The Braves fell in the KCAC Tournament Semifinals to the University of Saint Mary 3-2 on Friday evening at the Hutchinson Sports Arena. The loss snapped OU's 15 match winning streak.
Ottawa is playing in its 10th NAIA National Tournament Opening Round and is looking to qualify for its sixth trip to the NAIA National Tournament Final Site in Sioux City, Iowa.
Radaisy Valdez leads the Braves in kills with 412. She is averaging 3.3 per set.
Haylee O'Meara leads the team in assists (655), averaging 5.4 in OU's 6-2 offense.
Jadore Hayes is OU's leader in service aces (40) and digs (612). Hayes is averaging 5.1 digs per set.
Elli Rogers leads Ottawa in blocks with 111. She is averaging 0.9 blocks per set.
Jadore Hayes has 612 digs this season. She is just the fifth Brave to have over 600 digs in a season .
Through 35 matches, the Braves are averaging 12.6 kills per set, 11.7 assists per set, 2.02 blocks per set, 1.5 service aces per set, and 18.3 digs per set. OU has a .207 attacking percentage.
OU is ranked 21st in the NAIA in kills (1569), 46th in kills per set (12.6), 13th in total attacks (4762), 45th in attacking percentage (.207), 21st in assists (1,459), 14th in digs (2274), 30th in digs per set (18.3), 40th in solo blocks (77), 39th in block assists (348), 27th in total blocks (251), and 45th in blocks per set (2.02).
Saturday is the eighth meeting between Ottawa University and Columbia College. Columbia leads the series, 5-2 and won the first meeting this season on Sept. 9 in Columbia, 3-1; 25-22, 20-25, 14-25, 19-25. The Cougars have won the last five meetings. The first match between Ottawa and Columbia took place on Sept. 14, 1990. Ottawa won the contest 2-1; 14-16, 15-13, 15-7.
The Braves have a record of 5-4 in NAIA Opening Round matches.
Columbia College has an overall record of 26-10, finished the AMC with a mark of 10-0, and is ranked no. 16 in the NAIA The Cougar's enter Saturday's match coming off a 3-1 loss to Missouri Baptist in the AMC Tournament Championship match last Saturday.
Through 36 games, Columbia is averaging 13.5 kills per set, 12.6 assists per set, 1.9 blocks per set, 1.7 service aces per set, and 17.9 digs per set. The Cougars have a .224 attacking percenage.
The Cougars are ranked fourth in the NAIA in kills (1738), 11th in kills per set (13.5), 11th in total attacks (4828), 21st in attacking percentage (.224), fourth in assists (1616), 12th in assists per set (12.6), 37th in service aces (218), 41st in receptions (2296), 12th in digs (2298), 36th in digs per set (17.9), 19th in solo blocks (93), and 33rd in total blocks (244).
Allana Capella leads Columbia in kills with 272. She is averaging 2.8 kills per set. Luisa Ferreira is CC's leader in assists (1,335) and is averaging 10.6 assists per set. She is also leading the team in service aces (42) and digs (435). Danielle Prior is the Cougars' leader in blocks (105).
