Sioux City, Iowa – This afternoon the Columbia College volleyball team was back in action when they took on IU Kokomo (Ind.) to finish up pool play at the 2016 NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championships. The Cougars came into this game winning their first two pool play games against Indiana Wesleyan University and top seeded Westmont (Calif.) College to clinch the top spot in the pool and advance to the knockout round of the tournament. Columbia College was able to continue their great play at the Tyson Event center this afternoon and swept IU Kokomo in three straight sets (25-8, 25-15, 25-16) to finish pool play with a perfect 3-0 record.

In the first set of the match, the Cougars picked up right where they left off in yesterday's win over Westmont and dominated IU Kokomo from the opening serve. They started out the game on a 10-3 run and never looked back as they were able to shut down the opposing Cougars attack and cruised to a 25-8 victory in the set. Columbia held IU Kokomo to just six kills on 38 attacks in the game.

IU Kokomo came alive to start the second set and jumped out to an early lead in the game. However, the Cougars were able to battle back and tied the game at 12. Columbia College proceeded to score the next seven points in the set and were able to hold off IU Kokomo to take the second game by a final score of 25-15. The Cougars continued to dominate in the third set as they went on an 11-4 run to start the game before IU Kokomo was forced to call a timeout. IU Kokomo tried their best to get back into the game but ultimately the Cougars would hold them off and win the third set 25-16 to complete the three game sweep and finish unbeaten in pool play.

Columbia College was led by Peiyi Liu who had a match high 14 kills and 10 digs in the contest. Sashiko Heredia had another great game running the offense for the Cougars as she picked up a match high 35 assists and added 12 digs to her impressive season numbers. Additionally, Sami Meyer stood out for Columbia College on the defensive side of the ball as she recorded a match high 15 digs in the game.

After going 3-0 in pool play, the Cougars have advanced to the knockout stage of the 2016 NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championships. They will face off against Doane (Neb.) University who finished in second place in Pool B after going 2-1 in their three matches. The Tigers come into this game with a 25-9 record on the season and have won three of their previous five game. They currently rank 22^nd in the NAIA in service aces per game (1.870) and 25^th in total service aces (230). These numbers are thanks in large part to Alex Neff who ranks 20^th in total service aces (60) and 29^th in service aces per game (0.490). The game is set to begin at 9 a.m. in Sioux City, Iowa, with the winner advancing to play at 6 p.m. tomorrow night in the quarterfinal match.

The NAIA Network – the association's official video streaming home – will broadcast all 63 matches (including 48 pool-play matches) live at the 2016 NAIA Volleyball National Championship final site in Sioux City, Iowa. The video platform, powered by Stretch Internet, allows users access to live video, statistics, and social interaction on a number of devices, including mobile. Single day passes can be purchased for $9.95, while a pool play pass is $24.95 (Nov. 29 – Dec. 2) and an all-championship package is available at $39.95. For more information and the pre-register, click here.