Riding a four-match winning streak in which they had won every set, Jennies volleyball suffered a sweep at the hands of No. 4 Nebraska-Kearney Saturday at the Multipurpose Building.
Central Missouri came into the match ranked 16th in the nation, having won each of its last four matches convincingly, taking 12 sets without allowing its opponent to take one. The Jennies had swept William Jewell, Southwest Baptist and Missouri Southern on the road before doing the same to Fort Hays State Friday.
The first set Saturday began with the Lopers jumping out to an early 10-5 lead, forcing the Jennies to play from behind. UNK continued to maintain separation at 16-10, but three straight points on kills from senior Kylie Hohlen and freshman Hannah Engelken made it 16-13. The Lopers stayed on top, but another burst from the Jennies fueled by two straight kills from Hohlen made it 22-21. However, UNK was unphased and dropped three points of their own to take the 25-21 set win.
The Jennies were quick to grab a 6-3 lead to open the set on a service ace and kill from Rylee Neigenfind before the Lopers took four straight points for their first lead of the set. Central Missouri responded with three consecutive kills, one from Engelken and the other two courtesy of Aubree Bell.
Down 11-9, the Lopers outscored the Jennies 11-2 to take a 20-13 lead. Central Missouri attempted to rally and tied the match at 22 off two kills from Engelken and a handful of Lopers errors. UNK once again recovered and scored three straight points to put the Jennies down 2-0.
Central Missouri made a position change to begin the third set, with senior Carly Offerdahl taking over at the libero position for junior Abby Skrastins. Despite the change, the Jennies fell behind early 11-5 before dropping the set and match 25-18.
Offerdahl said the results were not good but said she was optimistic about the Jennies ability to switch it up.
“Today definitely didn’t go how we wanted it to,” she said “We were able to make a lot of changes that we worked on in practice. A lot of our players can play in different positions and it was good to see it applied in-game.”
Sophomore Audrey Fisher led the Jennies with 11 kills for the second straight match. Sophomore Ally Offerdahl had 40 assists and eight digs. Hohlen had 10 kills and eight digs. Engelken finished the match with eight kills and how has 137 total in her freshman campaign.
Engelken said she’s enjoyed being able to make an impact so early in her career.
“It’s really exciting,” she said. “At first there was a lot of pressure, and there still is with each game. My teammates have helped make it easier on me.”
The Jennies record dropped to 16-5 overall and their 6-3 MIAA record is good for fifth place in the conference. Undefeated Washburn is on top at 21-0 and the Lopers are in second at 21-1.
Next up for the Jennies is a road matchup with Central Oklahoma, followed by two more road matches with Pittsburg State and Missouri Western. The Bronchos are third in the MIAA standings with a 19-4 overall record.
The Jennies have bounced back well this season following each of their five losses with a victory.
“This game gives a lot of motivation for our next one. That’s really what we take away from it,” Offerdahl said.
The matchup between the Jennies and Bronchos is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Friday in Edmond, Oklahoma.