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By: Josh Fuller

COLUMBUS – After opening the season with three victories, the Columbus State University women's volleyball team will head north to compete in the Quincy Tournament this weekend. The tournament is taking place in the Pepsi Arena in Quincy, Illinois.
 
The Lady Cougars will play a pair of matches on both Friday and Saturday. CSU will take on Cedarville (10 a.m.) and Quincy (8 p.m.) on Friday before taking on Culver-Stockton (10 a.m.) and Maryville (3 p.m.) on Saturday.
 
"I'm super excited about this weekend," said CSU coach Casey Cornett. "We are playing some very good competition and it's exciting to be traveling to a place that we haven't been before as well as taking on teams that we usually don't have an opportunity to play.
 
"This will be a great test to see how the team is progressing so far this year."
 
Last Meeting
 
It will be the first ever meetings between Columbus State and all four of its opponents this weekend.
 
About Cedarville
 
Cedarville (3-2) kicked off its season last weekend going 2-2 in the Clarion Invitational before picking up a victory against Urbana on Tuesday to move a game above. 500 this season. The Yellow Jackets are led by Gabby Olson, who is averaging 3.43 kills per set while hitting .267. Olson also has a team best 22 total blocks. Abby Shelton is also off to a good start averaging 2.71 kills per set and 2.81 digs per set.
 
About Quincy
 
After dropping a match to 10th-ranked Washburn to begin the year, Quincy reeled off three straight victories to start the season 3-1. Taylor McMonagle is pacing the Hawks with 3.50 kills per set while also chipping in with 3.14 digs per set. Miranda Rodriguez had a great opening weekend, averaging over 10.2 assists per set. Since dropping the opening match, QU has won nine straight sets.
 
About Culver-Stockton
 
Culver-Stockton is the lone non-NCAA school in the tournament this weekend as the Wildcats are off to a 1-7 start at the NAIA level. Madeleine Halford is hitting a team best .213 while averaging nearly two kills per set. Anna Stock has been impressive through eight matches averaging 4.08 digs pet set for the Wildcats.
 
About Maryville
 
Maryville, a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, went 1-3 at the Lindenwood Tournament on the opening weekend. The Saints are led by Allison Lakin and Ashley Selman, who are both averaging over two kills per set. Lakin leads the team with 3.14 kills per set while also recording 1.79 digs per set. Selman is hitting .247 averaging 2.20 kills per set.
 
CSU Notes
 
Columbus State is off to its second best start since restarting the volleyball program in 2013. That season, the Lady Cougars started the year 6-0.
 
Abby King had over 26 assists in each of the three matches last weekend. In 28 matches last season, King accomplished that feat just twice.
 
Seniors Andrea Skipor and Mary McCarty are both off to quick starts. McCarty is averaging 3.13 kills per set while Skipor is third in the PBC in hitting percentage with a .469 mark.
 
The Lady Cougars had a .459 hitting percentage in their victory over Converse last Saturday. It was the best hitting percentage in a match for CSU since September 11, 2013.
 
This weekend will be the furthest north that the Columbus State volleyball program has traveled to.