No. 9 Central Missouri Upsets No. 3 Emporia State

By David Boyce

WARRENSBURG, Mo. - For the last week Central Missouri volleyball players Caitlin Pankratz, Jennifer Williams and Rachel Fister sat in their apartment and talked about playing undefeated Emporia State.

When the moment arrived Wednesday evening at the Multipurpose Building, the Jennies were ready for No. 3 Emporia State.

Central Missouri, ranked No. 9 in NCAA Division II, won in three straight games, shocking the Hornets 25-11, 25-18, 25-23.

"Each person came ready and knew exactly what they needed to do personally and we all came together," Williams said.

The Jennies improved to 13-3 overall and 3-1 in the MIAA. Emporia State dropped to 13-1 and 3-1.

Did the Jennies enjoy giving Emporia State its first loss?

"Absolutely," Pankratz said.

The only drama occurred in the third game when Emporia State overcame a 22-17 deficit and briefly took a 23-22 lead.

But the Jennies closed out the match with three straight points. The finishing touch came on a kill by Allie Huffman.

"We did nothing there," Pankratz said. "Our fans started clapping. They just got into Emporia's head. I will contribute point No. 23 to our fans."

Throughout the match Central Missouri played great defense at the net, and Williams consistently put away balls on offense. Huffman and Paula Harris also had strong offensive games.

"Everyone wanted to do their part," Williams said. "Our defense got after it. It is always fun to dig balls that are hit that hard."

The biggest difference between the two teams Wednesday night might have been mental.

Central Missouri entered the match fired up. Emporia State coach Bing Xu sensed it. He also saw his team come out in sort of a passive mode.

"They (Jennies) were ready for this match," Xu said. "When the match started we backed off."

Emporia State senior all-conference hitter Arica Shepard echoed Xu's observation.

"We just didn't bring what we should have today," Shepard said. "Next time we play hopefully we will do better."

Both teams, though, have to quickly put this game behind them and focus on the next one. Emporia State returns to action Saturday at home against Nebraska-Omaha, which is ranked 18^th in Division II.

"Home games everybody says it's a lot better, but we always play with the mindset that no matter where we are at we should play well," Shepard said. "UNO, we will definitely take out some of our frustrations on them."

Central Missouri returns to action Friday at Washburn. The Lady Blues are ranked sixth in the country, but suffered their first loss of the season Wednesday, falling in five games at Nebraska-Omaha.

Pankratz knows that Washburn will probably be charged up because last year Central Missouri ended the Lady Blues' season in regionals.

When the Jennies left the Multipurpose Building they were already thinking about Washburn.

"We have stuff to take home (Wednesday night) to start working on Washburn so we don't even get until midnight to enjoy this win," Pankratz said.

"I'm sure they want a little revenge from last year."

Central Missouri coach Flip Piontek expects his team will face the same kind of energized crowd on Friday at Washburn that Emporia State saw Wednesday at Central Missouri.

Piontek wants his players to be completely prepared for the match so he gave them DVDs of Washburn matches.

"This is a big match for us," Piontek said. "This is something we normally don't do in terms of handing out DVDs to the players so they each have it so I don't have to waste time (Thursday).

"We only have one practice before we go to Washburn. By them having the information available so they can look at it on their own before they come to practice, that's an extra hour I would lose that I can now use on the floor."

It's simply a sign that the MIAA volleyball race is really starting to heat up. In a conference that has six teams in the top 25 it is important to be prepared and bring intensity.

Central Missouri taught that lesson to the Hornets Wednesday night.

To reach David Boyce, contributing writer for the MIAA, e-mail dboyce@themiaa.com.