Koala Volleyball Plays Well but Falls Short at Brenau

GAINESVILLE, Ga. - The Columbia College volleyball team fell 3-0 on the road at conference foe Brenau University (Ga.) Tuesday night. BU won each set via the scores of 25-20, 25-20, and 25-20.

The first set saw the Koalas hit .269 with 8 kills and only one error. CC climbed to within 22-20, but could not rally all the way back in dropping the set. The second set saw Columbia jump out to an early 10-6 lead before the teams would trade the lead back and forth with CC eventually leading 19-18. However, Brenau would close out the second set going on a 7-1 run to take it 25-20. The 3rd set was also competitive as the teams split the first 18 points of the set tying at 9 apiece. However, the Koalas could only get as close as two points at 14-16 for the rest of the set as the Lady Tigers closed out the match. Columbia had 11 kills in the third and hit .250.

The Koalas were led by their senior middle blockers Destiny Brown and Mikayla Stout combining for 17 kills and only 5 errors with 3 blocks. Brown had 9 kills and 2.5 blocks while hitting .583 with an ace while Stout had 8 kills. Senior outside hitters Gracie Hicklin, Jada Gentry, and sophomore Sarah Jones also combined for 8 kills with Gentry adding 11 digs and 2 assists and Hicklin providing 3 digs and an assist.

Freshman right side hitter Tamia Fripp added 3 kills while sophomore setter Debra Shephard posted 22 assists, 4 digs and a kill. Senior Libero Amanda Velez and sophomore DS Dani Goings combined for 15 digs while Velez added 3 aces and 3 assists as well.

Columbia drops to 2-10 overall and 1-5 in the AAC while Brenau goes to 4-6 and 2-3.

The Koalas will now return home to host Truett-McConnell University on Saturday at 2:00 pm.