Sioux City, Iowa - The Columbia College volleyball team defeated Hastings College (Neb.) 3-2 (16-25, 25-18, 18-25, 25-15, 15-11 ) on Thursday afternoon on the final day of pool play at the NAIA National Volleyball Championships at the Tyson Events Center. The Cougars, the No. 4 seed, finishes pool play with a perfect 3-0 record and improves to 30-7 overall on the year with the win. The No. 9 seeded Broncos fall to 25-9, but will advance to the next round as the second-place team from Pool D.

Hastings entered today's match with a 2-0 record in pool play as they opened the national tournament with a four set victory over previously undefeated No. 17 Lourdes before sweeping No. 24 Mount Vernon Nazarene on day two.

The Cougars entered the national championship as the most experienced team as this is the 22nd appearance for the squad winning three national titles, finishing second five times and claiming third three times. The Cougars hold an 84-43 all-time record at nationals with their three victories in pool play this year.

The Cougars struggled in set one as they hit just 0.089 and committed eight errors. Columbia led 6-3 early, but the Broncos used a 6-1 run to gain a 9-7 advantage. Columbia battled back to tie the score at 10, but a 10-2 run by Hastings allowed the squad to take the lead for good and win set one, 25-16 after hitting 0.200.

Set two was a back and forth battle between the teams to begin as the score would be tied on five different occasions. With the game knotted at seven, Columbia finally took control as they used a 13-2 run to go ahead 20-9. With the Cougars up 24-12, Hastings used six straight points to defend off Columbia's set point six times, but the Cougars would be able to put the game away on a kill by Amber Graham to tie the match at one.

Columbia led 8-5 in set three, but five Cougar errors, two kills and an ace allowed the Broncos to go ahead 13-9. The teams battled for points from there with Columbia keeping the game within four, but the Broncos would build a six point lead, making the score 22-16 and would eventually win the set, 25-18 on a service ace by Claire Hamburger. The Cougars struggled again offensively in game three as they totaled 12 kills on 38 attempts while committing 10 errors for a hitting percentage of 0.053.

Game four started different than the first three as it was the Broncos who built an early 7-3 lead this time. Hastings maintained their advantage from there until five straight points by the Cougars allowed the team gain a 13-11 advantage. Columbia began to roll and faced little resistance for the rest of the game and would take set four, 25-15 after hitting a blistering 0.481 to force a fifth and deciding game.

The teams fought for every point in set five with both team tying the score four different times. With the game tied at 11, Columbia built a three point lead on a kill by Eirini Chatziefstratiadou, an attack error by the Broncos, and a service ace by Mikah Simpson and would put the game away with a kill by Penny Liu. Columbia hit a game high 0.692 in the set while only committing one error.

The Cougars finished hitting 0.233 for the match and had 60 kills, 54 assists, 77 digs and six aces. Liu led the attack with 18 kills on 39 attempts to finish with a 0.410 hitting percentage while also posting 14 digs. Polina Severina also finished with a double-double, chipping in 10 kills and 15 digs to go along with two service aces. Sashiko Heredia led all players with 46 assists while also finishing with 11 digs and two service aces. Simpson had a match high 24 digs and had an ace of her own.

Hastings finished hitting 0.174 for the game while posting 51 kills, 47 assists, 58 digs and eight aces. The squad was led by Sage Meyer who finished with 14 kills and 13 digs while Jennifer Klaudt chipped in 13 kills. Jill Bax led the team with 23 digs while Hamburger dished out 23 assists.

Columbia will return to action tomorrow, December 4^th in the quarterfinal round, receiving a bye due to their seed. Keep tuned to the Cougar website to find out further information as it becomes available.

Tune in live tomorrow on the NAIA Network (http://portal.stretchinternet.com/naia/) to watch the match and follow live stats. Fans can also listen live for free to our very own Tex Little as he does the play by play on the Columbia Cougar portal at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/columbia/