NEW YORK – After spending the first three weekends of Ivy League play at home, the Columbia volleyball team (9-6, 3-2 Ivy) begins a stretch of five straight road matches this weekend at Penn (3-15, 0-5 Ivy) and defending champion Princeton (11-5, 4-1 Ivy). Friday night's contest at Penn begins at 7 p.m., followed by a 5 p.m. first serve on Saturday against the Tigers.
 
Friday's match against Penn will be available on NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus and will be simulcast in the New York area on SportsNet NY (SNY). Both matches will also be available on ESPN+. Penn's live stats are accessible via StatBroadcast. Saturday's live stats will be provided by goprincetontigers.com.
 
IVY LEAGUE UPDATE
Columbia enters the weekend in fourth place in the Ivy League standings but sits just one game back of first place. Cornell, Princeton and Yale are all tied at the top at 4-1. Harvard and Dartmouth are tied for fifth at 2-3, followed by Brown (1-4) and Penn (0-5). The full Ivy League standings can be accessed at IvyLeagueSports.com.
 
LION LEADERS
Kills: Emily Teehan – 182, 3.31/set
Hitting Percentage: Chichi Ikwuazom – .347 (min. 1.00 kill/set)
Assists: Audrey Cheng – 473, 8.60/set
Digs: Kalie Wood – 233, 4.24/set
Blocks: Chichi Ikuwazom – 45, 0.90/set
Aces: Kalie Wood & Emily Teehan – 22, 0.42/set
 
IVY LEAGUE LEADERS (TOP 5)
Total Kills: No. 2 – Emily Teehan (182)
Kills/Set: No. 3 – Chichi Ikwuazom (3.57), No. 4 – Emily Teehan (3.31)
Hitting Percentage: No. 4 – Chichi Ikwuazom (.347)
Assists: No. 4 – Audrey Cheng (473)
Assists/Set: No. 5 – Audrey Cheng (8.60/set)
Aces No. 1 - Kalie Wood & Emily Teehan (22, 0.42/set)
Digs: No. 4 - Kalie Wood (233, 4.24/set)
Points/Set: No. 1 - Chichi Ikwuazom (4.23/set), No. 3 - Emily Teehan (3.86/set)
 
LAST TIME OUT
Columbia took a tough loss at home against co-league leader Yale but bounced back to end the weekend with a four-set victory against Brown. The Lions stumbled early against Yale, giving away an 18-12 lead in the first set and never getting back on track to fall in straight sets. Junior middle Rose Compton turned in a career-high of seven blocks and Emily Teehan led the match with 15 kills. The following day, Columbia got back in the groove and turned in an all-around impressive match. After splitting the first two sets, the Lions jumped out to a big lead in the fourth and held off a late Bears rally to take a 2-1 lead into the fourth. It all came together in the fourth as the Lions handily put away the match. Rookie Emily Teehan led the attack with a career-high 20 kills, while senior outside Lauren Wilkins posted 13 and first-year Isa Lamus came up with seven blocks.
 
TEEHAN GOES BACK TO BACK
First-year outside Emily Teehan continued to make an immediate impression on the Ivy League with her second straight Rookie of the Week selection on Monday. Teehan goes back-to-back after totaling 35 kills, 12 digs, three blocks and two aces in matches against Yale and Brown. The Toronto native averaged 5.00 kills per set, which included a career-high 20 kills and .341 hitting percentage to lead the Lions to a four-set victory over the Bears. Despite Columbia's three-set loss on Friday, Teehan racked up a match-high 15 kills against the first-place Bulldogs to go with five digs and three blocks.
 
