Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Columbia, Mo. - The Cougar volleyball team kicked off their season with two wins over Wiley (Texas) College and seventh-ranked Georgetown (Ky.) College in the 2013 Hampton Inn Classic on Friday. Columbia, ranked second in the NAIA Preseason Top 25 Poll, defeated Wiley 3-0 in their first match of the day and pulled out a thrilling 3-2 victory over Georgetown in the nightcap.

Despite falling behind 7-1 in their first game of the day, the Cougars fought back to tie the game after a kill by Aline Rosario evened the score at 11. The Wildcats continued to battle throughout the opening set and held a 20-19 lead at one point, but three straight kills by Rosario gave Columbia the lead for good at 22-20. The Cougar attack was much sharper in the second set as the squad used an early 6-1 spurt to grab a 9-4 advantage. The Cougars maintained a four-point lead for the remainder of the set and ended the game on a 5-0 run for the 25-15 win. Columbia jumped out to another quick lead in set three as Sarah Schwentker capped off a 6-0 run with a service ace for a 12-4 lead. The Cougars would cruise to the third set victory from there and take the match 3-0.

Head Coach Melinda Wrye-Washington used a variety of lineups in the team's first match of the year as nine different players logged at least one kill in the contest, led by a match-high 14 from senior Trinity Ojo. Schwentker contributed 10 digs and four service aces to the Columbia attack and junior Lydie van Deursen led all players with 37 assists.

The first game of match two saw each team go on an early 5-0 run as the score was tied at 13 midway through the opening set. Neither squad led by more than two points over the remainder of the frame, but a timely 3-0 run by the Tigers helped them prevail in game one, 25-23. Georgetown carried the momentum into the next set and jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead. The Cougars responded by taking the next six points and would build a 13-8 lead. After the Tigers pulled within two at 14-12, Columbia seized control of the set with another 5-0 spurt and cruised to the 25-17 win, evening the match at 1-1. Neither team was able to gain separation in the third set, but back-to-back kills by Carol Berger and an attack error by Georgetown led to a 19-16 advantage in the late going for the Cougars. However, the Tigers battled back to tie the score at 24 with the help of a 5-0 run and go on to take the set 28-26. Columbia would get off to a quick start in the fourth set, building a 7-3 lead after three early kills by junior Paula Rosa. Georgetown would claw their way back once again and eventually tie the score at 19, but the Cougars used a 3-0 run down the stretch to grab the lead for good to force a fifth game. Trailing 3-1 in set five, the Tigers took six of the next seven points for a 7-4 lead in the deciding game. Columbia would fight their way back to grab a 10-9 advantage and back-to-back service aces by Rosa put the Cougars up by three at 12-9. A 4-1 run by Georgetown tied the score at 13, but Columbia put the game away on back-to-back kills by Wenwen Han and Berger to close out the match.

The Cougars received a team-high 15 kills from Ojo and 11 each from Berger, Han, and Rosa. Schwentker posted a match-high 21 digs, while van Deursen led all players with 50 assists and seven service aces. Allyson Wilbourn had a match-high 16 kills to lead the Tigers, while Lindsey Martindale and Kristen Schellhaas added 19 assists and 18 digs respectively.

For a complete list of today's Hampton Inn Classic matches and results, click here.

Columbia will be back in action at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow to take on Evangel (Mo.) University in day two of the Hampton Inn Classic. The Cougars will wrap up play against third-ranked University of Texas at Brownsville at 5:00 p.m. in a rematch of last season's NAIA National Tournament Semifinals. Columbia outlasted the Ocelots to claim a 3-2 victory (22-25, 27-25, 25-16, 27-29, 15-7) in the match. Saturday's match was voted the NAIA Volleyball Match of the Week.