MONTREAT, N.C. — The Montreat College volleyball team thoroughly dominated the Columbia College Koalas on Friday as part of its senior night festivities. Hosting the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) match inside McAlister Gymnasium, the Cavaliers utilized set scores of 25-7, 25-14 and 25-15 to sweep CC and send the seniors out in style. With the result, the Cavs improved to 6-17 (4-13 AAC), while Columbia dropped to 2-21 (0-16 AAC).
Setting the tone from the get-go, the hosts rattled off 15 consecutive points to begin the contest.
Elizabeth Harrington put Montreat on the board with a kill, and then she served 14 straight points as
Maggie Furches registered multiple kills,
Madysan Mauney and Furches combined on several blocks and Harrington contributed an ace during the opening stretch. The Koalas tallied back-to-back points to snap the 15-0 start, but the Cavaliers countered with a Furches attack set up by
Allie Anderson, an attack error and an Anderson ace.
Katie Alexander later delivered back-to-back aces, and kills from
Ruthann Stout, Furches and Harrington helped the Cavs close out the one-sided frame, 25-7.
CC seized its first lead of the night by stealing the initial point of the second set; however, block assists from
Jayme Endicott and Stout coupled with a Mauney ace helped vault the home team in front, 4-1. Furches later served up three straight points at the service line as the Cavaliers' advantage grew to 10-3. The visitors managed to cut into the margin slightly, but a pair of kills from Harrington and a pair of aces from Anderson sparked a 6-0 spurt that established significant separation midway through the frame. Alexander notched assists on Montreat's final three points, setting up Harrington and
Savannah Lemmond to end the set with a 25-14 scoreline.
The third frame followed a similar script to the first, with the Koalas grabbing a small lead early, this time at 5-3.
Taylor Shaw offered up passes to power the Cavs' offense before Alexander took over with four straight serves, two of which resulted in aces. Harrington aided the hosts through the middle of the set, putting down four kills between her squad's 10
th and 14
th points. Endicott and Mauney also combined on a block during that same stretch. Columbia attempted to chip away at its deficit, pulling as close as 20-15, but Montreat answered by winning the final five points to complete the match. Stout's ace sealed a 25-15 third frame and the three-set sweep.
Following the match, the Cavaliers took some time to recognize six seniors: Anderson, Harrington, Shaw, Stout, Mauney and Alexander.
"I'm very happy for the seniors to have a night like this," said Head Coach
Cristina Viera. "It was the first conference sweep of the season as well. It was very special to have all the seniors on the court at the same time, and I think it was very sweet to have freshmen who got to be out there and play with the seniors."
In addition to the score, Montreat also bested the Koalas on the stat sheet. With season bests in hitting percentage and service aces, the Cavaliers outdueled their opposition in kills (29-17), assists (27-17), digs (30-24), blocks (5-0), aces (15-5) and hitting percentage (.349 to -.086).
Harrington led the Cavs with 14 kills on a .565 hitting percentage, and she also added a season-high 10 digs to achieve a double-double. Alexander delivered a career-best five service aces and contributed 10 assists. Shaw finished with a team-high 14 assists. Furches accumulated six kills, a career-best three aces, eight digs and three block assists. Mauney posted a personal-high four blocks.
The Montreat College volleyball team concludes its 2026 home slate on Tuesday, Oct. 27, with a nonconference matchup versus Carolina University. First serve is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at McAlister Gymnasium in Montreat, N.C.