IVY LEAGUE WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS
September 17: Player of the Week – Chichi Ikwuazom
October 1: Rookie of the Week – Emily Teehan
October 8: Rookie of the Week – Emily Teehan
 
IVY LEAGUE WEEKLY HONOR ROLL
September 3: Isa Lamus, Emily Teehan
September 10: Chichi Ikwuazom, Kalie Wood
September 17: Emily Teehan
September 24: Chichi Ikwuazom, Kalie Wood
October 1: Chichi Ikwuazom, Lauren Wilkins
October 8: Isa Lamus
 
ACING THE COMPETITION
Columbia is once again among the nation's best teams in service aces. The Lions enter the weekend ranked No. 23 in the NCAA and sit atop the Ivy League in aces per set (1.67). Kalie Wood (0.40) and Emily Teehan (0.40) share the Ivy League's individual lead. Both have also recorded the most total aces (22). Last season, Columbia averaged 1.73 aces per set, ranking No. 1 in the Ivy League and No. 8 in the final NCAA statistical rankings.
 
HOME DOMINANCE
Following Saturday's victory over Brown, Columbia improved its home record to 23-7 (.767) since the start of the 2016 season. The Lions went 11-3 at home in 2016, 7-2 last season and are 5-2 this year. Over that time, the Lions are also 14-5 (.737) in home Ivy League matches, going 6-1 in 2016 and 5-2 in 2017. Last season, the Lions defeated eventual Ivy League champion Princeton at Levien Gymnasium in five sets, marking the first win over the Tigers since 2012.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
 
Penn (3-15, 0-5 Ivy)
Series: Penn leads 43-8 (since 1988)
Last Meeting: Nov. 4, 2017 at Penn
Result: Penn 3 – Columbia 2 (18-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-16, 9-15)
 
Team Leaders:
Kills: Raven Sulaimon – 159, 2.84/set
Hitting Pct: Taylor Cooper – .277
Assists: Grace James – 328, 8.86/set
Digs: Caroline Furrer – 217, 3.74/set
Blocks: Taylor Cooper – 44, 0.88/set
Aces: Caroline Furrer – 12, 0.21/set

Penn started the year by winning two of their first three matches but carry an eight-match losing streak into play on Friday. Over the course of their current losing streak, the Quakers have won just three of 27 sets played. They are led on the attack by sophomore outside hitter Raven Sulaimon with 159 kills, but also receive a large contribution from fellow sophomore outside hitter Parker Jones, who is second on the team in kills (126) and digs (140). Senior middle Taylor Cooper heads the block with 44 on the year and is also the team leader in hitting percentage (.277). Columbia has come away victorious in three of its last four trips to the Palestra.

Princeton (11-5, 4-1 Ivy)
Series: Princeton leads 45-7 (since 1988)
Last Meeting: Nov. 3, 2017 at Princeton
Result: Princeton 3 – Columbia 0 (18-25, 23-25, 20-25)
 
Team Leaders:
Kills: Maggie O'Connell – 169, 3.31/set
Hitting Pct: Maggie O'Connell – .317
Assists: Jessie Harris – 596, 11.69/set
Digs: Cameron Dames – 251, 4.33/set
Blocks: Caroline Sklaver – 32, 0.68/set
Aces: Devon Peterkin – 17, 0.31/set

Princeton is coming into this game as part of a three-way tie for first in the Ivy League after suffering its first league loss against Harvard (20-25, 19-25, 23-25). The Tiger attack is bolstered by Maggie O'Connell and Devon Peterkin with 169 and 161 kills, respectively. O'Connell, the reigning Ivy League Player of the Year, is also fourth in the league in kills per set (3.31) and fifth in hitting (.317). Junior setter Jessie Harris is pacing the entire Ivy League in assists with 596 (11.69/set) and Princeton as a whole is leading the league in assists, kills, hitting percentage, and digs. The Lions will be looking for their first victory at Princeton since 2010.

WATCH ON ESPN+
After the Ivy League announced its partnership with ESPN, all home and Ivy League volleyball matches are scheduled to be played on the ESPN+ this fall. To sign up for ESPN+ for as low as $4.99/month or $49.99/annually, and catch all the action this season click here.