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FAYETTE, Mo. - Central Methodist dropped Tuesday's Heart of America Athletic Conference match to No. 17 Evangel (Mo.), 3-1. The Eagles lost inside Puckett Field House by scores of 14-25, 25-23, 15-25 and 17-25.�

In game one, an attack error by the Crusaders' Jackie Fugate resulted in a Julia Weber and Dana Peters block, tying the set at point five. Evangel (16-5, 3-1) responded by scoring the next four points and eventually built a 15-8 lead off a Haley Watson kill. Leading 22-14, the Crusaders scored the final three points to win the first game.

Central Methodist (7-13, 1-3) fell behind 8-4 in game two before rattling off four-straight points, finishing with a Lindsay Smith kill. A Crusaders' attack error gave the Eagles their first lead of the night, 10-9. Central Methodist's advantage swelled to as many as five points, 19-14, after a Melody Hanson kill where the Eagles scored three-straight points. Evangel battled back to tie the game at 23 on a Jorie Garrett kill, but back-to-back attack errors gave the Eagles two points and the set-two victory.

The Crusaders built a 5-1 lead in game three on an Eagles' service error. The Eagles responded with a 5-1 run, and a Darcy Latham kill tied the set at six. The Crusaders answered with four-straight points. A ball handling error by Evangel's Maddie Baumann cut the Eagles' deficit to 11-9, but the home team would get no closer in the game. An Eagles' attack error ended the third set and gave the Crusaders the win.

Central Methodist fell behind 7-3 in the fourth set following a Baumann service ace. The Eagles were able to trim the deficit to one point, 11-10, on a Hanson kill, but the Crusaders scored the next four points and pulled away for the four-set victory.

Fugate had a match-high 15 kills. Chloe Hadley tallied a double-double with 18 assists and 10 kills. Allie Dunton had 22 digs.�

Smith finished with 11 kills. Hanson scored a double-double with 25 assists and 13 digs. Andrea Lopez came up with a career-high 32 digs. Latham totaled 20 digs, while Katelyn Waddell had 11.�

Central Methodist travels to MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) on Tuesday, Oct. 7, at 7 p.m. CT.