COLUMBIA — The Columbia College volleyball team clinched the top seed in the American Midwest Conference with a win over McKendree University on Monday night.
The sixth-ranked Cougars, with a record of 33-3, 14-0 in conference, will also have home-court advantage as part of being the No. 1 seed. The tournament begins Nov. 11.
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics changed its postseason structure following last season from regional qualifiers to a more conference-based system. Each conference tournament winner now gets a direct bid into the NAIA Tournament. As the No. 1 seed and with home-court advantage, the possibility of advancing far into the postseason looks promising.
"We're battling, we're competing, and we're fairly healthy right now, so its looking good going into the end of our season," said coach Melinda Wrye-Washington.
Columbia College has won the tournament every season but two since 1987.
The Cougars still have three matches remaining including two against conference opponents. They travel to face University of Illinois-Springfield at 7 p.m. tonight, then will host senior day at 12 p.m. on Saturday against William Woods University. Columbia College wraps up the regular season Nov. 8 against Missouri University of Science and Technology.
"We've had a fairly good showing so far, we should be 36-0, so I'm not too happy," Wrye-Washington said with a smile. "It's been a good season so far."