The Lady Owls had the No. 13 Lady Cougars down two sets, but couldn't complete the American Midwest Conference upset on Friday night at Anderson Arena.
William Woods (14-11, 5-2) prevailed by scores of 25-13 and 25-23 in the first two sets, then dropped the final three 25-22, , 25-18 and 15-9.
The Lady Owls connected on 44 and 41 percent of their attacks in the first and second set, respectively, to jump out to the early advantage. That mark slipped to 25 percent in each of the next two sets, then to 22.2 percent in the final frame.
Junior outside hitter Emily Becker posted a double-double, finishing with a game-high 19 kills, while contributing 10 digs. Freshman outside hitter Abbi McKnelly added 11 kills and senior defensive specialist Abbie O'Mara led William Woods with 11 digs.
Freshman setter Brittney Engelbrecht handed out a team-high 43 assists and chipped in seven digs.
Columbia College (21-4, 5-2) connected on 30 percent of its attacks for the day.
The Lady Owls play a doubleheader on Wednesday, playing Bacone (Oklahoma) College and Central Methodist at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., respectively, in Fayette.