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By: Stephen Williams

COLUMBUS – For the second straight match, the Columbus State University volleyball team took the opening set but ultimately fell 3-1 (22-25, 25-14, 25-17, 25-15) against Flagler on Saturday. The Peach Belt Conference match was played in the Columbus State Student Recreation Center.
 
Megan Frame led the Lady Cougars in kills (14), aces (three) and blocks (three) on the day. Cori Ehmen turned in 35 assists, while Caytlin Merritt finished with 17 digs.
 
"We're still battling some consistency issues and you saw that today winning the first set and then losing the next three," said head coach Casey Cornett. "We lost some of our scrappiness after the first set and we're still missing an outside presence, but we will keep working at it."
 
As it did on Friday, Columbus State (4-24, 1-15 PBC) turned in its best set of the night to start the match. The Lady Cougars got off to a fast start, opening up an early 7-3 lead. Frame had a pair of kills and Andrea Skipor picked up one of her own and teamed with Frame for a block.
 
Flagler (19-6, 12-4) rallied back and took the lead at 9-8, but Columbus State had another strong stretch, this time a 5-1 run to stretch its lead back to three.
 
The Lady Cougars kept the lead between two and four until another 5-1 spurt opened up their largest lead at 23-17. FC came charging back though, taking the next five points to pull within one. However, Kylie Beaubien pounded one down for a point and Abby King wrapped up the opening game with an ace.
 
After winning the opening point of the second set, Columbus State allowed four straight points to the Saints and was forced to play from behind the rest of the way. Flagler stretched the lead out to seven at 10-3 and never looked back, evening the match with a runaway win.
 
Columbus State found itself trying to claw back again in the third after the Saints won the first three points. The FC lead reached as much as five, but CSU rallied back to within just two (19-17) late in the set. From there though, the Saints reeled off six straight to clinch the set and take a 2-1 advantage.
 
The fourth set was a back and forth affair over the first 10 points with the match tied at five apiece. Flagler then put together a 9-2 stretch to double up the Lady Cougars at 14-7. The lead ballooned out to 11 at 21-10 and the Saints cruised to the four-set victory.
 
Columbus State returns to action on Friday as the Lady Cougars travel to UNC Pembroke to kick off the final weekend of the regular season. First serve from Pembroke, N.C. is scheduled for 7 p.m.