Columbia
Penn
Volleyball Rallies to Topple Penn in 5-Set Thriller
10/8/2016 10:25:00 PM | Volleyball
| Set Scores | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Penn | 25 | 17 | 25 | 18 | 11 |
| Columbia | 19 | 25 | 23 | 25 | 15 |
| Stat Comparison | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Penn | Columbia |
| Attack Pct. | .117 | .234 |
| Kills/Errors | 50/29 | 64/25 |
| Aces/Errors | 7/8 | 5/9 |
| Digs | 71 | 83 |
| Blocks | 5 | 15 |
| Individual Leaders | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Penn | Columbia |
| Kills | Taylor Cooper (11) | Anja Malesevic (16) |
| Assists | Sydney Morton (42) | Grace Campbell (57) |
| Digs | Michelle Pereira (24) | Grace Campbell (20) |
| Blocks | Taylor Cooper (4) | Chichi Ikwuazom (9) |
NEW YORK — Columbia recorded season-highs in kills, assists, digs and blocks to defeat Penn in five sets (19-25, 25-17, 23-25, 25-18, 15-11) Saturday evening in Ivy League volleyball action at Levien Gymnasium.
After surrendering the final three points of a very competitive third set, Columbia was faced with needing to win both the fourth and fifth sets. The Lions blocked Penn four times and built a 10-point lead in the fourth to run away with it and bring the match to a decisive fifth. Again, Columbia was the aggressor in the race to 15, blocking the Quakers four more times to build the early lead. Sophomore Luciana Del Valle came up with three consecutive points to put the Lions ahead 8-3, and that was too much for Penn to overcome. The Quakers pulled within a pair at 9-7, but Columbia rattled off five of the next six points to earn a 14-8 advantage, eventually clinching the match on a block solo from first-year Chichi Ikwuazom.
“We've had such a successful homestand and it was great to end it this way,” stated head coach Brie Katz, whose team has played a program-record 12 straight matches at home, spanning from September 9 through Saturday's victory. “Again, as I've said after some of our other matches during this stretch, I'm proud of the way this team fought. The never-say-die attitude they display every night is so important to winning matches like these.”
Columbia (9-6, 4-1 Ivy) posted a 9-3 record during the homestand, which included a six-match winning streak from Sep. 16-Oct. 1, as well as the program's first 3-0 Ivy League start. The Lions are now 4-1 for the first time since 2011, when they started 5-1 on their way to an eventual 9-5 Ivy League mark. Meanwhile, Penn (7-10, 2-3 Ivy) dipped below .500 in the league with its second consecutive five-set defeat.
“Starting 4-1 in the Ivy League gives us a sense of confidence,” Katz went on to add. “We've done the things we've needed to do to find more success and we know we can be successful, it's just a matter of execution. The confidence we've built from this past month will be key when we're faced with adversity on the road, especially for some of our first-years.”
Columbia saw two of its first-years post career-highs in Saturday's victory. Ikwuazom was a force on both offense and defense with a season-high 15 kills to go with a match-high nine blocks. The New York City native also led all players in hitting percentage at .542 and racked up another season-high of 21.0 points. Meanwhile, first-year setter Grace Campbell tallied season-highs of 57 assists and 20 digs, accounting for her fourth double-double of the year.
The rookies weren't the only ones getting the job done for Columbia. Junior Anja Malesevic tallied career-highs of 16 kills and 16 digs for her second double-double of the season. Seven of Malesevic's kills came in a first set in which she hit .357 before going on to finish the contest exactly at .300. Adding to the trio of double-doubles was sophomore Natasha Kosowicz with 12 kills and 13 digs.
Ultimately, five different Lions reached double figures in digs while another four did so in kills. Columbia hit season-highs as a team in both categories, outdueling Penn 64-50 in kills and 83-71 in digs. The Lions also out-blocked Penn 15-5, tying their season-high in blocks, and doubled up the Quakers in hitting percentage, .234 to .117.
After spending the past 30 days playing at home, Columbia will travel to its next five Ivy League contests over the course of three weeks. The road trip begins next weekend, when the Lions take on Harvard (2-3 Ivy) on Friday and Dartmouth (0-5 Ivy) on Saturday.
