Columbia, Mo. - The 13th-ranked Cougars of Columbia played to a 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-19) sweep over the Owls of William Woods University tonight at the Arena of Southwell Complex. The win moves the Cougars to 16-3 overall and 4-0 in the AMC, while the Owls drop to 14-7 overall and 1-3 in the AMC.
Columbia lead William Woods in every statistical category: kills (43-22), service aces (7-4), blocks (7-4), digs (45-36), and hitting percentage (.255-.033).
With the win, Columbia moves to 54-2 in their all-time record against William Woods.
Alayna Rooks got things started for the Cougars with her first kill of the game earning Columbia their first point of the game. Both teams traded points until the Cougars opened up a five point lead at 11-5 after a four point service run from
Ellie Rockers. Columbia's lead would be cut to just two at 16-14 after a service error was following by a service ace from Woods. With a 21-18 lead,
Jordan Starkey served the final four points of the set to close out the first set win, 25-18.
Columbia started strong in set two as they jumped out to big leads at 11-6 and then again at 18-11. WWU looked to stage a comeback late in the set after taking a timeout, but the Cougars' offensive efforts proved to be too much for the Owls as kills from
Alayna Rooks and
Abby Massengill helped the Cougars take a 24-13 lead. The second set was won for Columbia with a solo block from
Luisa Ferreira, earning the 25-14 set win.
Set three saw the Cougars take a big lead again, this time at 16-5. The Owls scored four times in a row to prompt a timeout from the Cougars. Out of the timeout, points were traded to a 23-15 CC lead. Two quick errors from CC helped the Owls cut the lead to 18-23, but a kill from
Ellie Rockers that was followed by a kill from
Allana Capella ended the third set, 25-19, and with it, the match.
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