Fulton, Mo. – Tonight the third ranked Columbia College volleyball team was back in action when they traveled to Fulton, Missouri, to take on the William Woods (Mo.) University Owls in an AMC matchup. The Cougars were able to defeat the Owls in three straight sets (25-10, 25-21, 25-16) to improve to 23-2 on the season and 7-1 in conference play.
Tonight's win marked a special milestone for head coach Melinda Wrye-Washington as it was her 700th win at Columbia College. Since coming to Columbia College in 2000, Wrye-Washington has earned 11 American Midwest Conference Coach of the Year awards, five Region Five Coach of the Year awards, and three NAIA National Coach of the Year awards while coaching 37 NAIA All-Americans, 14 NAIA Honorable Mention All-Americans, and 3 National Player of the Year recipients. In addition to her 700 career wins as a Cougar, Wrye-Washington came to Columbia College with 70 wins from Westminster (Mo.) College bringing her career total to 770 wins.
The Cougars came out in the first game and had a tough time getting going through the first few serves as the Owls jumped out to an early 3-1 lead. Columbia was able to settle in as the game progressed and were able to tie the game at four before going on a 6-0 run to take a 10-4 lead in the set. The Owls responded by scoring the next two points to cut the lead to four but another 7-0 run from the Cougars gave them a 17-6 advantage late in the set. William Woods did their best to get back into the game but Columbia's attack was too strong down the stretch as they cruised to a 25-10 win to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
The Cougars came out in the second set and were able to carry over their momentum from the first as they scored the first two points of the game to take a 2-0 lead. The Owls responded by scoring the next two points in the set and the score remained close throughout most of the game. However, with the score tied at 19 late in the game the Cougars were able to go on a 6-2 run to end the set and take a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-21 victory.
In the third set of the match, Columbia College was able to jump out to an early 8-2 lead. The Owls battled back and were able to cut the lead to 15-13 but a 3-0 run from the Cougars extended their lead to 18-13 late in the game. Columbia College continued to play well down the final stretch of the set and were able to end the game on a 9-3 run to solidify their 20th sweep of the season.
The Cougars were led by Kiersten Anderson who finished with a match high 12 kills in the set. To go along with Anderson, Manuela Vargas finished with a match high 35 assists and Thais Andrade tallied a team high 12 digs to round out the top performers for Columbia.
The volleyball team is back in action on Friday, October 12th when they compete in the 2018 Columbia College Fall Classic in Columbia, Missouri. The Cougars will play two games on the day including a 3 p.m. start against Bethel (Ind.) College and a 7 p.m. start against Georgetown (Ky.) College in the Southwell Athletic Complex.
