FAYETTE, Mo. – The Central Methodist volleyball team ended the 2017 season with a compiled record of 24-12 and 11-4 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference, with one of the toughest regular season schedules.
As coach Allison Jones-Olson entered her fifth season along with first time assistant coaches, Coleman Lee and Amber Sillyman, the staff looked to build off an exceptional 2016 season. The 2017 schedule comprised of eight nationally ranked opponents, including powerhouse No. 2 Dordt College and No. 5 Park University.
Early in the 2017 season, Central Methodist participated in the Bellevue University tournament, where they faced three top 25 schools in; Doane (15), Dordt (2), and Carroll (23). When Central Methodist faced off against No. 13 Grand View University in late September, they were the first team in the Heart of American Athletic Conference to take the No. 13 team to five deciding sets. In the midst of the season, the squad went to five deciding sets with six other top 25 teams. Central Methodist won 12 of its last 14 games to close out the regular season, highlighted by upset wins over No. 23 Carroll College, College of the Ozarks, who was receiving votes, and rival Missouri Valley College, ranked No. 22 nationally. For the second consecutive season, Central Methodist made it to the conference tournament. They swept Clarke, on the road, in the quarterfinal round and faced (RV) Missouri Valley for the third time this season, in the semifinals. With one of the best volleyball match of the season, Central Methodist fell in the fifth set, coming up just two points shy of a trip to the National Tournament.
With the upset win over Missouri Valley, in the fifth edition of the NAIA Women's Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Poll, the Central Methodist team earned the honors of receiving votes.
Multiple players earned individual accolades during and after the season concluded. Freshman, Shannon Peters earned the Heart of America Athletic Conference Setter of the Week on three different occasions, throughout the season. Four players tabbed All-Conference honors as Darcy Latham and Madison Bond headlined First-Team recognition, followed by Peters with Second-Team honors and Marija Janjusevic earning Honorable-Mention. The conference also announced Peters as the Freshman of the Year and Latham as Co-Player of the Year, for their performance on the court this past year.
The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) released its 2017 All-Midwest Region teams in late November, that saw two seniors make the list as Latham was named to the All-Midwest Region team and Bond made the All-Midwest Honorable-Mention team, for the second year in a row.
Central Methodist Volleyball honored four athletes; Marina Alves, Bond, Latham, and Miranda Dahman to the Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athletes list, for their performance in the classroom. These athletes all sported higher than a 3.7 GPA.
The 2017 season closed out the career for three seniors; Dahman, Bond and Latham. The trio was coach Jones-Olson's first recruiting class at Central Methodist, when she took over the program in 2013. In the four years, the senior class won 99 games, along with many records broken. "They have all been outstanding for the program, not just athletically but in the classroom as well. We're going to miss all three of them and what they give to us, but I think they are leaving a legacy behind," stated Jones-Olson.
Bond, ended her career as the all-time career blocks leader with 488. She ended her senior year ranked in the top 50 in NAIA Division I volleyball, in three different statistical categories; No. 25 in total blocks (127), No. 47 in blocks per game (1.01), and No. 49 in hitting percentage (.298). She matched her career high in kills with 18, against College of the Ozarks and a career high in blocks (7) four times this year.
Latham, closed out her career as the all-time kills (1462), digs (1511) and service aces (203) leader at Central Methodist. She was ranked in the top 50 in NAIA Division I Volleyball in two different statistical categories; No. 21 in total kills (462) and No. 50 in kills per game (3.41). Against Grand View, in late September, Latham tallied a career high in digs with 27 and against Clarke, in early October, she recorded a career high 22 kills. She was also named a Third Team NAIA/AVCA All-American.
Full Interview with head coach, Coach Allison Jones-Olson, and assistant coach, Coleman Lee, below:
