St. Louis, Mo. – The 2
nd ranked Cougar volleyball team was back in action when they traveled to Missouri Baptist University in St. Louis for a quad match. The Cougars earned a split as they took on 3
rd ranked Grand View, falling to the Vikings 3-0 (18-25, 20-25, 22-25) and defeating the Blue Jays from Tabor College 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-18). Columbia moves to 6-2 on the season.
The Cougars were flat in the first set against the Vikings and allowed them to go on a late 10-3 run to take the first set. Columbia found themselves in a similar situation in the second set as they had eight hitting errors, while the Vikings kept their hitting errors to a minimum to take set two. Columbia did not back down in the final set as they had their best hitting percentage of 0.235 compared to 0.027 in the first and 0.130 in the second, but still fell short as Grand View rolled to victory to take the match.
Sidney Branson led the way against the Vikings with 14 kills and 12 digs,
Jaqueline Silva contributed nine kills, and
Luisa Ferreira had 36 assists and 13 digs.
In match two, the Cougars bounced back as
Kiersten Anderson recorded her best hitting percentage (.571) in the first set against the Blue Jays. Columbia kept their momentum heading into the second set while Branson led the way in serves, tallying up back-to-back-to-back aces to go on an eight point run. Ferreira was able to distribute the ball amongst several Cougars to keep the Blue Jays on their toes as the Cougar offense stayed aggressive up at the net. Columbia dominated the final set coming up with 15 kills, three aces, 14 digs, and four blocks compared to Tabor's seven kills, six digs, and two blocks.
Branson led the way for the Cougars with 11 kills, three aces and five digs.
Anderson chipped in 11 kills and eight digs,
Shelby Meyer finished with 14 digs while Ferreira dished out 37 assists.
Columbia returns to the court on Thursday, September 12 when they travel to Ottawa, Kansas to play against Ottawa University in a nonconference matchup starting at 7 p.m.
