Fayette, Mo. – The Central Methodist University volleyball team started strong and finished strong on Tuesday evening, knocking off 25th ranked Peru State College 3-2. Final scores were: 25-21, 21-25, 17-25, 25-13, and 17-15.
With the victory, Central Methodist improves to 27-3 overall on the season and remain perfect at 8-0 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play. The Eagles victory Tuesday, surpasses CMU's win total from last year; when they finished 26-10 overall. With the loss, the 25th ranked Bobcats fall to 29-5 overall and 8-2 in The Heart.
Central Methodist jumped out of the gates quick on Tuesday evening inside of Puckett Field House. The gym was loud all evening on "Couch Night". Midway through the first set, the teams were all nodded at 15-15, then Central scored the next four points; and would outscore Peru State 10-6 down the final stretch to claim the first set victory at 25-21.
The 25th ranked Bobcats would respond, as they claimed the next two sets by finals of 25-21 and 25-17.
With Central trailing 2-1 headed into the fourth set, the home crowd began to get loud as the Eagles made their attempt at a comeback. CMU owned the fourth set, outhitting Peru State .292 to .061. Central routed the Bobcats 25-13 heading into the decisive fifth set.
The fifth set would be a back-and-forth battle throughout. Peru State took a 14-12 lead late, but the Eagles never surrendered. Marina Alves (SO/Belo Horizonte, Brazil) responded with a kill to draw CMU within a point. Petra Schaffer (FR/Carinthia, Austria) was then set up twice by Darcy Latham (JR/Bismark, Mo.) to give the Eagles a 15-14 advantage. Following a point by Peru State, CMU finished off the match on kills from Petra Schaffer and an error by the Bobcats; to claim the fifth set 17-15 and the match by a final of 3-2.
Petra Schaffer led the Eagles with 12 kills, while Caitlin Petty (SO/Leopold, Mo.) finished with a team high 43 assists. Erin Dodd (SR/Pittsburg, Ill.) led the way for Central with 35 digs.
The Eagles will continue play at home later this week, when they host the CMU Tournament this Friday and Saturday inside of Puckett Field House. Central plays at 2pm, 6pm, and 8pm on Friday, while playing at 11am and 1pm on Saturday.
For more information about Central Methodist University athletics, visit http://www.cmueagles.com. Follow CMU athletics on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cmathletics and on Twitter twitter.com/cmueagles.
