Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 St. Louis, Mo. - The 22^nd-ranked Cougar volleyball squad suffered a pair of hard-luck losses on Saturday at the Spartan Invitational, which was hosted by Missouri Baptist University. Columbia fell to Cornerstone (Mich.) University 3-2 (25-21, 19-25, 27-29, 25-18, 10-15) in their first match of the day before falling 3-2 (25-19, 25-22, 21-25, 22-25, 12-15) once again to 19^th-ranked Grand View (Iowa) University. With the two defeats, the Cougars drop to 17-6 on the year.

Columbia took a 1-0 lead in their match against the Eagles with a 25-21 game one win. Trailing 15-13, the Cougars grabbed the lead for good with a 4-0 run that included two kills from Paula Rosa and a pair of service aces by Jordan Reid. Columbia fell behind early in game two and was unable to overcome a 17-9 deficit as Cornerstone evened the match at 1-1. Game three proved to be the biggest battle of the match as neither team led by more than two points throughout the set. The Eagles eventually prevailed with two consecutive points for a 29-27 victory and a 2-1 advantage in the match. The Cougars responded in the fourth game with the help of an 8-0 run to force a fifth set with a 25-18 win. However, Cornerstone jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the deciding game and never trailed on their way to a 15-10 victory to clinch the match.

Trinity Ojo and Paula Rosa led Columbia offensively with 18 and 16 kills, respectively. Setter Lydie van Deursen finished with a match-high 57 assists and Reid led all players with 20 digs.

The Cougars looked to be in control early against the Vikings in their second match of the day. Columbia scored a 25-19 win in game one, followed by a 25-22 victory in the second game for a 2-0 lead in the match. However, Grand View battled back for a 25-21 win in game three and evened up the match with a 25-22 comeback victory in game four. The fifth and deciding game went back and forth much of the way, but a timely 5-1 spurt by the Vikings helped them complete the comeback win.

Rosa and Ojo finished with 16 and 13 kills respectively to lead the Cougars at the net once again. Reid totaled a match-high 23 digs, while van Deursen posted 50 assists to lead all players.

Columbia will be back on the road next week when they travel to 2^nd-ranked University of Texas at Brownsville (17-0) on Thursday, October 17^th. The Ocelots defeated the Cougars 3-0 in their first match of the season on August 31^st as part of the Hampton Inn Classic. Match time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in Brownsville, Texas.