Marshall, Mo. – The Central Methodist University volleyball team had their hands full with the Missouri Valley College Vikings on Friday evening in Marshall. Friday's match would go all five sets, with CMU coming out victorious by a final of 3-2. Final scores were 15-25, 25-18, 19-25, 25-20, and 16-14.

With the victory, Central Methodist improves to 22-3 on the season and remains perfect at 4-0 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play. With the loss, Missouri Valley College falls to 19-6 overall and 3-2 in The Heart.

"We got off to a slow start tonight," said CMU head coach Allison Jones-Olson. "After the first game, we played with a lot of heart and found a way to pull together and finish the night with a win."

Friday's match was a close back-and-forth battle throughout. Central normally finds themselves in a battle when they square off against their rivals from Missouri Valley; and Friday was no different. Central got off to a slow start Friday, dropping the first set 25-15, while finishing with a hitting percentage of just .129%.

Central would turn things around in the second set, finishing with a match best .344 hitting percentage; while claiming a 25-18 second set victory.

The Eagles followed the second set up with a third set loss, 19-25. But CMU would not drop another set after that. Central outscored Missouri Valley College 25-20 and 16-14 in the final two sets of the evening. Central held MoVal to a .044 hitting percentage in the fourth set and a .000 hitting percentage in the fifth set.

Individually for the Eagles, Madison Bond (JR/Jefferson City, Mo.) finished with a team high 16 kills. Caitlin Petty (SO/Leopold, Mo.) finished with a team high 39 assists, while Erin Dodd (SR/Pittsburg, Ill.) led CMU with 30 digs.

The Eagles return home this Tuesday October 4th to host Graceland University, starting at 7pm inside of Puckett Field House.

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.