Taking the defending NAIA National Champions to four sets, Central Methodist volleyball ultimately fell to Missouri Baptist by scores of 14-25, 22-25, 25-21, and 21-25 in the final match of Pool Play at the NAIA Volleyball National Championship Wednesday afternoon in Sioux City, Iowa.

Central concludes its season with a 29-9 overall mark, while MBU improves to 30-2 and advances to the quarterfinal round.

After dropping the first two sets, the Eagles battled back in the third. Trailing early 4-1, Central rattled off 10 of the next 15 points to take an 11-9 lead. Both sides remained even through the next several points, before the Spartans grabbed an 18-17 lead.

Kills from sophomore Delaney Miller and freshman Sydney Healy in the next two rallies put CMU back out in front, and the Eagles closed the set with a kill from freshman Annabelle Maassen to claim a 25-21 victory in the third.

Central was unable to recreate the magic of set three, as Missouri Baptist opened the fourth with five-straight points. The Eagles trimmed the deficit to as little as two, but MBU would pull away late to claim a 25-21 fourth set and match victory.

Sophomore Callie Henson led the offense with 13 kills on 28 swings, while senior Jordan Wolfe nearly reached double figures with nine kills. Maassen followed with six kills while the duo of Miller and Healy closed out the match with five each. Miller also tallied a match-high five blocks.

Junior Marina Alonso finished the afternoon with a team-high 17 assists while freshman Yenne Schepers dished out nine. Sophomore Krystal Brauner led the defense with 17 digs and Maassen added 13. Juniors  Giulia Sasso and Shea Luby both collected nine digs.

Central finished the season with a 16-3 conference record.