Box Score Columbia, Mo. – Tonight the seventh ranked Columbia College volleyball team was back in action when they traveled across town to Stephens (Mo.) College to take on the Stars in an AMC matchup. The Cougars were able to defeat the Stars in three straight sets (25-20, 25-22, 25-21) and improved to 14-3 on the season and 4-1 in conference play.
Columbia College came out in the first set and exchanged points with the Stars to start the game. With the game tied at 12, the Cougars were able to go on a 5-2 run and jumped out to a 17-14 lead midway through the game. Stephens College did their best to get back into the set and were able to keep it close until the end but the Cougars closed them out down the stretch to take a 1-0 lead in the match with a 25-20 victory.
The second game started similar to the first as both sides matched each other point-for-point to start the set. The Cougars were finally able to break away from the Stars midway through the set but Stephens College came storming back to tie the game at 19. However, that was as close as they would get as Columbia finished the game on a 6-3 run and took a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-22 victory.
In the final set, the Cougars were able to jump out to an early 6-4 lead before the Stars tied the game at seven. Stephens College followed the comeback with a 4-0 run and held an 11-7 lead midway through the set. Despite being down, the Cougars battled back and were able to use 7-0 run of their own to take a 17-13 lead late in the game. Stephens College tried desperately to get back into the set but Columbia was too much to handle down the stretch and the Cougars were able to complete the three game sweep with a 25-21 victory.
Caroline Clifford led the way for Columbia as the junior finished with a team high 10 kills in the match. In addition, Allison Garcia added a team high 10 digs and Yamilet Velazquez tallied a match high 33 assists to round out the top performers for the Cougars.
Columbia College is back in action on Friday, September 29th when they travel to Kankakee, Illinois, to compete in the 2017 Olivet Nazarene Holiday Inn Express Invitational Tournament. The Cougars will play two matches that day including a 1 p.m. start against Campbellsville (Ky.) University followed by a 5 p.m. start against Indiana Tech.
