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Jennies take Mavericks in five

Allie Huffman helped lead the Jennies in the five-game match

The No. 4 Jennies defeated No. 16 Nebraska-Omaha, 3-2 (25-18, 25-18, 16-25, 22-25, 15-10) in MIAA conference play Thursday evening at UCM’s Multipurpose Building. With the win, UCM pushes their winning streak to 16 games, the longest since an 18-game stint in 1999.

The Jennies (24-3, 10-1) out-hit UNO (17-6, 7-3) in the first game, .306 to .175. It was a closely played game with eight ties and five lead changes. UCM went on a 5-1 run to win the set 25-18, orchestrated by setter Caitlin Pankratz’s back-to-back kills and two assists.

Central spotted the Mavericks a 4-0 lead to begin the second set. Piontek’s squad committed only three attacking errors in the set, five fewer than the Mavericks. The Jens also managed five blocks compared to one for UNO. With the score 19-18 Jens, a Paula Harris kill would lead them to another late run (5-0) to win 25-18.

The next Jennies lead would not come until the first point of the fourth set. Defensively they allowed Nebraska-Omaha to hit .333 and .300 in the third and fourth sets respectively, also allowing a match-high 16 kills in each. Nebraska-Omaha would control the pace of the game until midway through the fourth set when the Jens tied the score 10-10. Despite the improved play, the Mavs tied the match 2-2.

The Jens attacked an efficient .348 while holding the lead through the entire deciding set. A crowd rousing solo block by Harris put the Jens up 10-6. Despite two UNO timeouts, UCM continued to score forcing the Mavericks to side-out each time they won the serve.

Huffman led the team in kills (19) on her way to her eighth double-double of the season adding 16 digs. Rachel Fister totaled 35 digs, leading the team, while Kelsey Ortwerth pitched in 14. Pankratz also had a double-double in assists (50), and digs (10). Fister also led the way with three service aces.