Columbia University
Princeton
Volleyball Dealt First Ivy League Loss by Defending Champion Princeton
10/7/2016 10:13:00 PM | Volleyball
| Set Scores | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Princeton | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| Columbia | 15 | 23 | 21 |
| Stat Comparison | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Princeton | Columbia |
| Attack Pct. | .248 | .174 |
| Kills/Errors | 47/17 | 33/14 |
| Aces/Errors | 2/6 | 1/7 |
| Digs | 55 | 46 |
| Blocks | 4 | 12 |
| Individual Leaders | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Princeton | Columbia |
| Kills | Cara Mattaliano (14) | Anja Malesevic (9) |
| Assists | Jessica Harris (42) | Grace Campbell (29) |
| Digs | Peterkin/Matthews (13) | Cassie Wes (12) |
| Blocks | Magge O'Connell (3) | Chichi Ikwuazom (7) |
NEW YORK — The Columbia volleyball team was handed its first loss of the Ivy League season by defending champion Princeton, 3-0 (15-25, 23-25, 21-25), Friday night at Levien Gymnasium.
Columbia (8-6, 3-1 Ivy) and Princeton (10-3, 4-0 Ivy) came into the match as the league's only two remaining undefeated teams. For Columbia, it was uncharted territory, starting 3-0 in Ivy League play for the first time in program history, and coming in as winners of six straight overall.
The Tigers jumped in front with a convincing 10-point victory in the first, ending the set on a 10-1 run after Columbia had brought the deficit to 15-14. The largest crowd of the season spurred the Lions to very competitive second and third sets. Columbia nearly came back from 23-18 down in the second, saving two set points before getting tripped up on a Maggie O'Connell kill. The Tigers led the majority of the third, but Columbia was always lurking just a few points behind. The Lions got to within a single point late, 22-21, before Princeton called timeout and scored the final three points to seal the match.
The Lions out-blocked Princeton 12-4 in defeat. Despite playing in only two of the three sets, first-year middle Chichi Ikwuazom led the defensive effort with a match-high seven rejections. Her thunderous block solo in the third tied the set at 10 and brought her hometown New York City crowd to its feet. However, the Lions could never find the point they needed to take the lead. Senior Kesi Neblett, junior Anja Malesevic and first-year Grace Campbell all added to the block total with three apiece.
Princeton made up for Columbia's block by outhitting the Lions .248 to .174. The Tigers hit above .300 in both the first and third sets, while the Lions could not take advantage of besting their opponent .222 to .152 in the second. Reigning Ivy League Player of the Year Cara Mattaliano paced the match with 14 kills and hit an impressive .387. Freshman middle Maggie O'Connell added 12.
Malesevic put down a team-high nine kills for Columbia, but was limited to an .053 hitting percentage. Meanwhile, Ikwuazom's seven kills came at a .500 clip. Senior Zoe Jacobs posted six.
After being held without a dig the entire first set, senior libero Cassie Wes finished up with a team-high 12. Sophomore Natasha Kosowicz also reached double figures with 10, adding five kills and two blocks. Princeton's Devon Peterkin and Kelly Matthews led all players with 13.
Columbia will look to bounce back quickly, returning to Levien Gym at 5 p.m. Saturday to take on Penn. The Quakers (7-9, 2-2 Ivy) were defeated in five sets Friday night by Cornell in Ithaca.
