Olathe, Kan. - The No. 19 Central Methodist Volleyball program completed a three-set sweep over MidAmerica Nazarene University Tuesday night in Olathe, Kansas.
The Eagles defeated the Pioneers in straight sets by scores of 25-18, 25-11, and 25-20. With the win, CMU improves to 18-7 and 12-3 in the conference standings. MidAmerica falls to 13-11 and 9-6 in the Heart of America.
Leading 5-3 in the first set, Central rattled off four straight points, highlighted by kills from both Callie Henson and Morgan LeBlanc to extend its lead to six.
The Eagles continued to cruise through the rest of the frame, leading by as many as 11 points to come away with a 25-18 win. Altogether, the Eagles' attackers finished the first hitting .355 with 15 kills and only four attack errors.
CMU turned up the pressure in set two, racing out to a 12-4 lead through the first 16 points. The Pioneers trimmed the lead to 15-9, before Central closed the set on a 10-2 scoring run, highlighted by a strong defensive presence at the net. The Eagles held MNU to a negative hitting percentage of -.100 in the set.
The Eagles hit .333 in the final frame while committing just two errors in total. Central found themselves trailing 10-8 midway through the third, before scoring seven straight points to take a 15-10 lead. Central never looked back, as they closed the match out with a 25-20 win in the final set.
Henson led the Central offense with 10 kills on 17 swings for a .529 hitting percentage. The senior from Jefferson City also tallied seven blocks to lead the defensive effort. Her 10 kills put her 34 shy of tying the all-time career program record of 1462.
The trio of Sydney Healy, Delaney Miller, and Joana Milho each tallied six kills, while Miller also added seven blocks.
Annabelle Maassen added five kills, five digs, and five blocks. Ryleigh McBurney led the setters with 21 assists while Drew Gayle also landed in double figures with 12.
Krystal Brauner finished the evening with 17 digs.
As a team, Central held the Pioneers to a .093 hitting percentage and 26 attack errors.
Central currently sits in second-place in the Heart South Division standings, and will next travel to Benedictine College to face the Ravens Friday, Oct. 27 at 7:00 p.m. in Atchison.
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