Box Score Henderson, Tenn. - The third-ranked Cougar volleyball team was upset by conference foe Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) University this afternoon by a score of 3-2 (24-26, 25-22, 25-17, 19-25, 12-15). With the loss, Columbia drops to 6-2 overall on the year and 2-1 in the American Midwest Conference (AMC). The defeat also snaps Columbia's regular season conference win streak of 159 matches.

The Lions got off to a quick start in game one, holding an early 7-3 lead. Columbia would come back to tie the score at 8 and neither side would build a lead of more than two points over the next 16 rallies. With the score knotted at 16, the Cougars used a quick 5-1 spurt to grab a 21-17 advantage and appeared to be headed for a 1-0 lead in the match. However, Freed-Hardeman would battle back and pull within a point on three separate occasions and eventually claimed the set by taking three straight points after trailing 24-23. It was Columbia getting off to a quick start in the second game as the Cougars jumped out to a 6-2 lead and never trailed the rest of the way. Columbia took their largest lead at 21-12 on back-to-back kills by Viktoriia Lavrenchenko and hung on late after the Lions fought pulled within two points at 24-22. The Cougars took control early once again in the third game with a 7-1 run to start the set, which included two kills from freshman Wenwen Han. A service ace by junior Sarah Schwentker gave Columbia their largest lead of the game at 17-8 and they would cruise to a 2-1 advantage in the match from there. The Cougars led by four early in the fourth set, but a 7-1 spurt by Freed-Hardeman put the host squad ahead 13-11 midway through the game. Columbia fought back to within one at 14-13, but the Lions answered with a 6-0 run to take the lead for good and force a fifth game. The Cougars took command early in game five on back-to-back service aces by Lydie van Deursen to begin the set. Trailing 9-5, Freed-Hardeman mounted a comeback with the help of 5-0 run to take a 10-9 lead. Columbia would tie the score at 10 and 11 over the course of the next three rallies, but the Lions claimed four of the next five points to pull the upset.

The Cougars finished with 57 kills on the afternoon, led by Han and Trinity Ojo with 12 each. Schwentker and Han added a team-high 10 digs and van Deursen handed out a match-high 49 assists.

Freed-Hardeman was led by Daymari Brito with 25 kills and Michelle Bennett with 17 digs.

Columbia will return home to host Lindenwood University-Belleville (Ill.) on Tuesday, September 17^th. Match time is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Arena of Southwell Complex.