Harvard rallied from a two game deficit to defeat Columbia, 3-2 (25-30, 27-30, 30-24, 31-29, 15-12), Saturday afternoon in the Malkin Athletic Center.

Columbia took game one, 30-25, after opening up a 9-2 lead. Harvard called timeout to regroup and rallied to tie the game at 10 when play resumed. The two teams battled for the next several points, tying the game at 15-15. The Lions won the next point to take a 16-15 lead and didn't look back. The Lions hit .316 and had 18 kills including nine from Amalia Viti.

Harvard started game two with a 7-2 advantage and increased the lead to 12-5 with two McKinley kills and an ace from Turley-Molony. Harvard tried to pull away, but solid hitting from the Lions allowed them to stay close.  A Cassie Ligh kill tied the game at 21.  Harvard used three errors on the Lions and a Laura Mahan kill to go up 25-21, but Columbia put together four solid plays to pull within one to 26-25.  A hitting error on the Crimson tied the game at 26. Crimson got a kill to go back on top, but the Lions won the next four points with kills by Natalie Gerling and Viti to take the game.

Harvard out hit the Lions in game three, .255 to .100 en route to a 30-24 win.

The Crimson led the entire fourth game, but the Lions who fell behind early, 5-1, made it exciting until the last point. Harvard led my as many as seven on two occasions (18-11, 20-13). Columbia chopped away at Harvard's lead tying the game at 26, then again at 27, 28 and 29.  A kill Turley-Molony set up game point for the Crimson and Harvard took the game 31-29 on a Columbia hitting error.

In the deciding game, Columbia led early, but Harvard caught up, tying the match at four. The Crimson took the lead and held an 8-6 advantage at the switch. Columbia came back to tie it at 11, but Harvard answered with a Trimble attack and never looked back.

The Lions return to action on Friday, when they host Princeton at 7 p.m.