Columbia Wins 23rd AMC Volleyball Tournament Title

St. Louis, MO – The No.2-seeded Cougars of Columbia outlasted the No.1-seeded Spartans of Missouri Baptist today to claim their 23rd AMC Volleyball Tournament Title. With the win, the Cougars have qualified for the NAIA Women’s Volleyball Tournament Opening Round.

The Cougars, now 29-6, will look to the NAIA Selection Show on Monday, November 13th, to learn their Opening Round matchup.

The Cougars dropped the first set but rebounded to take sets two and three. 

In the fourth set, the Cougars were down 14-21 when they took their final timeout. Out of the timeout, the Cougars looked to make a late push as they closed the deficit to 17-23, but MBU would score two of the final three points to extend the match to a fifth set. 

Columbia got off to a great start in set five, taking a quick 5-2 lead with kills from Allana Capella and Abby Massengill. The Spartans called a timeout as they were down by three. 

It was a back and forth battle from there as MBU brought themselves to within one, 8-9, prompting a timeout from Columbia. 

With the game then tied at 10-10, Ellie Rockers had a kill to put CC in the lead, but two quick points for MBU had the Spartans up 12-11. 

Two kills from Alayna Rooks gave the Cougars the lead again, 13-12.  After their final timeout, the Spartans tied it up again at 13-13 with a kill. 

Agatha Emanuelle registered a kill to put the Cougars at match point, 14-13. A block from Alayna Rooks and Agatha Emanuelle closed out the win for Columbia, 15-13. 

Ellie Rockers and Allana Capella both had double-doubles to lead the offensive effort for Columbia. Rockers registered 18 kills (hitting .459%) while picking up 15 digs and Capella totaled 18 kills with 16 digs. 

Alayna Rooks finished with 15 kills and seven block assists, while Abby Massengill was also in double-digit kills with 11.

Agatha Emanuelle was a defensive force for the Cougars as she totaled eight block assists with six kills. 

Luisa Ferreira dished out a season-high 59 assists to go along with 12 digs. 

Defensively, Clara Gower (13) and Magdalena Bostal (11) both had double-digit digs. 

Luisa Ferreira tied the AMC Tournament five-set match record with her 59 assists. 

Agatha Emanuelle’s eight block assists were a new AMC Tournament record, also tying for the second most total blocks.