Volleyball Hosts Cornell in Ivy League Opener Saturday
9/23/2016 1:00:00 PM | Volleyball
| VENUE | Levien Gymnasium |
| LOCATION | New York, N.Y. |
| MEDIA | LIVE STATS |
| TWITTER HANDLES | @CUVB @GoColumbiaLions |
| WATCH | Ivy League Digital Network |
| CORNELL | MATCHUP | COLUMBIA |
| 5-4, 0-0 Ivy |
Record | 5-5, 0-0 Ivy |
| .233 |
Hitting Pct. |
.227 |
| 13.3 | Kills/Set |
12.2 |
| 12.7 | Assists/Set | 11.1 |
| 13.6 | Digs/Set | 14.5 |
|
1.3 |
Aces/Set |
1.2 |
|
2.3 |
Blocks/Set | 2.4 |
|
Kit McCarty (87) |
Kills Leader | Anja Malesevic (67) |
|
Alyssa Phelps (258) |
Assists Leader | Grace Campbell (272) |
|
Lily Barber (115) |
Digs Leader | Cassie Wes (164) |
|
Carla Sganderlla (13) |
Aces Leader | Grace Campbell (10) |
|
Jenna Phelps (33) |
Blocks Leader | Chichi Ikwuazom (28) |
|
All-Time Series: Cornell leads 50-12 |
||
NEW YORK — The Columbia volleyball team opens up the 2016 Ivy League schedule Saturday against Cornell. The match is slated for 2 p.m., from Levien Gymnasium, and will be streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network.
INSIDE THE SERIES: Cornell holds a large 50-12 lead in the all-time series, but Columbia has had the upper-hand by winning eight of the last 14 since 2009. The Lions won a series-best four straight meetings by sweeping the season series in both 2011 and 2012. These two teams will open the Ivy League schedule against one another for the 17th consecutive season, with Columbia having won six of the last seven conference openers against the Big Red since 2009.
LAST SERIES MEETING (Oct. 24, 2015): Cornell earned its first victory of the 2015 Ivy League season by upsetting the Lions on their home floor. Columbia entered the fourth set down 2-1 and fell behind 20-17, only to come back and force a fifth set with a 25-23 set victory. However, it was Cornell that prevailed, breaking a 12-12 tie in the fifth with the contest's final three points. Zoe Jacobs led the Lions with 14 kills, while Anja Malesevic and Kesi Neblett each recorded 11. Cornell had four players reach double figures in the kill column, led by Carla Sganderlla's match-high 15.
LAST TIME OUT (Sept. 17, 2016): Columbia earned its third straight victory and second of the day by sweeping Fordham (25-12, 25-19, 25-23) Saturday night. Senior libero Cassie Wes earned her 1,000th career dig, becoming the fourth Lion in program history to achieve the milestone, while first-year Chichi Ikwuazom highlighted the win with 11 kills and 11 blocks. Ikwuazom's 11 blocks tied for the third-most in a single match in program history, one behind the record of 12. Columbia out-blocked Fordham 15-1.
IVY LEAGUE OPENERS: Columbia is 6-1 in its last seven Ivy League openers and has not lost a conference opener at home since 2007. Each of Columbia's last 16 Ivy League openers have come against Cornell – the last time the Lions opened against a different team was 1999 against Dartmouth. Overall, the Lions are 7-21 in Ivy League openers since the volleyball program began competing in the Ivy League in 1988. Columbia dropped its first 13 league openers before picking up its first win against Cornell in 2001 by way of a 3-0 sweep.
DEL VALLE NAMED IVY LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sophomore outside hitter Luciana Del Valle heads into Ivy League play as the conference's reigning player of the week. Del Valle was named Ivy League Player of the Week for the first time on Monday after hitting .319 with 34 kills, 27 digs, seven total blocks, four aces and 42 total points through four matches of the Lion Invitational. Del Valle's weekend was highlighted by a season-high 12-kill performance in Friday night's 3-0 sweep over BIG EAST foe Providence, in which she hit .500 and added a season-high 11 digs for her first double-double of the year. For the week, Del Valle averaged 3.09 kills per set, 2.45 digs per set and 3.82 points per set.
Featured Article: Del Valle Named Ivy League Player of the Week
WES DIGS 1,000: Senior libero Cassie Wes picked up her 1,000th career dig in Columbia's last match, a 3-0 sweep over Fordham last Saturday night. Wes's 1,000th dig came during the second-to-last point of the first set, extending to her right to dig up a Fordham attack. The senior from Atherton, Calif., went on to total a match-high 16 digs in the victory and enters the weekend with 1,011 in her career to rank fourth in program history. The next Lion in front of Wes on the digs list is Megan Gaughn, who collected 1,065 from 2006-09.
Highlight: Wes Records 1,000th Career Dig
NINE STRAIGHT SETS: Columbia has won nine consecutive sets entering Saturday afternoon's match, sweeping Providence, Hartford and Fordham in succession last weekend during the Lion Invitational. Columbia's sets-won streak is its longest since 2010, when it won nine straight sets in sweeps of St. Francis (N.Y.), Lafayette and Central Connecticut State. The 2010 streak began a string of nine consecutive matches won from September 4-29, which stands as the longest winning streak in program history.
Highlight: Columbia Sweeps Fordham for Third Straight Win
HOME SWEET HOME: After beginning the season 0-4, Columbia has rebounded by winning five of its last six matches, all of which have come inside the friendly confines of Levien Gymnasium. The Lions are 5-2 in matches played in New York this season, going 2-1 two weekends ago at the Columbia Classic and 3-1 last weekend at the Lion Invitational. Columbia will continue to play at home over the course of its first five Ivy League matches, making for 12 straight home contests from September 9 – October 8. It will mark the team's longest homestand in program history, beating out a span of eight straight home matches from September 10 – September 29, 2010. The Lions also had a notable stretch of home matches from September 11 – October 17, 2009, in which they played 14 of 16 at Levien Gymnasium.
