ATCHISON, Kan. - Central Methodist earned its first win at Benedictine (Kan.) in seven years Tuesday with a 3-1 victory by scores of 25-16, 20-25, 25-23 and 25-16 in Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) play. The Eagles won their fourth-straight match overall and scored their second-straight win over the Ravens and first in Ralph Nolan Gymnasium since a 3-2 triumph on Oct. 30, 2007. The Green and Black also snapped the Ravens' three-match win streak while moving one step closer to earning their first berth in the HAAC Championship since 2008.

With its victory and MidAmerica Nazarene's (Kan.) 3-0 win over Missouri Valley, Central Methodist (13-16, 3-5) moved into a tie for seventh place in the league standings with the Vikings and Benedictine (18-13, 3-5) but owns the tie breaker over both squads via head-to-head wins. The top eight teams in the standings qualify for the 2014 HAAC Championship Nov. 8-15, and each team has one game remaining in conference play.

With set one tied at three, Central Methodist rolled off five-straight points, concluding with a Jordan Jackson kill. A Darcy Latham kill gave the Eagles a 10-5 lead. Leading 11-9, Central Methodist went on a 10-3 run to pull away, as a Melody Hanson service ace made the score 21-12. An Andrea Lopez service ace ended the game and gave the Eagles a nine-point win.

The Ravens pulled off the second-set win with a key 5-0 spurt with the teams knotted at 12. A Lindsay Smith service ace trimmed the Eagles' deficit to four points, 23-19, but a kill by the Ravens' Patricia Moura eventually ended the game, tying the match 1-1.

The defining third set included 16 ties and eight lead changes, with neither team leading by more than three points. Back-to-back Raven attack errors gave the Eagles an early 5-3 edge. Central Methodist's largest lead would come at 19-16, which included kills by Dana Peters and Madison Bond. The Ravens responded with five-straight points, all off kills. Trailing 22-21, the Eagles reclaimed the upper hand off a Lauren Eggen service error and consecutive attack errors by Moura and never trailed again in the set. A Jackson kill and block by Peters and Smith of a Moura attack gave the Green and Black a 2-1 match lead.

Central Methodist rolled to a 10-4 lead in the fourth set, which included three attack errors by Moura. An attack error by Alli Dalton eventually gave the visitors a 12-5 edge. The Eagles' advantage eventually swelled to 12 points on three different occasions. Smith and Latham kills made the score 22-10 and 23-11, respectively, before a Camila Araujo service error put the Ravens in a 24-12 hole. Benedictine tried to keep the match going with a 4-0 run, which was aided by three Eagles' attack errors, but a Peters kill ended the night for Benedictine, which included 34 attack errors and a hitting percentage of just .096.

Smith (12 kills, 17 digs), Latham (11 kills, 12 digs) and Hanson (14 digs, 23 assists) each poured in double-doubles in the win. Smith also had three of the team's seven service aces, giving her 10 in the last three matches. Jackson added nine kills, while Peters had seven.�

Lopez tallied a match-high 29 digs. Katelyn Waddell was a catalyst on the back end, dishing out 15 assists to go along with six digs.�

Bond totaled three block assists. Smith, Peters and Jackson had two apiece.

Moura had a double-double in the loss, chipping in 12 kills and 19 digs. Emilee Clark also recorded a double-double with 10 digs and 31 assists. The Ravens had five players post double figures in digs.

Central Methodist hosts Graceland (Iowa) on Tuesday, Nov. 4, for Senior Night. First serve inside Puckett Field House is set for 7 p.m. CT.