Columbia University
Fordham
Wes Earns 1,000th Dig, Ikwuazom Posts 11 Kills, 11 Blocks as Volleyball Wins 3rd Straight
9/17/2016 9:30:00 PM | Volleyball
| Set Scores | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Fordham | 12 | 19 | 23 |
| Columbia | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| Stat Comparison | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Fordham | Columbia |
| Attack Pct. | .053 | .306 |
| Kills/Errors | 31/25 | 38/8 |
| Aces/Errors | 3/7 | 3/7 |
| Digs | 48 | 49 |
| Blocks | 1 | 15 |
| Individual Leaders | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Fordham | Columbia |
| Kills | Olivia Fairchild (14) | Chichi Ikwuazom (11) |
| Assists | Maddy Walsh (26) | Grace Campbell (34) |
| Digs | Maddy Walsh (11) | Cassie Wes (16) |
| Blocks | Ostach/Martinez (1) | Chichi Ikwuazom (11) |
NEW YORK — It was a night of celebration at Levien Gymnasium.
Senior libero Cassie Wes earned her 1,000th career dig and first-year middle Chichi Ikwuazom struck for 11 kills and 11 blocks, leading the Columbia volleyball team to a three-set sweep over Fordham (25-12, 25-19, 25-23) Saturday evening in the final match of the Lion Invitational. The win was Columbia's third in a row, all of which have come in straight sets.
Wes entered the final day of Columbia's home tournament 19 digs shy of becoming the fourth Lion in program history to reach 1,000. She posted 14 in the morning victory over Hartford, leaving herself just five away heading into the nightcap. The Atherton, Calif., native accomplished the feat on the second-to-last point of the first set, extending to her right to dig up a Fordham attack. The Lions, sitting on set point, couldn't quite finish off Wes's dig with a set-clinching kill, but it didn't affect the outcome in the least. Columbia breezed to a 25-12 first-set victory, and went on to dominate nearly all night.
“It's obviously an incredible achievement for Cassie. We are extremely proud of her and the work she has put in over the course of almost four years to get to this point,” commented third-year head coach Brie Katz, who has worked on Columbia's staff for the last 12 seasons and witnessed every single one of Wes's digs. “She's been such a key contributor to this team and is well deserving of the milestone.”
Wes, the 2015 Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year, fittingly ended the contest leading all players with 16 digs. She has reached double figures in all 10 outings on her senior campaign.
However, it wasn't just Wes providing the highlights Saturday night. New York City native Chichi Ikwuazom put on a show, once again, in front of the home crowd. After posting 10 blocks in just her fifth collegiate match last weekend to lead Columbia over Manhattan in three sets, the first-year Lion was at it again, this time upping the total to 11 blocks in only three sets. It tied for the third-most in a single match in program history, and marked the first occasion of exactly 11 blocks since Savannah Fletcher did it against Brown in 2011.
On top of her dominance on defense, Ikwuazom was just as lethal on offense. The 6-1 middle skied for a team-high 11 kills on just 18 swings to post a match-high hitting percentage of .556. Her most impressive set was the second, where she connected for five kills on seven attempts with zero errors to hit .714.
“Chichi was everywhere,” Katz stated. “She was flying across the net getting block after block, which is great to see, and she also helps us tremendously on offense. Of course, her success if part of a much larger system, with our serving allowing us to block well, but she is definitely a tremendous part of our success.”
Ikwuazom was joined in double figures on the attack by sophomore outside Luciana Del Valle, who posted 10 kills. Junior Anja Malesevic added nine, as the trio combined for 30 of Columbia's 38 kills in the match. Del Valle and Ikwuazom each landed on the Lion Invitational All-Tournament Team.
First-year Grace Campbell continued to establish herself as the starting setter and tallied a match-high 34 assists on those 38 kills. She added seven digs and five blocks.
Columbia finished the evening out-blocking Fordham 15-1. The Lions also outhit the Rams .306 to .053 on offense, posting seven more kills and 17 fewer errors.
Columbia will now get set for Ivy League competition, beginning next Saturday at home against Cornell. The Lions will play each of their first five Ivy League contests at home from Sept. 24 – Oct. 8, before hitting the road for five straight from Oct. 14-29.
