Seniors Round Out Collegiate Careers At Home This Weekend
11/12/2015 10:00:00 AM | Volleyball
NEW YORK - Led behind five graduating seniors, the Columbia volleyball team (7-14, 5-7 Ivy) will round out the 2015 regular season at home as they welcome Penn (Nov. 13) and Princeton (Nov. 14) to Levien Gymnasium for one final weekend of Ivy League action.
WHAT TO KNOW
Penn heads into Friday's matchup with the same Ivy League record as the Lions after falling to Yale on Nov. 7.
Princeton heads into the weekend in a tie for second with Dartmouth after winning eight of its last nine games, including its last five-straight, and will take on Cornell before heading into Levien Gym.
Columbia enters the final weekend in the regular season after one of the toughest conference weekends on the schedule on the road against Dartmouth and first-place Harvard.
Prior to Saturday's matchup against the Tigers, Columbia will be honoring the team's five graduating seniors in an annual Senior Day celebration on the court.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Both matches will be streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network (ILDN) which can be accessed by visiting www.ildn.tv/Columbia.
Links to live stats for both matches are available on the Columbia volleyball schedule at GoColumbiaLions.com.
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 156 kills this season, Bailey Springer is nearing the top five in career kills with 847.
Katarina Jovicic recently moved into third on Columbia's all-time blocking list with 275 in her career while Kesi Neblett (225) is just outside of the top-five.
KATARINA JOVICIC: AN OCTOBER TO REMEMBER
Senior Katarina Jovicic sparked a fire at the right time for the Lions, posting up an October to remember heading down the final stretch of the regular season.
Leading the team with a .359 attacking percentage, Jovicic has been a dominant force for the Lions down the heart of Ivy League play this season.
Over her nine games in October, Jovicic posted up an average of 2.12 kills and 1.58 blocks per set to lead the Lions to a 4-5 record during that time.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE QUAKERS
Penn enters the weekend in a tie for fifth with the Lions after a split against Brown (W, 3-0) and Yale (L, 1-3) last week.
As a team, the Quakers are averaging 15.2 points per set, putting them 7th in the league. They have also allowed opponents to hit .189 this season.
Leading the team offensively has been Alexis Genske who is averaging 3.09 kills and 3.00 digs per set for a team-leading 3.5 points per set.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE TIGERS
Princeton heads into the weekend fighting for a chance at the Ivy League title with only two matches remaining.
The Tigers are hitting .238 as a team this year, putting them atop the conference in attacking percentage while posting up the least amount of errors as well (381).
Leading the way this year has been the duo of Kendall Peterkin (3.54 K/S) and Cara Mattaliano (3.27 K/S) who have combined for 576.5 of the team's 1,234 points on the year (47 percent).
