Olathe, Kan. – The Central Methodist University volleyball team; whom are currently receiving votes in the latest NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll, fell on Tuesday evening to a tough 14th ranked MidAmerica Nazarene University Pioneers squad, by a final of 3-0. Final scores were: 25-20, 28-26, and 25-19.
With the loss, Central Methodist falls to 35-5 overall and 11-2 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play. With the victory, MidAmerica Nazarene improves to 25-6 overall and 12-1 in The Heart.
"We need to rebound from this loss and look forward to our first round match on Saturday," said CMU head volleyball coach Allison Jones-Olson.
2016 Heart of America Athletic Conference Volleyball Postseason Tournament Bracket
MidAmerica Nazarene's victory on Tuesday, along with Grand View's victory; meant the two schools were regular season Co-Champions of The Heart. The Vikings from Grand View won the tiebreaker and will be the #1 seed in The Heart's Postseason Tournament, and MidAm will be the #2 seed. With their loss on Tuesday, CMU has locked down the #3 seed in the postseason tournament and will host a quarterfinals match this Saturday.
Central kept it close all evening with the 14th ranked Pioneers, but the home court proved to be a factor on Tuesday evening. MidAm controlled the tempo of the game, and the Pioneer fans got loud for their home team. MidAmerica Nazarene finished with 55 kills in the match, while Central finished with 32. The teams were similar in the few errors they made, but MNU finished with 24 more attacks than the Eagles, and outhit CMU 28% to 17% in the match.
Madison Bond (JR/Jefferson City, Mo.) led the Eagles with a team high 12 kills in the match. The next closest was Darcy Latham (JR/Bismark, Mo.) and Petra Schaffer (FR/Carinthia, Austria), who both finished with six kills apiece. Caitlin Petty (SO/Leopold, Mo.) led the Eagles with 24 assists. Erin Dodd (SR/Pittsburg, Ill.) finished with a team high 11 digs, while Melody Hanson (SR/Spring Hill, Kan.) finished with 10 digs.
The Eagles will open up play in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Volleyball Postseason Tournament this Saturday. CMU will host Mount Mercy University inside of Puckett Field House in a Heart Quarterfinals Match at 6pm.
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.
