Fayette, Mo. – The Central Methodist University volleyball team got off to a slow start in their home opener on Wednesday evening, against the William Woods Owls inside of Puckett Field House. Central dropped the first two sets, rallied to win the next two, before dropping the fifth set and the match 3-2. Final scores were 18-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-15, 9-15.
With the loss, Central Methodist sees their eight match winning streak come to a close and fall to 11-3 overall. With the victory, William Woods improves to 7-5 on the year.
Central got off to a sluggish start on Wednesday and fell behind early to the Owls. CMU kept it close the first two sets, but never could seem to get over the hump. The Owls stole the first set 25-18, then won the second set 25-22.
The Eagles had a little more urgency in their step heading into the third set, as the Eagles jumped out to an early lead. Like the first two sets, the Owls and Eagles battled until the end, when CMU came out victorious 25-22.
Following the momentum of the third set, CMU came out and attacked the Owls from the get-go in the fourth set. The Eagles controlled the fourth set and won 25-15.
Momentum switched in the fifth set, as the teams switch sides of the court midway through. William Woods controlled the tempo and won the decisive fifth set 15-9, and won the match too.
Individually for the Eagles, the birthday girl Darcy Latham (JR/Bismark, Mo.) finished with a team high 14 kills, Caitlin Petty (SO/Leopold, Mo.) led the team with 37 assists, and Erin Dodd (SR/Pittsburg, Ill.) chimed in with 20 digs.
Following the match, the CMU volleyball team was awarded their 2015-16 CMU Academic Champion shirts, for finishing with the highest team GPA on campus from the last academic year.
The Eagles hit the road to Chicago, Illinois this weekend for the Roosevelt Quad. CMU will face Milligan College on Friday, followed by matches against the University of Rio Grande and Saint Louis College of Pharmacy on Saturday. Central returns home next Tuesday, to face William Penn University at 7pm.
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.
