Koala Volleyball Set to Face Crosstown Rivals CIU

Pictured: Jordan Coates (Courtesy: Scott Miles Photography)

Columbia, SC – The Columbia College (SC) volleyball team will close out its four-game road swing, Tuesday, Oct. 19, when they travel crosstown to face rivals CIU in an AAC match.  The first serve is 6:30 pm at the Moore Fitness Center on the CIU campus.

This is the second time this season the two teams will go head-to-head.  In their first meeting (Sept. 9), CIU upended Columbia College, 3-0.

Last weekend, Columbia College (1-18, 0-15 AAC) dropped two matches on the road at Bryan and Tennessee Wesleyan.

The Koalas fell 3-0 in the Tennessee Wesleyan match.  Jordan Coates and Brianna King led the team offensively with five kills.  Becca Lorimer put up seven assists, and Amiri Mason picked up 10 digs in the match.

Columbia College played one of its best matches of the season at Tennessee Wesleyan.  After taking the Bulldogs to 32-20 in set four, the Koalas dropped the hard-fought match 3-1.

Freshman Jada Gentry recorded season-highs 12 kills-15 digs to lead the team.  Coats put down 11 kills with 10 digs, and Nya Grey had a season-high six solo blocks in the loss. Columbia College recorded 26 kills, 41 assists, 72 digs, and eight team blocks.

On the season, Coates leads the team in kills with 91, services aces with 21, and is second in digs with 122.

CIU enters the match with a 22-7 overall record and 13-2 bill in the AAC.  The Rams saw its seven-game win streak come to a halt, falling to Bryan (3-0) last Saturday.

CIU had two players in double-digit kills has Kira Rymer tallied 16 while Cintia Lorena recorded 11. The Rams also had four players in double-digit digs as they picked up 80 digs as a team. Karla Rodriguez led CIU in digs with 18.

On the season, CIU is led by Kira Rymer and Karla Rodriguez who have 276 kills and 377 digs, respectively.

The Koalas will host Paine College for Senior Day on Thursday, Oct. 21.  The first serve is 6:30 pm in the Godbold Center.