Fayette, Mo. – Tonight the seventh ranked Columbia College volleyball team was back on the court when they traveled to Fayette, Missouri, to take on Central Methodist (Mo.) University in a nonconference match. The Cougars, who went 3-1 over the weekend at the 2017 Hampton Inn Volleyball Classic, were able to improve to 6-2 on the season after defeating the Eagles in five sets (20-25, 25-21, 23-25, 25-18, 15-11).

The Cougars came out in the first set and had a tough time getting anything going as attacking errors allowed the Eagles jump out to an early 7-2 lead. Columbia College responded with a 4-2 run of their own but a 8-3 run from the Eagles midway through the set propelled them to a 16-9 lead. The Cougars did their best to get back into the set but Central Methodist was able to close out the game down the stretch and took a 1-0 set lead with a 25-20 victory.

The Eagles carried over their momentum from the first game into the second as they jumped out to another early lead and led by five midway through the set. Despite being down, the Cougars came storming back and were able to go on a 7-2 run to tie the game at 16. Both sides exchanged the next few points but a 7-3 run to end the set from Columbia College lifted them to a 25-21 victory to tie the match at one.

After dropping the third set by a final score of 25-23 to find themselves down 2-1 in the match, the Cougars came out in the fourth game and matched the Eagles point for point. With the score tied at 10, they were able to break away from Central Methodist as they scored the next four straight points to take a 14-10 lead midway through the game. Columbia College continued to play well throughout the rest of the set and were able to tie the match at two after winning the game 25-18.

Central Methodist came out in the final set and scored the first two points of the game before the Cougars came firing back with a 7-1 run. The Eagles did their best to get back into the game and were able to cut Columbia's lead to two but the Cougars were able to finish off Central Methodist down the stretch and solidified their sixth win of the season with a 15-11 win.

Columbia College was led by Peiyi Liu who finished with a match high 23 kills and 18 digs. In addition to Liu, Caroline Clifford tallied 15 kills and 11 digs, Gabriela Walton had a match high 22 digs, and Selina Merfol added 35 assists to round out the top performers for the Cougars.

Columbia College is back in action on Friday, September 8^th when they travel to Baldwin City, Kansas, to compete in the 2017 Baker Tournament. The Cougars will play two games on Friday including a 1 p.m. start against Ottawa (Kan.) University and a 7 p.m. start against Baker (Kan.) University.