DAVENPORT, Iowa - The Columbia College volleyball team (7-4) opened the SAU Invitational with a sweep of Saint Mary (5-9), winning 25-20, 25-15, 25-18 on Friday at Lee Lohman Arena.
Columbia continues the SAU Invitational Saturday in Davenport, Iowa, facing No. 25 Viterbo at 10 a.m. before taking on Saint Ambrose at 12:30 p.m.
Saint Mary came out sharp in the opener, building an early 8-4 lead behind a pair of Cougar service errors and back-to-back aces from Saige Hadley. Columbia clawed back to tie it at 10-10 and again at 13-13 before a Hannah Vogt ace and a Rowan Carr kill gave the Cougars their first real cushion at 16-13. The set stayed tight into the 20s, with Saint Mary pulling within one at 20-19, but Columbia closed it out on a Kenedi Canty kill and an Isabella Kincaid block to take the opener, 25-20.
Columbia never trailed in the second set, jumping ahead early and riding a stretch of four straight points from Isabella Kincaid and Kenedi Canty to open a 14-7 cushion. The Cougars cruised from there to close it out, 25-15.
The third set was the closest of the match, with the two teams trading ties eight times and the lead changing hands four times. Columbia used a late push, capped by a Samira Baltazar block-aided kill and a Kathryn VanSkiver attack error off a Samira Baltazar-Alayna Backes block, to pull ahead for good and close out the sweep, 25-18.
Isabella Kincaid and Viola Giangreco led the Cougars with nine kills each, with Giangreco hitting an efficient .389 on the night. Samira Baltazar added six kills on .357 hitting, and Rowan Carr chipped in four kills.
Taylor Johnson paced the defense with 13 digs, while Rowan Carr and Isabella Kincaid also contributed on the back row with nine and eight digs, respectively.
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