The Columbia Cougars will face off against the West Orange Mountaineers at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
On Friday, it was close, but Columbia sidestepped Summit for a 3-2 win. The victory continues a trend for the Cougars in their matchups with the Hilltoppers: they've now won three in a row.
Columbia was actually outscored in aggregate across those five sets (114-106), but they still managed to win. The match finished with set scores of 27-25, 27-25, 15-25, 21-25, 16-14.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for West Orange, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Tuesday. They narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past Jefferson Township 2-1.
It was an exciting match in which no team won back-to-back sets, but at the end of the day West Orange got the one that really mattered. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-18, 13-25, 25-18.
Columbia better focus on containing Maelat Kidane and Nayeli Roodriguez as the pair were huge in West Orange's win. Kidane had nine digs and one assist, while Roodriguez had 21 assists and one block. That's the most digs Kidane has posted over her last seven matchups.
West Orange's victory bumped their record up to 8-5. As for Columbia, their win bumped their record up to 2-5.
Columbia came up short against West Orange in their previous meeting back in September, falling 2-0. Will the Cougars have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more volleyball content.
