NEW YORK -- After going ahead two games to none, Columbia dropped two hotly-contested games to Brown, sending the match into a deciding game.

The Lions fought off several match points and captured a 19-17 win in game five to pick up its first Ivy League victory of the season.

 Columbia won game one handily, 30-18, hitting .229 for the game to Brown's -.021.  The Bears corrected their hitting woes in game two, but still fell short, as the Lions squeaked out a 30-28. 

The Lions had two opportunities to seal the victory in game three, serving match point 29-28 and 31-30, but the Bears pieced together a short rally to stay alive, 33-31. 

Game four played out the same way, with Brown taking a 24-18 lead and the Lions rallying back to tie the game at 27-27.  The Bears pushed three points to force a final game five.

The Lions took a 14-12 lead in game five, serving game-point, but Brown rallied to take a 15-14 lead.  The teams see-sawed for six points until the Lions' Cassie Ligh served consecutive points to earn the victory.

 Danielle Alexander had a career-high 20 kills for Columbia, hitting .409 for the game with just two errors.  Nikki Learned had 17 kills and 10 digs, while Natalie Gerling continued her hot-hitting with 23 kills and 15 digs.

Rikki Baldwin led Brown with 19 kills.