DAVENPORT, Iowa – Columbia College volleyball split a pair of matches Friday at St. Ambrose University, sweeping Saint Xavier 3-0 before falling to St. Ambrose 3-2 in a hard-fought five-set battle to finish the day at 13-13 overall.
The Cougars defeated Saint Xavier 3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 25-15) in the afternoon match before battling St. Ambrose in a tight contest that ended 3-2 (19-25, 17-25, 25-13, 25-20, 10-15).
Match 1: Columbia 3, Saint Xavier 0
Kenedi Canty led the offensive charge with six kills on a stellar .545 hitting percentage and four block assists. Isabella Kincaid added seven kills on an impressive .455 hitting percentage. Viola Giangreco contributed six kills while hitting .462, and Heather Bana chipped in five kills at .250. Samira Baltazar added four kills.
Alexa Olson distributed 12 assists and an ace, while Hannah Vogt added 12 assists and an ace. The Cougars' serving was effective with eight aces as a team, including three from Emma Faulconer.
Taylor Johnson anchored the defense with 14 digs and two service aces, while Faulconer added six digs.
Columbia dominated throughout, hitting .315 as a team while holding Saint Xavier to .000 hitting.
Match 2: St. Ambrose 3, Columbia 2
Kenedi Canty had a strong offensive performance with 10 kills on a .333 hitting percentage and four block assists. Samira Baltazar led the attack with nine kills, while Viola Giangreco added seven kills on a .467 hitting percentage with five block assists. Isabella Kincaid and Heather Bana each contributed six kills.
Alexa Olson totaled 21 assists, while Hannah Vogt added 13 assists and three service aces. Taylor Johnson led the defense with 23 digs and an ace, while Emma Faulconer contributed 11 digs. Rita Marques added 10 digs and two service aces.
After dropping the first two sets, Columbia stormed back with a dominant third set victory, 25-13. The Cougars rode that momentum with strong play from Marques, who served two aces in the third set, and continued their resurgence with a 25-20 fourth set win to force a decisive fifth set.
In the fifth set, Columbia jumped out to a commanding 9-3 lead behind strong serving from Vogt, but St. Ambrose rallied with a 12-1 run to close out the match 15-10.
