Pioneers Fall to Cougars and Eagles

Pioneers Fall to Cougars and Eagles- Wil Teague, Sports Information Director, 10/29/25

The Pioneers dropped to 13-17 overall on the season and 10-2 in the American Midwest Conference with two losses in today's doubleheader matchups against Columbia College and Central Methodist University. 

Game 1

Crowley's Ridge-2

Columbia College- 3

Columbia, MO- The Pioneers were narrowly bested by the Columbia Cougars in the afternoon's opening contest, with Columbia College sneaking out with the win after five hard-fought sets of action. In the contest, all things would appear even as two sets would need extra frames to determine the winner, and two more sets would be straight washes. CRC opened the contest, edging past the Cougars in set one, 27-25, thanks to a Maddie Burris service ace, and the Cougars' extra frame win appeared in set four with a 26-24 win over the Pioneers; credited to an unstoppable 6-0 run from Columbia College. The middle sets were a straight trade, with CC taking set two with a six-point difference and CRC taking set three with a five-point difference. The determining frame of set five is where the Pioneers faced their biggest set defeat, with Columbia outlasting the Pioneers by exhausting the fuel reserves and claiming the set by seven points to win the matchup. 

Brooklyn Cross led the offense with 17 kills, followed by Amiyah Saxton with 15. Jillian Glasgow led the team in assists and digs with her 11th double-double of the year, with 23 helpers and 17 digs, and was followed by Maddie Burris, who also posted a double-double of 19 assists and 10 digs. Mallory Hollis ended the contest with 15 digs, and Kyrsten Bake added 11 digs in the 5-set loss. 

Game 2

Crowley's Ridge-0 

Central Methodist University- 3

Columbia, MO-  The Pioneers faced their fourth sweep defeat of the season with a game two loss to the Eagles of Central Methodist University. The Eagles dominated the flow of the contest with set wins of 25-15, 25-13, and 25-9 over the Pioneers while holding the Pioneer offense to its lowest team hitting percentage of the season. Amiyah Saxton led the offense with 7 kills. Maddie Burris led in assists with 7, and Mallory Hollis led in digs with 10. 

Up Next: The Pioneers will return to the Carter Activities Center as they host Hannibal-LaGrange this Friday at 6:00 PM. #GOPIONEERS