Warrensburg, Mo. (Aug. 30, 1999) -- After winning three of four matches in their season-opening competition at the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Cougar Invitational last weekend, Central Missouri StateUniversity's volleyball team goes to Denver, Colo., this weekend (Sept. 3-4) for the Division II Premier Challenge, hosted by Metropolitan State College and Regis University. Coach Peggy Martin's Jennies, ranked ninth in the AVCA Division II Coaches' Preseason Top 25 poll, will be joined by 11 other teams, all of which were ranked in the preseason top 25 or received votes in the poll.

The 12 teams are divided into four pools of three teams each for Friday's competition. The Jennies' pool matches on Friday are against fifth-ranked Regis at 1 p.m. and the University of Northern Colorado at 8:30 p.m. The results of Friday's pool matches will determine the pairings for Saturday's matches. The other teams in the event are #7 Barry University, #8 Augustana College (S.D.), #10 Northern Michigan University, #13 West Texas A&M University, #18 Colorado Christian University, #20 Metro State, #25 University of Minnesota-Duluth, Northwood University (Mich.) and the University of Southern Colorado.

The Jennies moved Martin's career victory total to 791 with wins over Drury College, the University of Missouri-St. Louis and #25 SIU-Edwardsville last weekend, but they lost in three games to #11 Northern Kentucky University. Already Division II's winningest coach, Martin needs nine more victories to become the first Division II coach to reach the 800-win plateau. Daria McConnell led the Jennies with 48 kills in their four matches, while Janell Mohme had 32, but the Jennies had only a .187 hitting percentage as a team for the weekend.