Warrensburg, Mo. (Aug. 29, 2000) -- After a successful 4-0 start to the volleyball season last weekend, the Central Missouri State University Jennies travel to Denver, Colo., this weekend (Sept. 1-2) for the Division II Premier Challenge. Coach Peggy Martin's Jennies, ranked 18th in the AVCA Division II preseason coaches' poll, will be one of eight ranked teams in the 12-team field for the event, which is co-hosted by Metropolitan State College and Regis University.

Four pools of three teams each will compete on Friday. The Jennies are in a pool with 11th-ranked Barry University and the University of Southern Colorado. They will meet Barry at 1 p.m. (CDT) and Southern Colorado at 4:30 p.m. The schedule for Saturday will be determined by Friday's results.

The other competing teams are No. 4 West Texas A&M University, No. 7 Augustana College (S.D.), No. 10 Florida Southern College, No. 14 University of Northern Colorado, No. 16 Regis, and No. 19 University of Minnesota-Duluth, as well as Cameron University, Colorado Christian University and Metro State.

At last weekend's University of Central Oklahoma Sleep Inn Invitational, the Jennies won all four matches in three straight games, beating St. Edward's University, Central Oklahoma, Texas A&M University-Kingsville and Southern Arkansas University. Freshman Trudy Carter made an impressive debut for CMSU as she recorded a team-leading 43 kills and a .372 hitting percentage. She and junior setter Robyn Griffin, who had 128 assists, were the Jennies' representatives on the all-tournament team. Senior Mandy Feldmann also posted impressive numbers with 35 kills, a .500 hitting percentage and a team-leading 23 blocks.