Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Aurora, Ill. - The Columbia volleyball team split a pair of contests on the road today, defeating Robert Morris (Ill.) University 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 34-32) in the early match before falling 3-2 (20-25, 23-25, 25-18, 25-13, 9-15) to Trinity Christian (Ill.) College. The Cougars move to 10-4 on the year with the split.

Columbia fell behind early in their first match of the day as the Eagles jumped out to a 5-1 lead in game one. A kill by Carol Berger ignited an 11-1 run by the Cougars to put them in command 12-6 following the early deficit. Columbia would stretch its lead out to ten at 19-9 and go on to take the game from there by a score of 25-17. Robert Morris took another early lead in game two, leading 7-2 after nine rallies. The Cougars would battle back to tie it at 10, but the Eagles would regain and hold the lead until a timely 10-1 run by Columbia to close the game, capped off by a service ace from Paula Rosa. The Eagles led by as many as four points in the third game, but the Cougars fought their way back late to tie the score at 24. The two squads would trade the next 16 points before Columbia finally closed out the match on back-to-back kills by Trinity Ojo.

The Cougars finished the match 54 kills, led by Rosa and Ojo with 14 and 13 respectively. Erin Pavlin and Jordan Reid each had a team-high 13 digs and setter Lydie van Deursen led all players with 41 assists. Robert Morris was led by Katie Rotkovich with 12 kills.

In game one against the Trolls of Trinity Christian, Columbia got off to a quick 3-0 lead after two attack errors by the Trolls. However, Trinity would respond with an 8-1 run and take a 10-6 advantage midway through the opening set. The Cougars battled back to within a point on several occasions, but the Trolls were able to pull away down the stretch with the help of a 5-1 run to close the game. Trinity held the lead for much of the second set until a 4-0 run by Columbia led to a 23-23 tie late in the game. A pair of errors by the Cougars would cost them in the late going as Trinity took the game, 25-23, and a 2-0 lead in the match. The two squads battled back and forth to begin the third game of the match and the score was tied at 7 early on. With the score tied at 11, Columbia used a 5-0 run and three straight service aces by Rosa to take command and go on to a 25-18 win. The Cougars carried their momentum into the fourth game and built a 15-6 lead with the help of a 7-0 run, which included three more aces by Rosa. Columbia never looked back from there and cruised to the win to set up a fifth and deciding game. The Cougars were unable to overcome a 9-5 deficit to start the final game as the Trolls thwarted the Columbia comeback bid with a 15-9 victory to claim the match.

Sarah Schwentker and Ojo led the Cougar attack with 14 and 11 kills respectively. Rosa's six service aces led all players and van Deursen added a match-high 37 assists. Lauren Macadlo and Jessica Wiltjer each had eight kills for Trinity Christian.

Columbia will return to the court on Tuesday, October 2^nd for a triangular match featuring College of the Ozarks (Mo.) and William Woods (Mo.) University. The matches are scheduled for 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. in Fulton, Mo.