WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- The Lady Miner volleyball team ran headlong into a match with a perennial power in the NCAA Division II ranks Tuesday night and came up on the short end of a 3-0 decision at the University of Central Missouri.

The Jennies, who are ranked ninth in the latest AVCA national rankings, won the three games by scores of 30-15, 30-12 and 30-21.

Central started quickly in each of the three games. UCM scored six of the first seven points in game one, then ran off six straight points after a Maddie Owak kill had cut the lead to 14-8. The Jennies opened up the second game with a 10-1 lead and UMR was able to get as close as seven on three different occasions.

The Lady Miners scored the first two points of game three on a kill by Owak and a block by Lynsey Jorgenson, but the Jennies posted the next nine points to go up for good. UMR got to within three at 12-9 on a combined block by Samantha Klump and Ashlyn Balensiefer.

Later in that game, a kill by Klump made the score 23-16 in UCM's favor, but four straight points by the Jennies kept the Lady Miners at bay.

Leandra Pelae had a team-high seven kills in the game while Balensiefer, Klump and Owak had five apiece. Balensiefer had 17 assists and 12 digs to lead the way in those departments, but it wasn't enough to offset the Jennies' .345 hitting percentage in the contest.

UMR returns home this weekend and will begin a two-game homestand Friday against No. 17 Southern Illinois Edwardsville at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.