COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Columbia College volleyball team won the crosstown matchup at Stephens College on Tuesday night, sweeping the Stars 3-0 (25-15, 25-23, 25-18) at Silverthorne Arena. The Cougars improve to 27-7 overall and 13-1 in American Midwest Conference play, while Stephens falls to 11-17 and 9-6 in the AMC.
Columbia returns home Thursday, Oct. 29, for Senior Day against UHSP. First serve is set for 6 p.m. at the Arena of Southwell Complex.
Columbia finished with a 44-26 edge in kills, a 78-64 edge in digs and an 8-2 advantage in team blocks. The win completes a season sweep of the Stars after the Cougars beat Stephens 3-0 on Oct. 3 in Paragould, Ark.
Isabella Kincaid led the way with a double-double of 10 kills and 20 digs while hitting .333. Alayna Backes hit .615 with eight kills on 13 swings and no errors and added a team-high five blocks. Samira Baltazar chipped in eight kills and four block assists, and Rowan Carr added six kills.
Alexa Olson dished out 21 assists, and Hannah Vogt added 17 assists and 10 digs. Taylor Johnson finished with 19 digs, and Emma Faulconer served two aces to go with nine digs.
In the first set, the teams were tied 4-4 before Columbia pulled away. The Cougars held a 15-10 lead at a Stephens timeout, then Olson served four straight points to push the lead to 20-11. Backes finished the set with a kill for a 25-15 Columbia win.
Stephens scored three straight points early in the second set to lead 4-2. Faulconer answered from the service line with a four-point run that included an ace and two Columbia blocks, giving the Cougars a 7-4 lead. Columbia went up 23-17, but Stephens scored five straight points to get within 23-22. Kincaid ended the run with a kill, and after a Columbia service error, Viola Giangreco closed the set with a kill for a 25-23 win.
Vogt served Columbia to a 3-0 lead in the third set, but the Stars battled back to tie the set at 8-8. The Cougars then went on a 7-2 run to lead 15-10. Faulconer later served four straight points, including an ace, to make it 19-11. Columbia closed out the match with a 25-18 win.
Columbia Statistical Leaders
