PHILADELPHIA — The Columbia volleyball team was defeated in three sets by the University of Pennsylvania (16-25, 15-25, 23-25) Friday night in Ivy League action at the Palestra.

Columbia falls back to .500 in league competition with the loss (9-7, 3-3 Ivy). Meanwhile, the Quakers (4-13, 1-5 Ivy) snapped an eight-match losing streak and earned their first Ivy League victory of the season.

The Lions struggled through the first two sets of what was their first road match of league play. They started to find their way in the third, taking their first lead of the set, 9-8, off a block by senior Luciana Del Valle and junior Rose Compton. The remainder of the frame saw the two sides stay within two points of each other. After coming level for a 13th time at 23-all, Penn put away the match off consecutive kills by sophomore Parker Jones and senior Grace James.

A bright spot for the Lions was the play of Del Valle, who led Columbia with nine kills while collecting six digs and two blocks. The senior's kill total was one off her season-high. Four of those kills came at a .444 clip in the first set.

"Luciana stepped up, had one of her better games and competed really hard," head coach Allison Keeley stated. "We just have to get up and go back at it tomorrow. We're confident in what we're able to do, we just have to execute."

Sophomore setter Audrey Cheng called her own number for five kills and attacked at a team-best .625 clip to go with eight digs and 22 assists. First-year outside Emily Teehan finished the night with eight kills, first-year middle Isa Lamus led the way in blocks with four and senior libero Kalie Wood registered a team-high nine digs.

Penn's Raven Sulaimon came off the bench for a match-high 12 kills. She was backed by nine kills apiece from Jones and senior Taylor Cooper. Cooper hit .571 and assisted three of her team's six blocks. James assisted 36 of Penn's 46 kills while putting down five kills of her own. Jones and junior Caroline Furrer each recorded 10 digs.

Columbia will look to rebound quickly as it heads up the Delaware River for a Saturday evening clash against defending Ivy League champion Princeton. First serve from Jadwin Gymnasium is scheduled for 5 p.m.

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.