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By: Josh Fuller

COLUMBUS – The Columbus State University volleyball team made it three wins in a row after a crucial 3-2 (22-25, 25-18, 25-22, 16-25, 15-11) victory over Francis Marion Saturday. The Peach Belt Conference match took place inside the Lumpkin Center.
 
For the third straight match, Megan Frame paced the Lady Cougars in kills with a season-high 17. The senior hit .351 to go along with four digs and two blocks. Mary McCarty and Zoemy Barreto Pereira had 15 and 14 kills, respectively. Andrea Skipor was also in double figures with 10.
 
Abby King had a career day with 55 assists while adding 14 digs. As a team, CSU had 85 digs, the fourth-most in a single match in program history.
 
"This was a huge victory for us," stated head coach Casey Cornett. "It was great to see the girls rally after losing that first set. It would have been pretty easy for them to have folded, but they showed their guts and battled for another five-set win.
 
"These two wins this weekend were critical for us and I can't wait to keep the momentum going."
 
It was a back-and-forth first set with the Lady Cougars setting the tone in the early portion. With FMU up 5-4, Columbus State (13-8, 4-7 PBC) ran off four straight points to go in front 8-5. CSU continued to add onto the lead going up 11-7 after a McCarty ace.
 
It looked to be going well for the Lady Cougars as CSU led 16-12 until Francis Marion rattled off four straight points to tie the score.
 
From there, the two sides exchanged points until the Patriots won three straight to go up 23-20 to put themselves into prime position to take the set. FMU eventually did 25-22.
 
The second set was tight early as neither side held a lead larger than two until deep into the stanza. With FMU up 17-15, Columbus State went on a massive run fueled by its defense. The Lady Cougars won 10 of the final 11 points to take the set 25-18. Barreto Pereira had four blocks while also picking up a kill to spur the run.
 
Columbus State once again used a late rally in the third set to go up 2-1 in the match. Francis Marion (11-9, 5-6) held a 15-12 edge until CSU won four of the next five points to tie the score at 16. McCarty had three kills during the run while Frame had the other.
 
After FMU won the next point, the Lady Cougars pulled away winning the next four points to go up 20-17. King had two service aces to help spark the spurt.
 
Francis Marion got the margin down to 23-22 until back-to-back kills from Frame and McCarty gave CSU the set win 25-22.
 
Francis Marion started quickly in set four racing out to an 11-3 lead. CSU got within four after winning five of the next six points, but FMU stretched the lead right back out to 19-12. The Patriots finished the set off by winning the final four points.
 
In set five, FMU won the first point, but after that it was all Columbus State. CSU won six straight points to race out to a 6-1 lead. Kylie Beaubien keyed the run with her serve collecting an ace and a kill during the stretch.
 
Francis Marion cut the deficit to 8-5, but the Lady Cougars cut the rally off quickly. CSU extended the lead to 13-6 and later on capped the match off with a Beaubien kill.
 
Columbus State will be off until next weekend when it travels to Armstrong State on Friday, October 28. The match is set to begin at 7 p.m. in Savannah.