Columbia University
Cornell
Columbia Opens Conference Play With Intense Win Over Cornell
9/26/2015 7:37:00 PM | Volleyball
ITHACA, N.Y. – The Columbia volleyball team (3-7, 1-0 Ivy) was able to open Ivy League action with an intense win over Cornell (4-7, 0-1 Ivy) on Saturday afternoon, rallying back from a first-set loss to take home a 3-1 victory. Both teams scored at least 20 points in each set with no set being decided by a margin of more than five points.
The Lions started to show their confidence late in the first set as they battled from set-point with three unanswered points before the Big Red could end the set with a 25-21 victory.
Cornell looked like it would take the upper hand in the early goings of set two as it jumped out to a 16-7 lead, but the Lions began to roar right back with a 9-0 run to tie things up at 16-16. With Columbia sitting on set point, the Big Red were able to rally back with three-consecutive points of their own, but the Lions were able to shut things down to even things up heading into the intermission with a 26-24 set-two victory.
Coming out of the break, the Lions took a lead and held on throughout as they took set three, 25-20, to take a 2-1 advantage.
The fourth set would not be as easy, however, as Cornell rallied early on to force a pair of Columbia timeouts. Trailing 20-14, the Lions stood their ground and began to attack on an 8-2 run to knot things up at 22-22. With the help of a pair of Zoe Jacobs kills and a Cornell attacking error, the Lions were able to seal the set, 25-23, and take home a 3-1 victory.
First-year Luciana Del Valle picked up another double-double on the day, posting up 13 kills and 26 digs and Zoe Jacobs led the offense with 19 kills after posting up a .314 hitting percentage. Katarina Jovicic also finished the afternoon in double-digits with 10 kills while Jennifer Petrovich earned a double-double with 49 assists and 13 digs.
The Lions will continue their conference road trip next weekend when they head up North to take on Yale (Oct. 2) and Brown (Oct. 3).
