After dropping the first two sets of their first-round matchup against the Abilene Christian Wildcats, the Central Missouri Jennies bounced back to take the last three sets and match, 22-25, 21-25, 25-8, 25-14, 15-7. With the win, the Jennies advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, where they will face fourth-seeded Angelo State. The match is scheduled for approximately 7:30 p.m. Friday night.
The Wildcats came out ready to pull off the first upset of the Regional, stringing together a few short runs to build an 11-8 lead early in the opening game. Abilene took advantage of six attack errors from the Jennies, and maintained their lead until they took the set, 25-22.
The Jennies seemed to respond in the second set, taking the first eight points of the game. The Wildcats, however, pulled off a 15-7 run and six more attack errors led to the Jennies allowing the second game to slip away, 25-21.
Central Missouri returned to form over the third and fourth games, hitting a combined .403 over the third and fourth games. In the deciding fifth game, the Jennies took the first four points and maintained the advantage throughout.
Sophomore Taylor Goodness, along with Huffman led the Jennies with 16 kills apiece, while Paula Harris and Bradye Peniston each collected 14. Defensively, seniors Kelsey Ortwerth and Taylor Krejci picked up 22 and 25 digs respectively.