(WARRENSBURG, Mo.) — No. 5 Central Missouri Jennies volleyball beat No. 7 Nebraska-Kearney in straight sets, 25-21, 25-21, 25-18, on Friday evening in the UCM Multipurpose Building. The Jennies had 44 kills, eight blocks and six serving aces against the Lopers.
Nebraska-Kearney (26-5, 12-4 MIAA) won the first point of the match, but that was the only lead that the Lopers held in the match. Central Missouri (28-1, 14-1 MIAA) won the following three points, with a service ace from Annie Reilly and two Loper attack errors. The Lopers held the Jennies to 17 points, stringing together six points in a row to cut the Jennies lead to 17-15. The Jens scored a point, before Kearney scored three more points in a row to tie the set up at 18-18. Central Missouri was able to score two points, but the Lopers quickly caught them again at 20-20. The Jennies scored five of the next six points to win the set, Reilly scored the final point on a service ace. Haley Thompson had four kills and two blocks in the first set, and hit .333 in the set.
Kearney tied the Jennies three times in start of set two, before the Jennies scored three points in a row to take a 6-3 lead over the Lopers. Kearney was unable to catch the Jennies for the remainder of the set. The Jennies scored the last two points of the set in a row, Taylor Goodness and Haley Thompson with a block assist. Carly Sojka had six kills in the second set, Goodness had four.
The Jennies took a 7-1 lead in the third set, Julia Bates and Reilly both with a serving ace in the Jennies first points of the set. Central Missouri won a point or two at a time for the rest of the set, and the match was finished with a Loper service error. Sojka had another six kills in the final set of the match, Goodness and Becca Blaise both had three.
Julia Bates had 34 assists, three kills and two service aces in the match. Reilly had 14 digs, three service aces and a kill. Thompson and Blaise both had six kills in the match, Thompson had five blocks, Blaise had four. Maddie Jones had four killls, and three blocks in the match. Sojka finished the match with 14 kills, and hit .256. Goodness had 10 kill and a block. Mikalee Monchino had a serving ace and nine digs.
The Jennies face Fort Hays State today at 4 p.m. in Warrensburg. With a win tomorrow the Jennies would clinch a share of the MIAA Championship.