COLUMBIA, S.C.— The Montreat volleyball team faced a tough task Thursday afternoon, competing against the No. 21-ranked Columbia International University Rams on the road. In a match that was moved up from Saturday and played at 5:15 p.m. due to impending weather, the Cavaliers were overcome by the home side in three sets, moving the team's record to 3-11 overall and 2-5 in Appalachian Athletic Conference action.
 
Columbia International (18-6, 8-0 AAC) jumped out to a quick 6-2 advantage over the Cavs in the opening set. Despite the slow start, Montreat kept the score within that four-point margin until the latter stages of the frame thanks to kills from seven different players. The Cavaliers outhit the Rams for most of the set and tightened the gap to one point on four separate occasions; however, the home team's offense surged late to produce a 7-1 run to allow CIU to go up 1-0 with a 25-18 win.
 
Seven early miscues from the Rams allowed the Cavaliers to lead 7-2 in the second frame as the visitors capitalized on CIU's mistakes. The Montreat advantage eventually reached six (10-4), but Columbia International immediately responded, taking an 11-10 edge after a 7-0 scoring stretch. In similar fashion to the first set, the Cavs kept their deficit to five until the Rams utilized a strong attack to claim a 25-19 triumph and a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
CIU used the momentum it gained from pulling within one frame of its sixth conference sweep of the year to claim a set win in the third. The Rams, who have dropped only two sets in league action this season, went on a 12-4 run over the last 16 points of the match to win their 11^th straight contest with a 25-14 triumph.
 
Katie Dickey led the way with eight kills and a team-high 11 digs, while Reese Davis captained the Cavs with 13 assists. Eight Cavaliers recorded multiple digs on the day and six registered at least two kills.
 
Overall, the ranked squad outhit Montreat .250-.089, amassing 46 kills to the Cavs' 25. CIU also held the edge in assists (42-25), aces (5-0), digs (54-41) and blocks (3.0-2.0) due to a 71.7 sideout percentage and by winning 50.7 percent of their points on serve.
 
Volleyball returns to McAlister Gymnasium for its next matchup, a contest against the Bluefield University Rams, on Tuesday. First serve is slated for 6:30 p.m.