Columbia College Athletics

Columbia, Mo. - The Cougar Volleyball team posted a 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 27-25) victory over Lindenwood University-Belleville in the opening round of the American Midwest Conference (AMC) Tournament tonight. Columbia, the No. 3 seed, improves to 33-4 overall with their thirteenth consecutive win dating back to October 10^th.

Columbia finished with 45 kills and a .304 hitting percentage on the night, led by 15 kills from senior Brooke Simpson. Simpson also led with match high 12 digs. Senior Lydie van Deursen dished out a match-high 39 assists.

Prior to tonight's games six seniors were recognized including Paula Rosa, Jordan Reid, Brooke Simpson, Lydie van Deursen, Sarah Schwentker, and Shelby Gordon.

Members of the Academic All-AMC team were also honored prior to the start of tonight's match. Columbia representatives included Paula Rosa, Jordan Reid, Viktoriia Lavrenchenko, Lydie van Deursen, Brooke Simpson, Sarah Schwentker, and Shelby Gordon.

In today's latest release of the NAIA Top 25 Poll, the Cougars remained in the No. 8 spot in the national rankings. The top five remained the same for the third week with Rocky Mountain receiving their tenth-straight No. 1 ranking with all 22 first-place votes and 622 points. Conference member Park University held steady at No. 2 for the fourth-straight week with 602 points. They also remain NAIA's only unbeaten team at 31-0. Rounding out the top five are No. 3 Concordia (Calif.) with 577 points, No. 4 Biola (Calif.) with 567 points and No. 5 Texas at Brownsville with 542 points. Conference opponent Missouri Baptist moved up one spot from last week to No. 6.

Columbia will move on to play No. 2 seed Missouri Baptist University in the semifinal round of the AMC Tournament on Thursday, November 13^th. The Spartans defeated No. 7 seed Lyon College 3-0 tonight. Columbia will travel to St. Louis, Mo. and will begin play at 7:00 p.m. For the complete tournament bracket and schedule, visit www.amcsportsonline.com