Sioux City, Iowa – This morning the Columbia College women's volleyball team was back in action when they took on Doane (Neb.) University in the 2016 NAIA Volleyball National Championship knockout round. The Cougars were able to continue their winning streak at the Tyson Event Center and will advance to the quarterfinals tonight at 6 p.m. against Dordt (Iowa) College after defeating the Tigers in three straight sets (25-20, 25-22, 25-23). With the win tonight the Cougars improve to 30-11 on the season and have won their last 15 matches in a row.

In the first set of the match the Cougars were able to jump out to an early lead and held off the Tigers at the end as they took the first set by a score of 25-20 to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Columbia College had 14 kills on 38 attacks in the set while holding the Tigers to just a 0.196 attacking percentage. They were able to carry over that momentum into the second set and outlasted Doane for the second straight game with a 25-22 win. The Cougars had a tough time getting their attack going in the second game but they played great defensively and were able to go up 2-0 in the match.

In the final set of the match, the Cougars looked to complete the three game sweep and send the Tigers home early. They were able to do just that in the final game as they edged out a close 25-23 victory and improved to 4-0 in the national tournament. Columbia had 17 kills on 37 attacks in the finals set while holding the Tigers to a 0.231 attacking percentage.

Columbia College was led by Caroline Clifford who had a team high 10 kills and 10 digs in the match. Sashiko Heredia had another great game running the offense as she picked up a match high 37 assists and 12 digs in the contest. Additionally, Sami Meyer was once again a dominant force on defense recording a match high 17 digs.

The Cougars are back in action later tonight when they take on Dordt (Iowa) College in a quarterfinal matchup of the 2016 NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championships. The Defenders currently hold a record of 26-7 and come into this game riding a four game winning streak after defeating Corban (Ore.) University 3-1 this morning. Dordt is a very good attacking team and rank 10^th in the NAIA in hitting percentage (0.253) and 14^th in kills per game (13.590). They are led by Brooke Granstra who currently leads her team in hitting percentage (0.358) and kills per game (4.150).