#11 Cougars Sweep #6 Pirates, Advance to National Tournament Quarterfinals

Sioux City, Iowa – The 11th ranked Cougars of Columbia College took on the 6th ranked Pirates of Park University tonight in the last match of pool play at the NAIA National Tournament. 

With a spot in the quarterfinals of the national tournament on the line, the Cougars played one of their most well rounded matches of the season to roll to a 3-0 sweep over the Pirates and claim the top spot in Pool F. The win moves Columbia to 32-6 on the year while Park ends their season at 32-3. 

Columbia advances and will play #3 Eastern Oregon tomorrow at 8:00pm in the quarterfinals of the national tournament.

The first set saw both teams trade points until an attack error from Park prompted a timeout for the Pirates as the Cougars had taken an 11-7 lead. Two quick points for CC put the lead to 13-7 when Park called their final timeout of the set. Late in the set, the Pirates looked to make a comeback, but kills from Luisa Ferreira and Alayna Rooks gave the first set win to CC, 25-18. 

In set two, the Cougars jumped out to an early 10-3 lead. Park started to chip away at Columbia’s lead and would take a 16-14 lead. Allana Capella and Ellie Rockers both had multiple kills to power Columbia back in front, 23-20. A block from Abby Massengill and Alayna Rooks was followed by a kill from Abby Massengill to earn the Cougars the second set win, 25-21. 

Park took another early lead in the third set, but it was short lived as the Cougar offense came alive to take a 10-8 lead, forcing a timeout from Park. A block by Alayna Rooks and Agatha Emanuelle and a kill from Alayna Rooks prompted Park to take their final timeout of the set. Columbia extended their lead to 23-16 before kills from Luisa Ferreira and Alayna Rooks ended the match for the Cougars, 25-16. 

Ellie Rockers hit a blistering .400% with 12 kills and zero errors, while also tying a match-high with 17 digs. 

Alayna Rooks also totaled 12 kills to go along with five blocks. 

Allana Capella finished with a double-double of 11 kills and 12 digs. 

Agatha Emanuelle continued her impressive defensive play as she registered six blocks. 

Luisa Ferreira had a match-high 41 assists with 12 digs. 

Magdalena Bostal picked up 17 digs to tie Rockers for a match-high.