Sioux City, Iowa - The Columbia Volleyball team suffered a 2-3 loss to No. 5 ranked Texas at Brownsville in their final pool play match of the 2014 NAIA Volleyball National Championships, presented by J&L Enterprises. The Cougars fell to the Ocelots by scores of 25-18, 25-20, 21-25, 16-25, and 13-15. Columbia's season comes to an end with an overall record of 33-8, while UTB improves to 32-4.

Columbia was coined the most decorated team among the field with 21 appearances, 81 wins and three national banners. The Cougars, whose most recent banner came in 2001, advanced out of pool play last season, but fell in the first round of the elimination bracket to Madonna (Mich.), 3-0.

Columbia and UTB played a tight set to open action with neither team opening more than a one-point lead. Columbia went on top, 10-6, early but UTB rallied to pull within one at 13-12 after a kill from Anna Siruckova. From that point, Columbia took control the rest of the way and finished with a 15-3 run to grab the dominating 25-18 first set win. The Cougars got off to a quick start in the second set as Columbia jumped out to a 9-6 lead and never trailed the rest of the way. The Cougars took their largest lead of the game at 21-14 after a kill by Brooke Simpson and a service ace by Mikah Simpson. The Ocelots cut the deficit to four, but were not able to overcome the full deficit as the Cougars cruised to a 2-0 advantage in the match. Columbia was forced to play from behind as UTB started with a 5-0 run for an early 10-4 lead. Trailing 20-12, the Cougars used a 7-0 run to pull within one at 20-19, but the Ocelots would prevail after scoring 5 of the next seven points. With the score knotted at 12, UTB used an 8-2 spurt to grab a 20-14 advantage and would put the fourth set away with a 5-2 ending run to force a fifth game. The Cougars took command early in game five on a kill and service aces by Paula Rosa. Trailing 7-4, UTB took four of the next five points to knot the score at 8. Columbia would tie the score at 9, 11, and 12 but the Ocelots claimed three of the next four points to close out the match.

Brooke Simpson finished in double digits with a team high 14 kills and 20 digs. Sarah Schwentker also finished in double figures with 13 kills and 17 digs. Paula Rosa added with a team-high 23 digs while Lydie van Deursen handed out a team-high 47 assists.

The Ocelots along with Vanguard University will advance to the next round of tournament bracket play on Friday.