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Fulton, Mo. – The No. 14-ranked Columbia College Cougars traveled to William Woods University for their final regular season contest in American Midwest Conference action. Looking for their eight win in-a-row, the Cougars battled with the Owls, earning the 3-1 win in a tightly contested match. With the win, the Cougars finish AMC play undefeated at 10-0 with an overall record of 24-9. This is the first time in the last 10 years that Columbia College has finished undefeated during the AMC regular season.
The Owls jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead in the first set, prompting a Columbia timeout. Out of the timeout, a kill from Sude Gundogan ended the Owls’ scoring run, but another kill from WWU gave them the momentum back. The Cougars began to chip away at the Owls’ lead, as Luisa Ferreira’s tough serving brought Columbia back within one, 11-12, before WWU called a timeout. Columbia scored one more point on a block from Beyza Bektasoglu before a service error ended the scoring run. From there, both teams traded points until William Woods took a 21-20 lead, forcing Columbia to take their final timeout. The Owls extended their lead to 24-22, but an attacking error and a kill from Allana Capella brought the Cougars to within one, 23-24, forcing a final timeout from William Woods. Out of the timeout, another WWU attacking error followed by a service ace from Raven Buckley gave the Cougars set point, 25-24. Abby Massengill sealed the first set with a block as Columbia took the opening set, 26-24.
The Cougars and Owls traded points until a four-point service run from Luisa Ferreira gave the Cougars the lead. A kill from Allana Capella and a block from Capella and Danielle Prior extended the Columbia lead to 14-10. Camila Espejo and Raven Buckley provided more tough serving to push the Cougars to an 18-11 lead. More kills from Allana Capella, Ellie Rockers, and Luisa Ferreira kept the pressure on the Owls as Columbia lead 21-13. Columbia ended the second set with a kill from Ellie Rockers, taking the 2-0 lead with a 25-13 second set win.
The third set saw William Woods take a 10-7 lead, prompting Columbia to burn an early timeout. The Columbia offense struggled against the defense from WWU as the Owls extended their lead to 15-11. Errors from the Cougars helped push the WWU lead to 18-14, forcing Columbia to take their second timeout of the set. Columbia looked to make a late set comeback as a kill from Ellie Rockers closed the gap to 17-20, but another kill from William Woods kept the momentum on their side. Down 20-23, a Cougar service error put the Owls at set point. A kill from Beyza Bektasoglu put Magdalena Bostal at the service line as Columbia trailed 21-24. Beyza Bektasoglu put down another kill to make it 22-24 when William Woods took their final timeout of the set. William Woods took the third set with a kill, 25-22.
Columbia controlled the beginning of the fourth set as they took a 10-5 lead when WWU called their first timeout of the set. The Owls used an 8-4 scoring run to bring themselves within one, 13-14, drawing a timeout from Columbia. Ellie Rockers and Beyza Bektasoglu kept the Cougars with a slim lead as they both registered kills to help the Cougars take a 19-16 lead, forcing the Owls to use their final timeout of the set. Multiple kills from Allana Capella powered Columbia to a 22-17 lead, but a service error gave the ball back to the Owls. Columbia earned the final three points of the match with a kill from Allana Capella, an attacking error from the Owls, and a kill from Mary Henry that trickled over the net.
Allana Capella had a season-high and match-high 17 kills to lead the way for the Cougars. Abby Massengill (12), Beyza Bektasoglu (11), and Danielle Prior (11), all also hit double-digit kills. At the net, Capella, Massengill, and Prior each finished with five blocks.
Luisa Ferreira almost tied her season-high assist record as she finished the night with 55 while also having a team-high 17 digs. Ellie Rockers contributed six kills, four assists, three service aces, and 10 digs. Magdalena Bostal finished with 15 digs, Olivia Skipworth with nine, and Mary Henry with six.
