COLUMBIA, Mo. – Columbia College volleyball (28-7, 14-1 AMC) swept UHSP (7-23, 4-10 AMC) 25-12, 25-16, 25-8 on Thursday night at the Arena of Southwell Complex, on Senior Night.
Before the match, the Cougars honored their five seniors: Heather Bana, Viola Giangreco, Luana Gigante, Emma Breier and Celine Sutton. Columbia hit .322 for the match while holding UHSP to a negative .057 clip.
Columbia scored the first point of the opening set and led throughout. Up 7-4, Alexa Olson served four straight points, with Giangreco and Isabella Kincaid putting away kills, to make it 11-4. Emma Faulconer then served five in a row, including two aces, to stretch a 15-10 lead to 20-10. Taylor Johnson closed the set with a four-point serving run, and the Cougars took it 25-12.
UHSP made the second set a game. Trailing 8-5, the Jaguars ran off five straight points behind three aces from MaKenzie Uribe to go up 10-8. The set was tied at 11 and 12 before Hannah Vogt went back to the service line. Her four-point run, with two aces and kills from Alayna Backes and Breier, made it 16-12. Jillian Aholt followed with four straight points on serve to push the lead to 21-14, and Vogt and Giangreco finished off the 25-16 win.
Columbia led from start to finish in the third set. A Johnson ace and an Olson serving run helped build a 14-7 lead, and UHSP never got past eight points. Addison Burroughs then took over at 15-8 and served the final 10 points of the match, including two aces. The Cougars hit .345 in the set with only one attack error.
Kincaid led all players with 10 kills on .400 hitting and also posted a match-high 10 digs. Giangreco had eight kills and three block assists, and Backes hit .750 with three kills. Sophie Hurst led the defense at the net with four blocks (two solo, two assists). Vogt had 12 assists and Olson 11, while Johnson added nine digs. Columbia had nine aces and seven blocks in the match.
Stat Leaders
- Kills: Isabella Kincaid (10), Viola Giangreco (8), Samira Baltazar (4), Alayna Backes (3)
- Assists: Hannah Vogt (12), Alexa Olson (11)
- Digs: Isabella Kincaid (10), Taylor Johnson (9), Hannah Vogt (6)
- Blocks: Sophie Hurst (2 solo, 2 assists), Viola Giangreco (3 block assists), Kenedi Canty (2 block assists), Isabella Kincaid (2 block assists)
- Aces: Taylor Johnson (2), Addison Burroughs (2), Hannah Vogt (2), Emma Faulconer (2)
