.m.
UCM Multipurpose Building | Warrensburg, Mo. 
Live Stats | Video | Game Notes

Last Week... 
The Central Missouri volleyball team (20-8, 17-3 MIAA) has won their last six matches, including two home wins last weekend. Friday the Jennies swept Missouri Southern, 25-17, 25-14, 25-22, followed by a five set win over Central Oklahoma, 19-25, 25-16, 25-15, 23-25, 15-12. After the wins last weekend the Jennies moved up two spots in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association poll. The team is now No. 17, with 416 points in the poll. 

The Jennies hit .242 against the Lions, with seven blocks and 49 kills. Annie Reilly had five aces in the match, four in the first set. She also racked up 25 digs in three sets. Carly Sojka hit .312, with 14 kills and two blocks. Haley Thompson also had double-digit kills (10), with six blocks and an ace. Shelby Winkelmann had eight digs and eight kills, while hitting .500 without an attack error in the match. Becca Blaise had 17 digs and three kills. Reilly, Winkelmann, and Blaise finished the match without a receiving error. 

On Saturday Central Missouri hit .221, with 10 blocks and 72 kills in five sets. It was the sixth time this season the Jennies tallied double-figure blocks in the match. Four Jennies had double-figure kills. Sojka again led the team with 20 kills and 26 digs. H. Thompson had 17 kills and three blocks, while Maddie Jones had 12 kills and six blocks. Kourtney Thompson hit .429, with 10 kills. She also had 55 assists, five blocks and only Central Missouri service ace in the match. Blaise and Reilly had another perfect reception percentage, Blaise finished the match with 18 digs while Reilly had 28. 

In the eight sets played, Reilly averaged 6.62 digs per set, and 0.62 aces per set, earning her second straight MIAA Specialist of the Week nod. She has won the award three times this season, and seven times in her career. Reilly was also named to the CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-District First Team last week. Reilly is majoring in biochemistry and has a 3.93 GPA. Reilly is a two-time MIAA Scholar-Athlete Award recipient, and has been named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll twice. The academic all-district ballot is nominated and voted on by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) in each district. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must maintain a 3.30 grade point average and be at least a sophomore. Reilly is now eligible for Academic All-America honors.  

Central Missouri Jennies
Reilly is tied for fourth nationally in aces per set (0.63), and is second in the MIAA in digs (5.63). She has had only six receiving errors this season off of 447 attempts. Earlier this season, Reilly tied the Central Missouri record for most aces in a match, with eight aces against Pittsburg State and Fort Hays State. 

Sojka is second in the MIAA in kills per set (4.01), and second on the team in digs (2.82). She has had the most kills on the team in 21 matches. After last weekend,  Sojka up to 14 double-doubles this season. She has been named MIAA Hitter of the Week twice this season, and earned National Player of the Week honors once.   

H. Thompson also earned National Player of the Week this season. She is second in the MIAA in hitting percentage (.324), and sixth in blocks, with 1.08 blocks per set. She broke a career record against then-No. 4 Nebraska-Kearney, with eight blocks in the match. 

K. Thompson has had 13 double-double this season. She is fourth in the MIAA in assists (10.32), and averages 1.25 kills and 2.46 digs per set. K. Thompson has had 48 blocks total this season, the second highest total on the team. Last weekend against Central Oklahoma, K. Thompson set a new career record, with five blocks in the match. 

Winkelmann is second on the Jennies in digs, with 2.89 per set. She is also second in aces served, with 17 total this season. She has had double-digit digs in 14 matches this season. Blaise is averaging 0.40 blocks per set and 2.72 digs per set this season. Maddie Jones has also had 0.40 blocks per set this season, with 1.90 kills per set. 

Jennies in Central Region Rankings 
The Jennies are up one spot in the latest regional rankings released last Wednesday. Central Missouri is third in the central region after beating Nebraska-Kearney and Fort Hays State last weekend. The Jennies are 18-8 overall, with a 15-3 MIAA record, and are tied with Nebraska-Kearney for first in the MIAA.
 
Minnesota-Duluth holds the top spot, after beating Concordia-St. Paul on Tuesday. Concordia-St. Paul also kept their second place position. Southwest Minnesota State and Wayne State round out the top five at fourth and fifth, followed by Nebraska-Kearney in sixth, Central Oklahoma in seventh, and Washburn in eighth. Winona State is ninth and Minnesota State-Mankato is tth.
 
The top eight teams in the final regional rankings on Sunday, Nov. 16 will earn a spot in the NCAA-II Central Regional Tournament to be held Nov. 20-22 at a campus site to be determined.

Opponent Preview
Central Missouri faced Northwest Missouri State two weeks ago in Maryville, Mo. The Jennies swept the Bearcats, 25-17, 25-21, 25-11. Central Missouri hit .327 with 44 kills and five blocks total. Sojka led the Jennies with a .448 hitting percentage and 15 kills. K. Thompson had a team-high three blocks, with 39 assists and three kills. Winkelmann and Reilly both had double-figure digs. Reilly finished the match with 14 digs, while Winkelmann had one less dig (13) with an ace.

Northwest Missouri State Bearcats | Maryville, Mo.
Series Record: UCM leads 84-6    Current Streak: UCM 64 straight
Woerth vs. UCM: 0-5        Piontek vs. NWMSU: 12-0
AVCA Rank: NR         
2014 Statistics            (10-18, 7-13 MIAA)    
Kill/Set: 12.37        Hit Pct.: .163    Ace/Set: 1.09    
Digs/Set: 14.83        Assists/Set: 11.66    Blocks/Set: 1.80

Northwest Missouri State fell in four to Nebraska-Kearney on last Friday before winning a four set match against Fort Hays State on Saturday. The Bearcats had dropped their last nine matches before beating the Tigers. 

Northwest Missouri State is led by Miranda Foster, who is ninth in the MIAA in kills (3.32). She has hit .121, with 2.79 digs per set. Jackie Becker and Shelby Duren have also been strong in the front row. Becker has had 0.84 blocks and 2.65 kills per set, and Duren has had 2.30 kills with 2.67 digs per set. Sarah Dannettell is the primary setter for the Bearcats, and has had 10.25 assists per set, while Bailey Vance has been anchoring the backrow with 4.05 digs per set. Dannettell is fifth in the MIAA in assists, and Duren is ninth in digs.

The last time Northwest Missouri State faced Central Missouri, none of the Bearcats were able to break double-digit kills. Duren had nine kills, Foster had seven, and Becker had five. Becker also had the only blocks in the match. Dannettell had 24 assists and the only Bearcat ace. Foster also had 13 digs, while Vance had 15 digs.