Columbia, Mo. – The Columbia College volleyball team was back in action tonight as they hosted William Woods (Mo.) University in an AMC matchup. Columbia was able to defeat the Owls in a 3-1 set (28-26, 25-22, 21-25, 25-23) to improve to 24-4 on the season and 7-1 in conference play.
Prior to the match, the NAIA national office announced the fourth Coaches Top 25 Poll for the 2017 regular season. After going 5-1 since the last poll was released, the Cougars moved up three spots to 10th in the latest rankings.
The Cougars jumped out to a 4-1 lead to start the first set. The Owls came right back tying it up at 5 early in the game. Columbia used an 8-4 run to go up 13-9 midway through the set. William Woods battled back to tie the Cougars at 20 late in the game. Both teams would go point for point as they would tie it up at 26. Columbia was able to secure the final two points to take a 1-0 lead in the match with a 28-26 victory.
To start the second set, both sides came out and exchanged points. The Cougars trailed 16-12 midway through set two, but would use a 6-2 run to tie the set 18-18. The Cougars would go up 2-0 in the match winning the second set 25-22.
Columbia carried their momentum into the third set leading 10-6 early. William Woods would stay close throughout the set as they tied the Cougars 18-18. The Owls went on a 7-3 run to win the third set by a score of 25-21.
At the start of the fourth set the Cougars quickly went up 5-0. The Owls wasted no time as they went on a 5-0 run to tie it right back up. William Woods would steal the momentum as they went up 14-9 midway through the fourth set. The Cougars battled back tying the game 21-21. Columbia was able to surpass William Woods by a score of 25-23 to win the match 3-1.
Columbia was led by Pamela Jaime (18), Caroline Clifford (12), and Zori Curry (10) who each had double-digit kills. In addition, Caroline Clifford also had 15 digs along with Gabriela Walton who had 10, while Yamilet Velazquez had 45 assists.
The Cougars are back in action on Thursday, October 19th when they host fourth ranked Park (Mo.) University in an AMC matchup. The game is set to start at 7:00 p.m. at Southwell Complex.
