(WARRENSBURG, Mo.) — With a career-high six service aces, freshman Annie Reilly helped propel the seventh-ranked Central Missouri Jennies to a straight set, 25-16, 25-18, 25-17 win over Missouri Southern Tuesday night.
Reilly contributed to the team’s 16 service aces in total, recording the fourth-highest ace total in UCM history.
The Overland Park, Kan., native picked up three of her six aces on her first three serves of the match, pushing the Jens in front 6-2 in the opening set. UCM never trailed in the first game, and took a commanding 17-9 lead after back-to-back kills from Julia Bates.
Freshman Mikalee Monachino picked up two service aces of her own, making it 23-16, before Courtney Cornell recorded the kill at game point to close out the first set. The Jens hit for an impressive .478 percentage, recording 13 kills and just two attack errors in the opener.
The Jens jumped ahead 3-0 at the start of the second game, as Reilly picked up another pair of service aces to give her team a lead they would not give up throughout the set once again.
The Lions did respond quickly though, tying the score at 5-5 and 6-6 after a pair of Jennie errors sandwiched around a kill from senior Hillary McCormick. From that point, UCM went on a 6-2 run as Taylor Goodness, Cornell and Bradye Peniston all recorded kills.
Missouri Southern made a quick run later in the game to close within two points at 16-14, but freshman hitter Carly Sojka teamed up with Goodness for back to back kills, stretching the UCM lead to 18-14. The Jens gave up just four kills the rest of the game, taking a 25-18 win.
Missouri Southern scored a kill on the first point of the third set, taking their first lead of the night, but the Jennies responded immediately, taking 10 of the next 13 points to go up 10-4. UCM held its ground until at 14-7, when the Lions went on a 7-4 run to close the gap to 17-14.
Following a pair of errors from the Lions offense, Bates served up her third ace of the night to make it 20-14, then followed it up with her fourth ace two points later at 22-14. Freshman Ashley Jurgens then came in to serve out the match, and picked up the first two aces of her career to set up match point. Sojka closed out the win with her 11th kills of the night, and finished as the only Jennie to reach double digits in kills.
The Jennies 16 service aces is the most in a single match since 2007, when they tallied 16 against New Haven. It’s also the highest total in a three-set match since 1995, when they also put down 16 aces against Emporia State.
Reilly also picked up 10 digs on the night, extending her streak to 11 matches with 10 or more digs. Sara Rooney, who earned her first start of the season, led the team with 13 digs.
Bates recorded 28 assists in the win, while picking up five digs and three kills. McCormick led the Jens with four blocks on the night.
With the win, the Jennies improve to 10-1 in the MIAA and 18-4 overall. They now prepare to face Southwest Baptist at 7 p.m. Friday at the Multipurpose Building.