WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Sept. 18, 2019) - No. 12 Central Missouri Jennies Volleyball is at home for the first time this season as they start MIAA action.

Opponents
Missouri Western Griffons (6-2, 0-0 MIAA)
No. 15 Northwest Missouri Bearcats (7-1, 0-0 MIAA)

Where
St. Joseph, Mo. at Missouri Western
Warrensburg, Mo. - UCM Multipurpose Building vs. Northwest Missouri

When
Friday, Sept. 20 - 6 p.m. at Missouri Western
Saturday, Sept. 21 - 3 p.m. vs. Northwest Missouri

How to Watch
• Both games will have live video and live stats that will be available on the Jennies BlueFrame portal page on the MIAA Network at www.themiaanetwork.com/ucmmules. 

First Serve
• Central Missouri Jennies Volleyball opens up MIAA play this weekend and also host their first home match of the 2019 season. 
• Last week, UCM went 2-2 at the 24th annual Colorado Premier Challenge. All four of the Jennies opponents were ranked in the top-20. The Jens defeated No. 13 Barry and No. 20 Texas A&M Commerce but fell to No. 5 Lewis and No. 9 Tarleton State. 
• Central Missouri remained ranked 12th this week in the AVCA top-25 poll. 

Story Lines
• The Jennies first home opponent in 2019 was their last in 2018. The Jennies defeated Northwest Missouri 3-1 last year in the quarterfinals of the MIAA Tournament.
• All-time UCM is 95-9 against the Bearcats. Three of those nine losses have come recently though, as the Bearcats have picked up a win over UCM in each of the last three seasons. All-time in Warrensburg, the Jennies are 42-3 against Northwest Missouri.
• The Jens also have an extended history with Missouri Western. UCM is 83-7 all-time against the Griffons. 
• After splitting the series from 2015-17, the Jennies got the better of the Griffons in all three matches (two MIAA, one non conference).
• Playing in St. Joseph, the Jennies are 33-4 all-time. 
• A year ago, the Jennies went 11-2 when playing in the Multipurpose Building. 

Quick Hits
Last Time Out
• Central Missouri went 2-2 at the 24th annual Colorado Premier Challenge. The Jennies faced off with four AVCA top-25 ranked teams splitting each day and moving to 5-3 on the season. 

Previously Against This Weekend's Opponents 
• The Jennies defeated Northwest Missouri in Maryville last year 3-1 in the 4/5 matchup of the MIAA Tournament. Four Jennies were in double-figure kills with Kylie Hohlen's 16 leading the the way. She had a double-double with 33 digs as well. UCM hit .244 in the match with 11 blocks. The Jennies defeated Missouri Western three times in 2018, their last coming in Warrensburg, 3-1. Kylie Hohlen had a 21 kill, 19 dig double-double while Rylee Neigenfind had 16 kills

UCM in the Polls
• In the American Volleyball Coaches Association Preseason Poll, the Jennies stayed at No. 12. It is their 428th time ranked in the top-25, by far the most in Division II.  
• In the MIAA preseason poll, the Jens were picked to finish third behind Washburn and Nebraska-Kearney. They finished with 83 points and two first place votes. 

Individual Milestones
• Rylee Neigenfind needs 25 more digs to get to 300 for her career. 
• Ally Offerdahl will hit 3,000 career assists with 52 more. She also needs six more blocks for 100.
• Abby Skrastins will get to 150 assists with four more. 
• Hannah VanBuskirk needs just 17 more kills to reach 500. 

.300 or Better
• If you didn't see the match, a good way to know if UCM won is to look at the hitting percentage. Under Coach Piontek, Central Missouri 112-0 when they hit at least .300. While it hasn't happened often under Piontek, UCM is just 3-13 when surrendering a .300 attack percentage to their opponent. Twice the Jennies hit better than .300 on opening weekend, defeating Valdosta State and Florida Southern. 

Top-25 Opponents
• Last season, the Jennies played 12 top-25 ranked teams among their 33 matches. They went 5-7 in those games. The start of 2019 doesn't get any easier for UCM. Seven of the first eight teams they faced were ranked or receiving votes in the top-25, including No. 1 overall, and defending champions Tampa. This weekend they take on No. 15 Northwest Missouri State. Their next ranked opponent is likely to be Nebraska-Kearney Oct. 4.

