Fayette, Mo. - The No. 2 Central Methodist Volleyball program swept No. 7 seeded William Penn in the quarterfinals of the Heart of America Conference Tournament Saturday afternoon inside Puckett Field House.
The Eagles won in straight sets by scores of 25-23, 25-12, and 25-19.
Central got off to a slow start in the opening frame, trailing for a majority of the set and hitting just .100.
Trailing 22-21, CMU capilized on a service error and an attack error from the Statesmen to pull in front 23-22. A kill from senior Callie Henson pushed Central's lead to two, giving CMU set point.
Delaney Miller closed the door in the first set, tallying one of her team-leading 10 kills to give CMU the narrow 25-23 win in set one.
Central cranked up the offensive pressure in set two, hitting an outstanding .571 on 16 kills with no attack errors. The Eagles' defense held WPU to a match-low .036 hitting, taking hold of the match with a 13-point win in the second set.
Leading 15-11 in the third, Central scored three straight points, highlighted by kills from Miller and Joana Milho. The Statesmen never got any closer than three points, as CMU would close the match on a 5-2 scoring run to win the set and punch their ticket to the tournament semifinals.
Miller had another solid outing, tallying a team-high 10 kills on 16 swings for a .625 hitting percentage. She also finished the evening with three blocks.
Henson followed with eight kills on 16 swings in addition to four blocks and three digs. Milho concluded the match with six kills, four digs, and two blocks.
Sydney Healy added five kills while both Annabelle Maassen and White tallied four. Maassen led the Central defense with a team-high 11 digs while also recording four blocks and a service ace.
Senior setter Ryleigh McBurney led CMU with a match-high 21 assists while freshman Drew Gayle dished out 15 in her first career start. Jessica Mowry nearly cracked double-digit digs with eight, while Krystal Brauner finished the afternoon with six.
Central will host No. 6 MidAmerica Nazarene in the Heart Semifinals Tuesday, Nov. 7 at 7:00 p.m. inside Puckett Field House. CMU swept both regular season matchups against the Pioneers.
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