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By: Josh Fuller

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – The eighth-seeded Columbus State University women's volleyball team saw its season come to an end as top-seeded Flagler swept the Lady Cougars 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-10) in the opening round of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament. The tournament is being hosted by Georgia College at the Centennial Center.
 
The Lady Cougars finish the year with a 15-14 record, a 10-win improvement from 2015.
 
"I'm very proud of the girls," said head coach Casey Cornett. "We went through ups-and-downs this entire season, but we still fought to get to this point. I wish our season could have been extended, but it didn't turn out that way.
 
"I feel like this was a season full of great memories and I know we will build on this year moving forward for our program."
 
Flagler made it tough on the Lady Cougars the whole match as CSU hit just .078. Zoemy Barreto Pereira and Mary McCarty both had eight kills, while Megan Frame became the first player in CSU program history with over 900 career kills as the senior collected four. McCarty also led the Lady Cougars with 10 digs.
 
The first set was a back-and-forth affair in the early going as both teams tried to find a rhythm. The match was tied at 11 before Flagler ran off three straight points to move ahead 14-11. However, CSU didn't fold inching back to 15-14 a few rallies later. Barreto Pereira was a big reason as the junior collected two kills.
 
Flagler was able to crawl further in front eventually taking a 21-16 lead before taking the set 25-20.
 
Columbus State raced out to begin the second set going in front 5-1. McCarty got going with two big early kills, while fellow senior Andrea Skipor added another. Abby King also contributed with a service ace. CSU held its lead and eventually added to it, taking a 12-6 advantage midway through the set. The Lady Cougars went on a 5-1 spurt that helped extend the lead.
 
However, Flagler won eight of the next 10 points to go in front 15-14. CSU was able to take a 16-15 lead, but the Saints came right back with four straight points. Columbus State pulled within one at 20-19, but once again FC strung together points to take full command of the set. After three straight CSU points that made it 24-22, Flagler got the final kill to take the set 25-22.
 
Set three was all Flagler as the Saints jumped in front 8-0. The Lady Cougars were able to rally to get within five, but the Saints attack was too much as FC took the final set 25-10.