Koala Volleyball Season Comes to a Close with Weekend Defeats

BLUEFIELD, Va. - The Columbia College volleyball team's season came to an end Saturday as they dropped both of their conference road matches in Bluefield and Kentucky over the wekeend in three sets.

BLUEFIELD 3, CC 0

BU defeated the Koalas 25-20, 25-16 and 25-12 as setter Debra Shephard led the team with 14 assists and 11 digs for a double double while senior middle hitters Destiny Brown and Mikayla Stout combined for 6 kills, 3 digs, and 5 blocks with Brown recording 4 blocks.

Senior outside hitters Gracie Hicklin and Jada Gentry also combined for 9 kills and 16 digs with Gracie adding two blocks and Gentry an ace and an assist. Feshman libero Katie Roberts also had a nice game with 13 digs while DS' Dani Goings and Amanda Velez combined for 11 digs along with a kill and an assist from Goings.

BU totaled 43 kills in the match including 16 in the second set while CC managed 9 in the first set as they got out to a 14-12 lead. 

Bluefield improved to 16-12 and 11=7 while the Koalas finish thier season at 6-21 overall and 5-15 in conference. 

KCU 3, CC 0 

GRAYSON, Ky. - In the tough 3-set loss at KCU on Friday evening, the Koalas were led by seniors Gentry and Brown as they eached notched 9 kills apiece with Gentry adding 7 digs and Brown two blocks.

KCU defeated CC via scores of 25-18, 25-18, and 25-23 as Columbia fell just short in the third set as they totaled 13 kills hitting .139. CC also had 12 kills in the first set before KCU pulled away late. CC's led 19-17 in the 3rd before KCU ended the match on an 8-4 run.

Also playing well was Shephard as she recorded 29 assists, 7 digs, 2 kills and a block while Roberts again added 13 digs and an assist. Goings and Velez combined for 8 digs, a kill and 2 assists while Stout had 6 kills, an ace, and a block in the middle.

Despite the losses, Columbia still had a solid turnaround this season under coach Drew Burdette posting 6 overall wins and 5 AAC wins to record the most in a season since 2018.