The Central Methodist University volleyball team battled through three tough matches, but came up short in a 22-25, 16-25, 23-25 loss to Graceland University in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Tuesday night.

Central Methodist played strong early in the first set, building a 14-9 lead before Graceland rallied to tie the score at 15-15. The two teams traded points before a Yellowjacket hitting error and a kill by freshman Katie Willits (Independence, Mo.) gave CMU a 20-18 lead. Graceland scored five straight points to take a 23-20 lead before earning the 25-22 win.

In the second set, Graceland grabbed an early 7-5 lead before a kill by senior Taylor Reed (Toledo, Ohio) cut it to 7-6. The Yellowjackets then went on a 9-0 run to open up a 16-6 lead. Later in the set, Graceland led 23-10, before CMU rallied to make it 23-14. The Lady Eagles fought off two set points before Graceland won 25-16.

The teams battled back and forth the entire third set. Graceland got match point at 24-21, but a kill by freshman Alexandra Slaton (Reeds Spring, Mo.) and a block by Slaton and freshman Dana Peters (Waverly, Mo.) got CMU to within 24-23. A hitting error by CMU ended the rally, though, and gave the Yellowjackets the 25-23 win.

Reed led the CMU attack with nine kills, while Peters and sophomore Makenzie Shepard (Leavenworth, Kan.) finished with five each. Junior Sarah Lewey (Kansas City, Mo.) and sophomore Kylie Melkersman (Boonville, Mo.) tallied 13 and 11 assists, respectively. Senior Melanie Touchette (Millstadt, Ill.) had a team-high 14 digs for CMU in the loss.

The Lady Eagles dropped to 3-7 on the season and 0-2 in the HAAC, while Graceland improved to 4-3 overall and 2-0 in the conference. Central Methodist will be back in action with a non-conference match against Missouri Baptist University at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Puckett Field House.