Volleyball Tops Warriors on the Road
The Columbia College volleyball team took another big step forward this season with a victory over Southern Wesleyan University in Central, SC. The Fighting Koalas overtook the home team 25-15, 25-23, 23-25, 25-21.
Columbia was ready to go from the start, jumping on the host team with two quick runs to capture a 17-6 lead in the first set. The Koalas were all offense, recording 18 kills on their 25 points in the first set. Freshman Tara Prater tied her season high with 10 kills in the first set. Prater also recorded 10 kills in one set in a victory over Faulkner University earlier this season.
Game two was more offense for the Koalas. The Warriors quickly erased and early lead to tie the set at 18 each, Columbia was able to close out the set on a kill by Prater to capture the 25-23 victory. The offense had to be strong in the second set to overcome a slew of 6 serving errors.
Set three saw a little excitement in the gym when the home crowd was enthused by a call that went Columbia's direction. The Warriors responded and took a 18-14 lead. The Koalas climbed back to tie the third set at 23 and forced the last timeout by Southern Wesleyan's coach, Derek Schmidt. Another uncharacteristic serving error and reception error from Columbia let the victory slip away 23-25.
The final set was more of the first two when Columbia jumped out to an early lead before the host Warriors tied it up at 10. However, the final set saw too much of freshman Aarika Munro who had 6 kills on 12 attempts in the decisive set. Prater led the match with 24 kills and Munro added 21. Columbia was able to record 64 kills and hold Southern Wesleyan to 38 on the night in addition to out digging their opponents 81 to 66.
Coach Brian Solomon said, "Our ladies put together a great match. We were strong from the outside, which made up for a few too many missed serves. Whenever the offense works that well you have to give a lot of credit to your setter." Sophomore Liz Richardson recorded a career high 52 assists along with 15 digs.
Columbia (10-2, 3-1) next plays Friday at Brewton-Parker College in another important conference match, beginning at 7:00 pm.
