Columbia, Mo. – The third ranked Columbia College volleyball team took the court today as they traveled to St. Louis, Missouri to battle the fifth ranked Missouri Baptist University Spartans in the AMC Game of the Week. The Cougars fell to the Spartans in a 3-2 set (20-25, 25-13, 25-27, 25-21, 9-14). The Cougars now move to 22-2 on the season and 6-1 in conference play.
Each team came out with a fire inside them for this NAIA Top 5 matchup. The match began point for point, being tied at five early. The Spartans were the first to take a few point lead 9-6, but the Cougars used a 3-0 run to tie the game at 9. Missouri Baptist took back some ground leading 14-11 midway through. Columbia again tied the game at 16, causing a Spartan timeout. Out of the timeout, the Cougars took a 17-16 lead. The game was kept tight the next couple plays as the teams found themselves knotted at 20, when Columbia would then take a timeout. The Spartans went on a 5-0 run to take set one 25-20.
The Cougars came out in the second and took the early lead 6-2. Columbia had seized some momentum as they took a 16-7 lead in set two. The Cougars remained in control 21-10 as they looked to close out set two and tie the match 1-1. Columbia did just that as they cruised to a 25-13 victory in the second set.
The Cougars carried over their energy from set two as they held an 8-4 lead to start the third. However, the Spartans came back tying the game at 12. As the set continued, it was kept close. The Cougars regained the lead 17-14. The match was quickly tied up at 19 and then again at 20. Columbia then took a 22-20 lead forcing a Spartan timeout. The Spartans were able to take a 23-22 lead following the timeout, this time causing the Cougars to take a timeout of their own. Following the pattern of set three, it was again tied at 23 and then 24. Columbia took the one point lead 25-24, but the tables took a quick turn as the Cougars trailed 26-25. The Spartans snagged the final point to win 27-25. Columbia trailed 2-1 in the match.
Heading into the fourth, Columbia took a 6-4 lead as Missouri Baptist called a timeout. As the set continued, the Cougars found themselves winning 19-14, as they looked to tie the match at two apiece. The Spartans made a run as they cut the score 23-21, but the Cougars secured a 25-21 victory to force a fifth set.
In the fifth and final set, it was all tied at 5. After being tied at 7, the Cougars then took the 8-7 lead. As the final set progressed, the Cougars trailed 11-9. Columbia found themselves down 14-9, as they continued to fight. The Cougars fell to the Spartans 15-9 in the final set.
Columbia was led by Caroline Clifford (19) and Kiersten Anderson (13) who each recorded double-digit kills. In addition, Thais Andrade (15) and Anderson (13) each tallied double-digit digs, while Manuela Vargas had 50 assists on the night.
The volleyball team is back in action Tuesday, October 9th, when they travel to Fulton, Missouri to face the William Woods University Owls in an AMC matchup. The match is set to start at 7 p.m.
