Pride fall to No. 20 Central Methodist to start weekend

Fayette, Mo. - Hoping to start their first winning streak of 2023 with an upset over an NAIA Top-25 team, the Clarke University women's volleyball team dropped their Friday night match 3-0 to No. 20 Central Methodist on the road.

The Eagles won each set by double digit points at 25-15, 25-12, and 25-13 as the Pride hit for a .011 final team hitting percentage compared to CMU's efficient .361 for the match as they only finished with nine total errors in the match and hit for over .400 in both the second and third sets.

Callie Henson was the go-to player on the attack for Central Methodist is she finished with a match-high 12 kills without a single error on 17 total attacks for a gaudy .706 hitting percentage. 

For Clarke, Rachel Haubert led the team in kills and hitting percentage for the second-straight match, following up a career-high .600 hitting percentage in Tuesday's win at Culver-Stockton with another efficient night of a .429 hitting percentage with six kills and no errors on 14 swings.

Freshman Maya Watters, who returned from injury on Tuesday, saw more action on Friday night to tie Haubert's kill total with six of her own on 21 swings with three errors for a .143 hitting percentage.

Keely Colyer and Rylie Bohanan both finished with team-high tying nine digs while Colyer led the Pride with 14 assists to finish just one dig away from a double-double in the match.

Clarke women's volleyball will wrap up a five-match stretch on the road in the Heart with a Saturday meeting against Missouri Valley College as they'll also face College of the Ozarks to round out their weekend with a neutral court match in Marshall, Mo. against the Bobcats.