MIAA Leaders
• Offensively, Audrey Fisher is the only Jennie inside the MIAA top-10. She ranks eighth in hitting percentage at .345. Her 2.50 kills per set are also just outside the top-20.
• Fisher and Hannah Engelken are each in the MIAA top-20 in blocks. Fisher is 20th with 0.62 while Engelken has shot up to fifth at 0.94 thanks to 22 blocks last weekend.
• The third category Fisher is in the top-20 is service aces. she has 11 this season which is tied for sixth and her 0.32 aces per set are 12th.
• With 4.65 digs per set, Abby Skrastins ranks fifth in the MIAA in digs. She has 158 total which is the third most. 

Sharing the Wealth
• The Jennies haven't had to rely too heavily on any one point scorer. Seven Jennies have more than 30 kills this season and six have at least 45. 
• Five different Jennies have led a match in kills this season: Rylee Neigenfind, Aubree Bell, Audrey Fisher, Hannah Engelken and Sydney Lierz. 
• With eight freshmen this year, some were bound to get playing time. Sydney Lierz and Jackie Storm have been making the most of theirs with Lierz landing 45 kills and Storm's 77 digs are third on the team.

50 Years of Excellence 
• The 2019 season will mark the 50th in the storied history of Jennies Volleyball. All season long the Jennies will be celebrating that history with special events.
• Similar to the Silver Anniversary Team of 1994, the Jennies came out with a Gold Anniversary Team, adding 18 players from the past 25 years to the Silver Anniversary Team.
• The biggest event will be Oct. 12 during homecoming, when members of the 50 year team are invited back for a special celebration, including an on-court ceremony. 
• During each home match this season, UCM will recognize two of the newest members of the 50 year team. 

Scouting the Opposition
Missouri Western (6-2, 0-0 MIAA)
• Missouri Western enters the conference season with a 6-2 mark.  They opened the season with four straight wins at the Pittsburg State Gorilla Classic. They then went 3-1 at the Drury Invitational with two wins over teams receiving votes in the AVCA top-25.
• As a team, Missouri Western is second in the MIAA in service aces. They land 1.7 per set. Ali Tauchen leads the team with 13 and Jessica Sachen has 12. They are 1-2 in the MIAA in aces per set.
• Tauchen is also the team's leading offensive threat with 98 kills and 3.92 kills per set. She is second in the MIAA and fourth with a .374 attack percentage.
• The Griffons have four in the MIAA top-20 in kills per set. After Tauchen, Sam Duncan is seventh at 3.48, Maryssa Recio is 10th at 3.30 and Allie Kerns 16th at 2.78.
• Lauren Murphy has been at the center of it all with 10.92 assists per set which is second in the league. She also has 25 kills and averages 1.80 digs per set.
• Defensively, Tiana Butler is second in the MIAA coming down with 5.92 digs per set. Three other Griffons are averaging more than two digs per set and the team averages 15.3.
• Blocking is the one category not in the Griffons favor. They are being out-blocked 49-46. Tauchen leads the team with 22 blocks while Allie Kerns is second with 20.
• Missouri Western is hitting .247 this year while holding opponents to a .149 attack percentage. 

No. 15 Northwest Missouri Bearcats
• Northwest Missouri is off to a hot start this season at 7-1 and ranked 15th in the latest AVCA top-25 poll. Last week they defeated No. 7 Northern State 3-1 and have already defeated three ranked opponents this season.
• Northwest leads the MIAA in hitting percentage at .262 while also holding opponents to a .168 attack percentage.
• Two Bearcats have more than 80 kills and a .300 attack percentage. Bethany Elkins has landed 91 kills while hitting .395 and Morgan Lewis has 89 kills and is hitting .335.
• Both Elkins and Lewis are in the MIAA top-five in kills per set, but they both trail their teammate, MIAA leader Hallie Sidney with 129 kills and 4.30 kills per set. She has the sixth most kills in Division II.
• Bearcat setter Maddy Ahrens leads the MIAA with 11.07 assists per set. The Bearcats have 446 kills and 13.94 kills per set and Ahrens has been the primary setter.
• Northwest is also efficient scoring off the block. They average 1.78 blocks per set. The duo of Elkins and Lewis are at the top of the MIAA. Lewis leads with 27 blocks and 0.84 blocks per set. Elkins is right behind with 26 and 0.81 per set.
• Northwest Missouri is the only team in the MIAA without anyone in the top-10 in digs per set. Their leader is Hannah Koechl with 2.44 digs per set. NWMSU has five averaging  at least two digs per set.
• The Bearcats have scored 35 service aces which is towards the bottom of the league. Koechl leads the team with 10 aces, the only Bearcat in double-figures.