Volleyball's Rally Falls Short in 3-1 loss to Union

COLUMBIA, S.C. - The Columbia College Volleyball team fell in four sets, 3-1, at home to Union Commonwealth University (Ky.) Saturday afternoon.

Union dominated the first set 25-18 on 14 kills hitting .591 while CC had 13 kills but hit only .133. In the second set, Columbia came out hot leading to an 18-12 advantage before cruising to the set win 25-17 on 18 kills hitting .577. The third set was then controlled by Union from start to finish as they took it 25-14 on 14 kills.

UC then got out to a 9-5 lead in set four before CC rallied to get to within 13-12. UC, however, went on a 7-0 run to go up 20-12. The Koalas then rallied going on their own 11-4 run to get to within one at 23-24, but Union closed out the match win 25-23.

Columbia totaled more kills than the Bulldogs, 51-49, while hitting .215 whereas UC hit .375. Columbia was led by junior setter Debra Shephard amassing 44 assists with 5 kills, five aces and three digs while sophomore OH Tamia Fripp added 10 kills and hit .174.

Junior OH Maranda Bird led the team with 12 kills along with six digs to hit .107 while senior middle blocker Destiny Brown recorded 11 kills and a solo block to hit .529. Freshman right side hitter Kameron Turner also posted nine kills and a block while senior middle Savanna Logan had four kills.

Libero Katie Roberts and freshman DS Riley Koellner also combined for 14 digs, four aces and an assist as CC fell to 3-10 in the AAC and 3-19 overall. Union improves to 7-4 in the conference to move into 7th place and are 7-14 overall.

The Koalas next return to action on Tuesday evening when they head to north Georgia to battle Brenau University at 6:30 pm.