Columbia, Mo. – Tonight the 10th ranked Columbia College volleyball team was back in action when they played host to the fourth ranked Park (Mo.) University Pirates in the AMC Game of the Week. The Cougars, who defeated William Woods (Mo.) University in four sets on Tuesday, were able to improve to 25-4 on the season after beating the Pirates in five sets (18-25, 25-22, 25-17, 18-25, 15-10). With the win, Columbia College improves to 8-1 in the AMC.
In the first set of the match, both sides came out and exchanged points early to start the game. With the score tied at 10, the Pirates were able to go on a 5-1 run and held a 15-11 lead midway through the set. Park continued to play well as the set progressed and never let the Cougars back in the game as they took the first set by a final score of 25-18 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Columbia College came out in the second game and jumped all over the Pirates early taking a quick 6-1 lead in the set. Despite being down, the Pirates came storming back and were able to tie the set at 12 midway through the game. Both sides exchanged the next few points but an 11-8 run from the Cougars to end the set gave Columbia a 25-22 victory and tied the match at one.
The third set started similar to the first as both sides exchanged points to start the game. With the score tied at six, the Cougars were able to use a 4-0 run to take a 10-6 lead in the set. Columbia College continued to play good volleyball as the set progressed and were able to hold off the Pirates for the rest of the game taking the third set by a final score of 25-17 to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
After dropping the fourth set by a final score of 25-18, the Cougars found themselves tied with the Pirates at two sets apiece. Neither side was able to separate themselves to start the decisive fifth game and the score was tied at seven midway through the set. Columbia College was able to end the game on an 8-3 run and took the fifth set 15-10 to solidify the five set victory.
The Cougars were led by Caroline Clifford (16) and Pamela Jaime (16) who both finished with double digit kills. In addition, Yamilet Velazquez finished with a team high 42 assists and 11 digs while Gabriela Walton tallied a team high 17 digs to round out the top performers for Columbia.
The Cougars are back in action on Tuesday, October 24th when they travel to Hannibal, Missouri, to take on Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.) University in an AMC match. The game is set to start at 7 p.m.
