Lions "Go Pink" Against Cornell This Weekend
10/22/2015 2:34:00 PM | Volleyball
NEW YORK - The Columbia volleyball team (5-11, 3-4 Ivy) will “Go Pink” this weekend as it hosts Cornell in the annual breast cancer awareness game at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24.
The Lions will be wearing pink to promote breast cancer awareness and will be accepting donations that will help benefit the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Columbia University Medical Center. Admission to the game is FREE and the first 100 fans will get a FREE pink t-shirt.
Columbia heads into the match after a big upset over Harvard last weekend, defeating the defending conference champions, 3-1, before falling to the current conference leader, Dartmouth, 3-2 in a five-set thriller on Saturday.
Cornell is in search of its first Ivy League win of the season after dropping its first seven matches, including a 3-1 loss to Columbia to kick off conference action in September.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
The match will be streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network (ILDN) and can be accessed by visiting www.ildn.tv/Columbia.
Links to live stats for the match can also be found on the volleyball schedule at GoColumbiaLions.com and fans can always keep up to date with Columbia volleyball on Twitter @CUVB.
HOME SWEET HOME
The Lions have been playing strong in front of their home crowd at Levien Gymnasium, posting up a 3-2 record with a .214 attacking percentage.
In the three home games during the Columbia Invitational, the Lions were able to hold opponents to a .128 attacking percentage while posting up an impressive 32 blocks in only 11 sets for an average of 2.91.
The offensive trio of Zoe Jacobs, Katarina Jovicic and Bailey Springer have dominated at home, averaging 3.15, 2.89 and 2.62 kills per set, respectively, with Jovicic posting up a .511 attacking percentage during that time.
CHASING DOWN PROGRAM HISTORY
Thanks to an impressive 797 assists (9.96 per set) last year that was fifth in the single-season record books and 335 already this year, junior Jennifer Petrovich now has 1,805 total assists in her career, putting her fourth all-time behind Cheryl Bucci (2,154).
With 132 kills already this season, Bailey Springer is nearing the top five in career kills with 823.
Katarina Jovicic currently ranks fourth all-time in program history with 236 total blocks in her career while Kesi Neblett (206) currently sits in seventh place all-time.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE BIG RED
Cornell heads into Saturday's matchup in search of its first conference win of the season after an 0-7 start to the first half.
The Big Red has had a lot of close losses this year with eight of its 21 set losses coming by two points or less.
Freshman Alex Basley has been a steady force for Cornell in conference play this year, posting up a .317 attacking percentage after only seven errors.
Last time out, the Lions were able to defeat the Big Red, 3-1, to open the 2015 Ivy League season with a victory.
COMING UP NEXT
The Lions will round out the five-game home stand next weekend as they host Brown on Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. and Yale on Oct. 31 at 5 p.m.
