Kansas City, Mo. - After a strong postseason run in the conference tournament, the Central Methodist volleyball program climbed two spots to No. 9 in the second NAIA Women's Volleyball Coaches' Top-25 poll, announced by the national office Wednesday morning. 

The Eagles clinched an automatic berth in the NAIA National Tournament after defeating William Penn in the conference tournament quarterfinals, and upsetting No. 7 Grand View in the semifinals to advance to the championship game.

Other members from the Heart to be featured in the poll are No. 2 Park, No. 11 Grand View, and (RV) MidAmerica Nazarene.

As a team, CMU is ranked in the Top-20 nationally in both hitting percentage (No. 17, 0.230) and kills/game (No. 18, 13.380).

Senior Grace Stumbaugh leads the offense, hitting .365 for the season, good enough for No. 6 in the nation.

To view the full NAIA Women's Volleyball Coaches' Top-25 Poll, please click here.

Poll Methodology

• The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences, Association of Independent Institutions and Unaffiliated Groups.
• The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second place and so on through the list.
• The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) is removed and the team's ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the teams appear on.
• Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered "receiving votes"

Coming off its third-straight Heart tournament championship appearance, the Eagles will next look to No. 5 Missouri Baptist, who they will host on Tuesday, March 23 at 5:00 p.m. in Puckett Fieldhouse.

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