Columbia
Connecticut
Volleyball Falls in Five-Set Thriller at Connecticut
9/19/2014 10:27:00 PM | Volleyball
STORRS, Conn. - The Columbia volleyball team took a two sets to one lead against Connecticut Friday night, but the Huskies rallied to drop the Lions, 3-2, at the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. The setback came by set scores of 20-25, 25-19, 25-16, 12-25 and 13-15.
Sophomore Kesi Neblett poured in a career-best 11 kills on a .500 hitting clip to lead the Lions' (3-4) attack while classmate Zoe Jacobs contributed nine. Juniors Katarina Jovicic, who hit .571, and Atlanta Moye-McLaren chipped in eight kills each. Sophomore Jennifer Petrovich dished out 36 assists.
Defensively the Lions posted 11 blocks, the most by Columbia since the Lions totaled 13 in a 3-1 win over Harvard November 15, 2013. Jovicic led the charge at the net with a career-high six blocks as Neblett registered three. Senior Charlee Dyroff recorded 22 digs to add to the defensive effort.
Devon Maugle's 14-kill, 10-dig, double-double effort paced Connecticut's (6-3) attack while Immanuella Anagu and Erika Thomas scored 15 kills and 12 kills, respectively.
A back and forth affair that featured five ties and three lead changes opened up the first frame. A cross-court slam by Moye-McLaren moved the score to 8-11 before three straight errors by Connecticut knotted the score at 11-11. Columbia couldn't take the lead, however, as the Huskies scored two straight points that started a point-for-point set. Back-to-back Lions blocks including a solo turn down by Jovicic knotted the score at 18-18 before a Jacobs kill combined with a UConn error gave Columbia its second lead of the stanza, 20-19, forcing the host to take a timeout. Out of the break it was all Connecticut as it went on to tally six unanswered points to take set one, 25-20.
Columbia dominated the second set, taking an 11-6 lead on a kill by Neblett. Connecticut inched back and pulled within one, 13-12, but the Lions maintained their composure and their lead as a block from Moye-McLaren and first-year Alex Andrejev pushed the score to 18-14. Another block Andrejev this time with Jovicic gave Columbia a 21-16 edge before the Lions put the set away on a Moye-McLaren kill, 25-19, to equalize the match.
The third set opened with Columbia on top 9-5 after sophomore Bailey Springer and Jovicic scored a kill each and Jovicic posted a block. Two kills by Neblett and one from Jacobs pushed the margin to 17-9 midway through the frame before three UConn errors made the Lions advantage 22-13. Neblett's 10th kill of the night coupled with tallies by Jacobs and Springer gave the set to Columbia, 25-16.
Connecticut slowly established a 16-8 lead in the fourth frame. The Lions chipped away at the Huskies' lead, but Columbia could not regroup as Connecticut ran away with the set, 25-12.
See-saw action opened the fifth and deciding frame before Springer's first kill evened the score, 6-6. The teams swapped points for the remainder of the frame and kills by Moye-McLaren kept the Lions within one on three occasions down the stretch, but it was the Huskies that capitalized and took the match, 15-13.
Columbia returns to action tomorrow in the second day of the UConn Classic. The Lions will clash against Hofstra in a matinee at 10 a.m., before putting a cap on its non-conference schedule at 5 p.m. with a match-up against Bryant.
