COLUMBIA, S.C. — CIU women's volleyball put an exclamation point on its regular season Friday night, overwhelming crosstown rival Columbia College in straight sets, 25-3, 25-11, 25-15, in Appalachian Athletic Conference action.
The Rams extended their winning streak to seven matches, closing the regular season at 19-12 overall and 15-4 in AAC play. CIU also maintained its unblemished all-time record against Columbia College, improving to 20-0 against the Fighting Koalas.
CIU wasted no time taking command of the match, delivering a historic opening set in which the Rams recorded the largest margin of victory in a single set in program history. The 25-3 triumph surpassed all previous marks as CIU hit .500 with nine kills and just one attack error on 16 attempts. Columbia College failed to record a kill in the frame, committing eight attack errors.
The Rams continued to dictate play in the second, putting down 15 kills while hitting .423 to claim a 25-11 win. Columbia College offered more resistance in the third, but CIU maintained its advantage with another 15 kills to complete the sweep with a 25-15 victory.
Mary Norwood led the Rams with 14 kills and just one attack error on 26 attempts, hitting .500. Zcearia James followed with 10 kills on 16 swings for a .563 hitting percentage, while Katelynn Mundy needed just seven attempts to record six kills, hitting .714.
Ashley Burgbacher delivered a career-high seven service aces while collecting eight digs. Macy Brooks finished with 31 assists, eight digs and two aces, while senior Alexa Brownell added two kills and five digs.
CIU finished the evening with 39 kills against just 10 attack errors, hitting .372 for the match. The Rams also recorded 10 service aces while holding Columbia College to a -.176 hitting percentage and just nine kills across three sets.
With the regular season complete, CIU now turns its attention to the postseason. The Rams will await Saturday's result between Truett McConnell University and Reinhardt University to determine their final seeding for the Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament, scheduled for Nov. 12-14 in Kingsport, Tenn.
