Up two-sets-to-none on the fourth-ranked team in the country, No. 13 Jennies volleyball slammed the door on a comeback by then-No. 4 Florida Southern with a monumental comeback of their own to cap a perfect weekend at home.
The Jennies had marched out to a 3-0 record in the Peggy Martin Challenge. Defeating Drury, Truman State and No. 14 Arkansas Tech looked like nothing for the Jennies, who dropped only two of the 11 sets they played. The final, and likely the most difficult game of the weekend loomed Saturday afternoon with 2017 national runner-up Florida Southern.
“I really like starting the season off playing a top-ranked team just to see where it puts us,” sophomore middle hitter Audrey Fisher said.
The Jennies walked all over the Water Moccasins to begin the first set, going on multiple scoring runs to force a timeout by Florida Southern once the score reached 19-5. Four consecutive kills rendered the timeout useless as the Jennies took the set 25-5.
“Honestly, I wasn’t really looking at the score until the end,” sophomore outside hitter Hannah VanBuskirk said. “During the game I was just focused on us doing the best that we could.”
The second set started largely the same with the Jennies grabbing an early 5-0 lead. Florida Southern didn’t go away this time, bringing the score within two on multiple occasions. At 14-12, kills from Kylie Hohlen and Hannah Engelken helped push the Jennies lead to 17-13. From there, the Jennies would outscore the Mocs 8-2 to take the set 25-15 and set up the possibility of a sweep.
Florida Southern finally snapped out of it in the third set and took a commanding 8-0 lead. A strong kill from Fisher got the Jennies on the board and they continued to fight until they tied it at 14. Both teams went point-for-point until the Mocs pulled away to game-point with a 24-19 lead.
“I just knew they had 24. I had no idea what score we had,” VanBuskirk said. “I wasn’t going to look because I knew we just had to win every point.”
The Jennies would go on to hold the Mocs scoreless as they pulled back into a tie at 24 off kills from Fisher, Engelken and VanBuskirk. The back-and-forth continued for a few points, but Fisher was able to put the Mocs away with a huge kill to cap the set at 29-27, securing the sweep and a perfect weekend for the Jennies.
“It’s always in the back of your mind that you have another set or two. You don’t want them to take a set off of you,” Fisher said. “It says something as a team when you make that come back, that you’re fighting hard and playing well together.”
Central Missouri’s victory marks their first over an AVCA top-5 opponent since 2014. The first set with Florida Southern is the first time since 2014 that the Jennies held any opponent to under five points in a set.
“It says a lot about our drive and motivation as a team,” VanBuskirk said. “Grit is what we talk about as a team and coming back in that set showed our grit because we weren’t willing to let them take a set from us.”
Fisher totaled 15 kills bringing her total for the weekend to 52. Ally Offerdahl posted 36 assists and 17 digs. Hohlen picked up a double-double with 13 kills and 11 assists. Following the challenge, four Jennies were named to the All-Tournament Team: Engelken, Fisher, Hohlen and Offerdahl.
The Jennies will be in Denver this weekend for the Colorado Premier Challenge where they will face two more AVCA ranked opponents in No. 13 West Florida and No. 3 Lewis. They are scheduled for 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Aug. 31 at the Auraria Event Center. The Jennies opponents for the remainder of the tournament will be decided by results. Check UCM Athletics and @UCM_Volleyball on twitter for updates and scores.
