Koalas Volleyball Falls to St. Andrews in Five Sets

Laurinburg, NC – The Columbia College women's volleyball team battled from two sets down but fell short, dropping an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) road match to St. Andrews, 3-2. With the loss, the Koalas remains winless at 0-8 overall and 0-2 in the AAC.

St. Andrews improves to 2-8 overall and 2-2 in the conference.

Columbia College had one of its best outings of the short season, finishing with 42 kills, 82 digs and 27 total blocks (3 solo-24 assists).

Nya Grey and Zoe Jackson had 13 and 10 kills, respectively, to pace the Koalas attack. Jackson put also had nine block assists. Brhia Cummings contributed eight kills in the contest.

Maia Brown and Leticia Assen, who share the setting duties, put up 21 and 15 sets apiece.

Defensively, Amiri Mason led three players with double-digit digs with 21. Kristin Wemes picked up 15, and Ta'Cori Barber had 13.

St. Andrews was led offensively by Samantha Vernati and Ashley McGugan, who had 17 and 16 kills, respectively. 

After dropping the first two sets, 25-15, 25-22, the Koalas offensive intensity picked up in the third set. After playing to a 5-5 tie over the first 10 points, Columbia College used a 13-3 run to take the 15-8 advantage and force St. Andrews into its first timeout of the set. The Koalas would push their lead to 20-8 before the Knights managed to string together some points. St. Andrews scored three straight points, but the Koalas remained poised, scoring the next five of eight points to secure the 25-14 third set victory.

The third set was back-and-forth as neither team took more than a four-point advantage until late in the set. The Koalas enjoyed the final advantage, as they used a 6-3 run to win the set 25-22 and tie the match at 2-2, forcing a deciding set.

St. Andrews opened the final set with a 5-0 run, forcing Columbia College into its first timeout of the set. The Koalas scored the next two points after the timeout and pulled within three late, but the Knights maintained their momentum, pushing its lead to seven, 13-6, before winning the final set 15-9 and the match 3-2.

The Koalas will have two days off before returning to the road for back-to-back games at Johnson (Tenn.) and Union on Sept. 16 and 17.