Women's Volleyball | 11/12/2016 6:42:00 PM

Box Score St. Louis, Mo. – Tonight the 21^st ranked Columbia College volleyball team was back in action taking on the sixth ranked Park (Mo.) University Pirates in the AMC Championship Final in St. Louis. The Cougars were coming off of a huge win last night over the 13^th ranked Missouri Baptist University Spartans in which they defeated them in a thrilling five set match. Columbia College was able to carry that momentum into tonight's game against Park University and defeated the Pirates in three straight sets (25-11, 25-21, 25-23) to win the AMC tournament.

The Cougars got off to a quick start in the first set jumping out to an early 5-0 lead in the game after three straight attacking errors by the Pirates. Columbia College played great defensively as the set progressed and limited the Pirates to just five kills on 30 attacks. They added an 8-2 run later in the game and cruised to a 25-11 victory in the set to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Columbia College was led by Peiyi Liu who had six kills in the game.

In the second set, the Cougars found themselves down early but battled back to tie the game at eight. They used a 6-3 run to jump out in front of the Pirates but the lead did not last long as Park was able to tie the game at 17 late in the set. Both teams battled back and forth for the next few points but the Cougars were able to go on a 6-2 run at the end of the game to win the second set 25-21 and take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Park University was ready for the Cougars in the third set as they came out and took an early 5-2 lead in the game. They attacked and attacked but Columbia College was relentless on defense and stuck with the Pirates throughout the entire set. With the score tied at 18, they went on a 4-0 run to take a 22-18 lead but the Pirates answered back with a four point run of their own to tie the game back up at 22. Columbia College took the next two points and were finally able to defeat the Pirates on a kill from Peiyi Liu to complete the three set sweep with a 25-23 victory.

The Cougars were led by Peiyi Liu who had 14 kills and Caroline Clifford who had 10 kills. Sashiko Heredia, the AMC Setter of the Week, had another great game for Columbia College adding 26 assists to her impressive season totals. Additionally, Sami Meyer and Gabriela Walton led the team defensively as Meyer picked up 13 digs and Walton added 11 digs to the 47 accumulated by the Cougars.

Columbia College has solidified a spot in the NAIA National Tournament and will find out who and when they will play on Monday, November 14^th at 10 a.m. when the NAIA announces the tournament brackets.