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By: Josh Fuller

COLUMBUS – The Columbus State University volleyball team couldn't overcome a marathon first set as they fell 3-1 (34-32, 18-25, 25-22, 25-14) to Lander Saturday afternoon. The Peach Belt Conference match took place inside the CSU Student Recreation Center.
 
Senior Mary McCarty led all players in kills tallying 20 with 18 digs and two blocks. It is the third time this season that McCarty reached the 20-kill plateau. The 18 digs are also a career high mark for the senior. Megan Frame had eight kills, while Abby King had a double-double with 37 assists and 15 digs.
 
"We have to continue to work on controlling the errors that we can control," said head coach Casey Cornett. "I was proud of the girls for bouncing back and playing hard, but we have to clean up our game."
 
The first set was a thriller that didn't conclude until the set's 66th point. Neither team could pull away in the early going until CSU broke a 10-all tie by going on a 5-1 run to take a 15-11 lead. McCarty and Frame fueled the spurt as McCarty tallied two kills with Frame adding one of her own.
 
Columbus State (14-12, 5-11 PBC) eventually built the lead out to 17-12 until the Bearcats started to chip away. Lander won eight of the next 10 points to inch ahead of the Lady Cougars at 20-19. CSU was able to regain control of the set at 22-20 thanks to kills from Zoemy Barreto Pereira and King, but the Bearcats kept on coming.
 
Lander (20-9, 8-8) tied the scored back at 20 and from there neither side gave an inch. The back-and-forth affair continued until two CSU errors gave Lander the 34-32 set victory.
 
Riding the momentum of the set win, Lander raced out to a 7-3 lead to begin set two. However, Columbus State stayed composed and went on a 10-1 run to jump ahead of the Bearcats at 13-8. McCarty had two kills, while CSU's block game stepped up. The Lady Cougars had four blocks in the spurt with senior Kylie Beaubien being a part of all four.
 
The Lady Cougars put the set away by winning four more consecutive points to go ahead 17-9. Andrea Skipor had the set-clinching kill for CSU to give the Lady Cougars the 25-18 set win.
 
Columbus State started off set three on the right foot doubling up the Bearcats at 12-6 early on. Following a LU timeout, the Bearcats went on a 6-1 run to make things much closer at 13-12. CSU still looked to be in good position to take the set after running off three straight points to go ahead 21-18. McCarty and Beaubien had kills to help extend the lead.
 
However, Lander closed the set out strong by winning five of the final six points to take the set 25-22 and pull ahead two sets to one.
 
Lander made things difficult for Columbus State in set four as the Bearcats raced out to a 12-2 lead. CSU could never find a rhythm in the set as Lander took the match after a 25-14 win.
 
Columbus State will play its final road match of the season on Wednesday, November 9 against Augusta. The match is set to begin at 7 p.m.