Columbia, Mo. - The 14^th ranked Cougar volleyball team defeated visiting Benedictine University at Springfield 3-0 this evening in an American Midwest Conference (AMC) matchup by scores of 25-13, 25-12, and 25-6. Columbia improves to 24-4 on the year and 6-2 in AMC play while the Bulldogs drop to 1-17 overall and 0-6 in league play.

In all, Columbia hit .483 as a team, including a blistering .563 in the third and final frame. Seven different Cougars had kills in the win and four more tallied blocks. Sarah Schwentker paced the cougars with a match high seven kills on .417 hitting and picked up four digs. Senior Paula Rosa and Viktoriia Lavrenchenko also chipped in six kills. Senior setter, Lydie van Deursen led all players with 31 assists and seven aces.

The Cougar Volleyball squad dropped one spot in this week's Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Poll to No. 14 after posting a 3-1 record last week. Columbia fell to then No.4 (now No. 3) Park University, in three sets, for the first time in history. The Cougars notched three wins later in the week over William Woods, St. Catherine College (Ky.) and Culver Stockton College. Columbia collected 383 points in this week's poll.

Rocky Mountain (Mont.) held onto the nation's No. 1 ranking for the sixth-straight week earning all 23 first-place votes and 653 points followed by Concordia (Calif) University. Park University moved up to No. 3 from No. 4 while Texas at Brownsville dropped two spots to No. 4. Biola (Calif.) checks in at No. 5. Fellow American Midwest Conference (AMC) member school Missouri Baptist University checked in at No. 12 for the second week in a row.

The Cougars return to the court on Tuesday, Oct. 21^st when they host AMC member Hannibal-LaGrange University in the Arena of Southwell Complex at 7 p.m.