Box Score Columbia, Mo. - The fifth-ranked Cougar volleyball team defeated visiting St. Louis College of Pharmacy 3-0 in the American Midwest Conference (AMC) opener for both teams this evening. With the win, Columbia College moves to 14-1, 1-0 on the year while the Eutectics drop to 3-2, 0-1.

Columbia made relatively quick work of the Eutectics, winning the match by scores of 25-11, 25-8 and 25-10. Head Coach Melinda Wrye-Washington used a variety of lineups in the team's first conference match of the year as seven different players logged at least one kill in the contest, led by a match-high 10 from junior Polina Severina. Severina led the Cougar attack with a .750 hitting efficiency. Sarah Schwentker contributed seven digs and senior Lydie van Deursen led all players with 32 assists.

In Tuesday's latest release of the NAIA Top 25 Poll, the Cougars moved up two spots to No. 5 in the national rankings. With their current position, the Cougars have been ranked in the top 25 in the last 88 polls making it the third longest active streak. Despite a loss to No. 2 Texas at Brownsville, the Cougars picked up victories over then-No. 15 Oklahoma Baptist and then-No. 11 Wayland Baptist at the Wayland Baptist Coca-Cola Classic. The Cougars are eight-time defending and 20-time American Midwest Conference (AMC) champions.

Rocky Mountain (Mont.) (13-2) held onto its top spot with 21-of-22 first place votes while The University of Texas at Brownsville (12-1) and Concordia-Irvine (Calif.) University remain in the No. 2 and No. 3 spot. Conference foes, Park University moves up eight spots to No. 4. The Pirates are one of only three teams in this week's Top 25 without a loss so far this season. Park went a perfect 4-0 last week that included victories over then-No. 4 Viterbo (Wis.) and then-No. 5 Northwestern (Iowa) to extend its winning-streak to 15-straight matches dating back to the 2013 season.

The Cougars return to the court this weekend, when they travel to Bourbonnais, Ill. to play in the Holiday Inn Express Invitational hosted by Olivet Nazarene University. The Cougars will take on the host squad Olivet Nazarene University at 12:00 p.m. and Cornerstone University (Mich.) at 4:00 p.m. on Friday September 19^th. On Saturday, the squad will play the University of St. Francis (Ill.) at 9 a.m. and No. 14 Grand View at 1 p.m.