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By: Stephen Williams

MISENHEIMER, N.C. – The Columbus State University volleyball team split a pair of matches on Saturday defeating Pfeiffer 3-0 (25-11, 25-12, 25-6) and falling 3-0 to Belmont Abbey (25-20, 25-16, 25-16). The tri-match was played at Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer, N.C.
 
The win in the second match snapped a four-game skid for the Lady Cougars who are now 2-10 on the season.
 
Game One
 
Columbus State got off to a slow start in its opening match of the day allowing Belmont Abbey (8-5) to score the opening six points. The Lady Cougars would rebound though, taking a 10-8 lead behind six straight points on the serve of Andrea Skipor.
 
The Crusaders answered with a run of their own however, taking 12 of the next 13 points to take a commanding 20-11 advantage. CSU fought back to within four points at 24-20, but an attacking error would give BAC the first set.
 
The second set saw six ties in the first 12 points as the teams went back and forth to six-all. Belmont Abbey then ran off five straight points and would not relinquish the lead the rest of the set.
 
Columbus State cut the deficit down to two at 15-13, however, six straight Crusader points help put away the second set in Belmont Abbey's favor.
 
It was more of the same in the third set, as a 7-1 mid-set run put the Crusaders in front and helped wrap up a three-set win.
 
Skipor led Columbus State in the first match with seven kills, while Kylie Beaubien and Megan Frame each registered six. Abby King had 11 digs for the Lady Cougars.
 
Game Two
 
Shaking off the earlier loss, the Lady Cougars steamrolled through Pfeiffer in their second match of the day.
 
In opposite fashion of the opening match, it was a huge CSU run that sparked a first set win. Down 5-4, Frame picked up three kills in four points to kick off a 19-3 run. Frame had four kills in total during the stretch, while the Lady Cougars served up a trio of aces.
 
It only got more dominant from there as the Lady Cougars took the first seven points of set number two on the serve of Cori Ehmen. The junior served a pair of aces with Brittany Moore and Malaisia Stallworth each getting a kill.
 
Another 7-0 spurt helped the Lady Cougars open up a 17-5 margin midway through the set. Skipor had the hot hand during the run with two aces, as CSU tallied a season-high 13 in the match. A kill from Frame and two straight from Maddie Harris wrapped up the second and gave CSU a 2-0 lead.
 
The third set was all Lady Cougars and included a stretch of 15 consecutive points for CSU.
 
Leading 6-4, King earned a kill to spark a run that would all but wrap up the victory. With Skipor once again serving, CSU ran off 15 straight points including five on aces from the junior.
 
Skipor finished the match with seven kills and seven aces. Frame reached double figures with 11 kills, while Ehmen filled the stat sheet with six kills, 28 assists and five digs.
 
Columbus State will travel to Montevallo on Tuesday night before returning home for its first home match on Friday. First serve from Montevallo, Ala. is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.