Columbia College tops Findlay

• The Cougars face no challenge against a rookie Oiler program.

With the announcement of the hiring of Melinda Wrye-Washington to take over the two-time defending NAIA National Champion women’s volleyball team Tuesday, the Cougar Athletic Department has taken care of its No. 1 priority.

The fate of the men’s team, however, is less clear. Columbia College Athletic Director Bob Burchard will decide whether to hire a new coach or eliminate the program entirely after he returns from the NAIA men’s basketball tournament. He said he has not set a timetable.

Title IX, the act that calls for the parity in men’s and women’s programs at U.S. colleges and universities, may play a factor in the decision. Currently, men’s programs outnumber women’s 3-2 at Columbia College.

Despite the uncertainty of the team’s future, the Cougars (16-2, 16-0 Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) remained focussed on the task at hand — the decimation of another weak MIVA opponent. The Oilers are struggling in their first year as a program and fell to 2-15 overall and 2-10 in conference play.

For one of the few times all season, Columbia College was able to play its entire team in a single match and was led by seldom-used outside hitter Darren Teicher’s seven kills.

“Our second string could start for just about any team in the MIVA,” said senior setter Mike Taylor, who had a team-high 22 assists. “It’s nice to see that they got their chance to shine and show everybody what they got.”

The Cougars are coming off only their second loss of the season, against a strong NCAA volleyball team, in their loss to Loyola University on March 1.

All but four of the 15 players on the Cougar squad had at least one kill, and all but one had at least one dig.

“This was a match where we were able to give everyone good playing time,” said Cougar assistant coach Craig Sherman. “We’ve gotten everything we needed to get done.”

Unlike previous conference matches, the Cougars were able to get off to a fast start. After trailing 1-0 early in the first game, Columbia College’s starters went on to score 15 straight to close out the set.

The B team was inserted in the second set and had difficulty with the scrappy play of the Oilers. The two teams combined for over 40 sideouts in the set, with the Cougars able to score off of a number of attacking errors from Findlay.

Columbia College plays its final two home matches of the regular season before heading out to California for a three-match swing, making a stop at No. 1 NAIA California Baptist, the team the No. 2 Cougars lost to in last year’s NAIA National Tournament.

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