Columbia, Mo. – The NAIA national office announced the first regular season Women's Volleyball Coaches Top 25 Poll. The Cougars, who ranked eighth in the preseason poll, moved up one spot to seventh after going 5-2 to start the season with their only losses coming to the top two ranked teams in the NAIA in the most recent poll.

Columbia College opened up the 2017 season in Grand Island, Nebraska, where they took part in the 2017 Bill Marshall Volleyball Classic hosted by Hastings (Neb.) College. The Cougars went 2-1 in the tournament as they defeated the College of Coastal Georgia and Oklahoma City University on the first day and then were defeated by top ranked Hastings on the second day. Columbia followed that up with an impressive performance this past weekend at the 2017 Hampton Inn Volleyball Classic where they went 3-1 on the weekend with their only loss coming to the second ranked Viterbo (Wis.) University V-Hawks.

The Cougars have been playing great volleyball to start the season and currently rank 10^th in the NAIA in both hitting percentage (0.256) and blocks per game (2.670) while also ranking in the top 50 in kills per game (12.880) and total blocks (64). They are led by Peiyi Liu who ranked 15^th in the NAIA in hitting percentage (0.355) and Yamilet Velazquez who sits 37^th in assists per game (9.480).

Columbia College is back in action tomorrow, September 6^th when they travel to Fayette, Missouri, to take on Central Methodist (Mo.) University in a nonconference match. The game is set to start at 7 p.m.