Burbonnais, Ill. – The third ranked Columbia College volleyball team was back in action today when they continued play in the 2018 Holiday Inn Tournament hosted by Olivet Nazarene University. The Cougars played two matches on the final day of the tournament securing a 3-1 set (25-17, 23-25, 25-11, 25-19) against the Trinity Christian College Trolls and a sweep (25-23, 25-18, 25-12) victory over the Grace College Lancers. The Cougars now improve to 21-1 on the season.
As the day began, each team was working to be the first to pull away as it was 4-3 Cougars. Columbia would be the one to pull away taking a 12-5 lead, but the Trolls would keep themselves in it as they fought back and cut the score 16-15. The Trolls could not get passed that one point deficit, as the Cougars went on to take set one 25-17.
After dropping a close one 25-23 to the Trolls in set two, the Cougars were looking to bounce back in the third. Columbia came out with a purpose taking a 10-2 lead. The Trolls tried to climb back in, but the Cougars were on a mission as they won set three 25-11 and took a 2-1 lead in the match.
In the fourth, Columbia jumped out early leading 8-3. The Trolls were able to cut the score to three at 15-12, but that would be as close as they would get as the Cougars held them off and won set four with a score of 25-19.
Columbia was led by Caroline Clifford (17) and Kiersten Anderson (10) who each tallied double-digit kills. In addition, Clifford (18) and Anderson (12) each had double-digit digs and Thais Andrade chipped in 11. To round out the first match for the Cougars, Manuela Vargas recorded 35 assists.
In the Cougars final match of the weekend they took on the Grace College Lancers. The first set was tight all the way through. There were multiple ties as the game progressed. Neither team could quite shake off the other. The Cougars found themselves trailing 15-12, but tied it up at 15 over the next few plays. Columbia was able to grab some space as they took a 21-17 lead late. The Lancers worked their way back cutting the score 24-23, but the Cougars snatched the final point to win 25-23.
Columbia was settled in after set one and started set two with a 5-1 lead. As the game continued, Columbia was able to keep their distance as they held the lead throughout. The Cougars led 14-9 as the Lancers were looking for a way to chip back in. The Lancers cut the score to three on two separate occasions, but could not overcome the Cougars as Columbia took the 2-0 advantage, winning set two 25-18.
Columbia was looking to end it all and go undefeated on the weekend as they took a 12-3 start in the third set. The Cougars were too much for the Lancers to handle as they ran away with it, winning set three by a final score of 25-12, notching their third sweep of the weekend.
The Cougars were again led by Clifford and Anderson who both recorded 10 kills, while Andrade tallied 21 digs. To end the weekend, Vargas racked up 35 assists against the Lancers.
The volleyball team is back in action Tuesday, October 2nd when they host the Harris-Stowe State University (Mo.) Hornets in an AMC matchup. The match is set to start at 6 p.m. in Southwell Complex.
