Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Columbia, Mo. – The 2^nd ranked Columbia College women's volleyball team took the court today as part of the Hampton Inn Classic. In their first match of the day they faced MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) University, defeating the Pioneers, 3-2 (27-25, 16-25, 25-17, 22-25, 15-13). In match two, Columbia swept the 14^th ranked Hastings (Neb.) College, defeating the Broncos 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 26-24). Columbia moves to 3-0 on the season.
 
Columbia had a rough start as MidAmerica Nazarene created a small gap for themselves until the Cougars tied the game at 20. The Pioneers sent over a free ball which sparked the Cougars and Jaqueline Silva found an opening for the kill to give Columbia the lead. MidAmerica battled their way back to tie the game at 25 before Columbia responded with back-to-back kills from Silva and Sidney Branson to take the first set. The second set proved difficult for the Cougars as their hitting percentage decreased from 0.250 in the first set to 0.030 in the second set.
 
The Pioneers used momentum from the second set to start set three on a 6-1 run. The Cougars came back late in the set after Kirsten Anderson's dominant performance behind the service line to give them the third set victory. The fourth set was the most challenging for Columbia due to a lack of communication on the court which led to nine hitting errors, three service errors, and three ball handling errors. The Cougars bounced back in the fifth set to have their best hitting percentage (0.320) of the match with 11 kills.
 
In match one of the day, Columbia was led by Kiersten Anderson who recorded 19 kills. In addition, Branson had 18 digs, while Luisa Ferreira tallied 55 assists in the match.
 
The Cougars hit their stride in the second match of the day, dominating Hastings College in three sets. Columbia hit just 0.187 for the match but held the Broncos to just a 0.011 attack percentage. Hastings finished with 26 hitting errors in their 91 attempts, proving to be the difference in a battle of the ranked squads.
 
Leading in attack for Columbia was Anderson with 12 kills, and Branson with 11. Ferreira dished out 26 assists and had ten digs.   
 
The Cougars will resume play tomorrow, Saturday August 31^st, when they face No. 15, The Master's (Calif.) University at 11 a.m. and Indiana Wesleyan University at 3 p.m. in Southwell Complex. For complete schedule and results of the Hampton Inn Classic, click here.