JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Columbia volleyball team came back from an 0-2 deficit to reverse sweep the Bethune Cookman Wildcats and earn its third win of the season on Friday morning in the opener of the Jacksonville Invitational.
Later in the night, the Lions fell to Jacksonville in straight sets (25-18, 25-14, 25-21).
GAME 1
After falling behind two sets to zero, Columbia showed the heart of a Lion and fought all the way back to reverse sweep the Wildcats.
Watts led the team with 16 kills and added 11 digs for a double-double. Van der Heide dished out 36 assists and tallied 14 digs for another double-double. Delaney Seaman notched a career-high 24 digs.
GAME 2
Harper Justema got things started in the first set with the Lions' first kill of the match to even things up at 3-3, and a kill from Eva Atkins a few rallies later would give Columbia its first lead of the match at 6-5. However, from that point on it was all Jacksonville. The Dolphins went on a 9-1 run to take a 14-7 lead and would not look back. A kill from Atkins cut the Dolphins lead back to three at 21-18, but Jacksonville would score the next four points to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
The second set played out very similar to the first. Behind two blocks each from Justema, Atkins, and Juliana Williamson Columbia took an 8-7 lead. But once again in the early portion of the set, Jacksonville used a major run to gain a big advantage. Scoring nine of the next 10 points, the Dolphins led 16-9, and extended that lead to 23-12 on another 6-0 run. A kill from Haley Yount put the finishing touches on the set and gave Jacksonville a 2-0 lead.
The Lions came back with some fight in the third set, as the two teams went back-and-forth early on. Eventually, back-to-back service aces from Williamson capped a 4-0 run for the Lions to put them in front 19-15 and it looked like the match could be headed to a fourth set. However, the Dolphins would not be denied quickly taking the lead back with a 5-0 run of their own. They went on to win 25-21 and secure the sweep.
Atkins led the Lions with 13 kills in the loss
The Lions will return to action tomorrow at noon against The Citadel in the final game of the Jacksonville Invitational.
For the latest on Columbia volleyball, follow @CULionsVB on Twitter and Instagram, and on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.
