Warrensburg, Mo. (Nov. 15, 1999) -- Making their 17th consecutive NCAA Division II volleyball appearance, the Central Missouri State University Jennies will have to travel only as far as Kansas City, Mo., for this weekend's (Nov. 20-21) South Central Regional. The Jennies will be joined by the University of Alabama-Huntsville, the University of North Alabama and host Rockhurst University, the same four teams which made up last year's regional in Florence, Ala.

Saturday's first semifinal match at 1:30 p.m. at Rockhurst's Mason-Halpin Field House will send second-seeded North Alabama, 33-6, against third-seeded Alabama-Huntsville, 29-5. The second semifinal at 4 p.m. will send top-seeded Rockhurst, 40-1, against the fourth-seeded Jennies, 27-7. Saturday's winners will play Sunday at 1:30 p.m. for the regional title and the right to advance to the Elite Eight Dec. 2-4 in Battle Creek, Mich.

While all four schools were in last year's regional, all four have played each other this season as well. Rockhurst has wins over each of the other three; the Jennies split two matches with Alabama-Huntsville and lost to North Alabama; Alabama-Huntsville and North Alabama split two matches.

The Jennies' earlier meeting with Rockhurst came on Nov. 2 in Kansas City, with the Lady Hawks winning in four games. Rockhurst, which ended the Jennies' season a year ago in the regional semifinals after CMSU had won the regular-season match between the two teams, brings a 33-match winning streak into the regional as the Lady Hawks' only loss of the season was in four games to the University of Nebraska-Omaha on Sept. 4.

With their 17th NCAA appearance, the Jennies tie the University of California-Riverside, which did not make this year's tourney field, for the most national-tournament berths in Division II volleyball. The Jennies won their 18th straight MIAA crown with a 15-1 league record. Rockhurst, which lost in last year's regional final to North Alabama, earned its second Division II bid in just its second year of NCAA competition. North Alabama won the Gulf South Conference and is making its fourth NCAA appearance in a row. Alabama-Huntsville is making its second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Senior All-America candidate Daria McConnell is the Jennies' offensive leader. She has a school-record 670 kills to go with a team-leading .288 hitting percentage. She also leads the team in digs with 497 and has set CMSU single-match records for kills (41) and digs (41) this year. Twice this season she has been named AVCA National Player of the Week.

Coach Peggy Martin, who is in her 24th year at CMSU, became the first coach in Division II history to reach 800 career victories this season. She is the winningest coach in Division II with 815 career victories.