Columbia Heads for Harvard and Dartmouth

Friday, October 26

Cambridge, Mass.

7:00 P.M.

Columbia University

Harvard

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics/Mike McLaughlin

10/25/2018 2:21:00 PM | Volleyball

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Lions conclude three straight weekends on the road looking for a pair of season sweeps

NEW YORK – The Columbia volleyball team (9-9, 3-5 Ivy) complete a five-match Ivy League road swing this weekend when they take on Harvard (9-8, 4-4 Ivy) and Dartmouth (7-11, 3-5 Ivy). The Lions battle the Crimson Friday night from the Malkin Athletic Center at 7 p.m., followed by a date with the Big Green at Leede Arena Saturday at 5 p.m.

Both matches will be available on ESPN+. Live stats will be provided by GoCrimson.com and DartmouthSports.com.

IVY LEAGUE UPDATE
Columbia slipped to fifth in the Ivy League standings following last Saturday's five-set defeat at Cornell. The Lions find themselves in a two-way tie for their current position with Dartmouth (3-5 Ivy). Following last weekend's win over Big Green, Harvard (4-4 Ivy) has taken sole position of the fourth spot. Cornell (5-3 Ivy) remain in third place, two games behind league leaders Yale (7-1 Ivy) and Princeton (7-1 Ivy). Penn (2-6 Ivy) and Brown (1-7 Ivy) remain unchanged at seventh and eighth after both suffered losses to league leaders Princeton and Yale, respectively. The full Ivy League standings can be accessed at IvyLeagueSports.com.

LION LEADERS
Kills: Emily Teehan – 210, 3.18/set
Hitting Percentage: Chichi Ikwuazom – .347 (min. 1.00 kill/set)
Assists: Audrey Cheng – 562, 8.52/set
Digs: Kalie Wood – 270, 4.09/set
Blocks: Rose Compton – 51.0, 0.84/set
Aces: Emily Teehan & Kalie Wood – 25, 0.38/set

IVY LEAGUE LEADERS (TOP 5)
Total Kills: No. 2 – Emily Teehan (210)
Kills/Set: No. 2 – Chichi Ikwuazom (3.57), No. 5 – Emily Teehan (3.18)
Hitting Percentage: No. 3 – Chichi Ikwuazom (.347)
Assists: No. 5 – Audrey Cheng (562)
Assists/Set: No. 5 – Audrey Cheng (8.52/set)
Aces No. 1 – Emily Teehan (25), Kalie Wood (25)
Digs: No. 4 - Kalie Wood (270, 4.09/set)
Blocks/Set: No. 4 – Chichi Ikwuazom (1.08)
Total Points: No. 3 – Emily Teehan (244.0)
Points/Set: No. 1 - Chichi Ikwuazom (4.23/set), No. 4 - Emily Teehan (3.70/set)

LAST TIME OUT
The Lions dropped the first two sets last Saturday at Cornell but battled back, putting down 16 kills in the third and 15 in the fourth to force a deciding fifth. Unfortunately, Cornell responded with a .348 attack percentage in the fifth set, breaking it open with a 6-0 run to go up 10-4 and deflate Columbia's hopes of a comeback. Senior Lauren Wilkins led the Lions attack with a career high 16 kills, while first-year Emily Teehan had 15 kills and a season-high 17 digs for her seventh double-double. Sophomore setter Audrey Cheng assisted 47 of the Lions' 55 kills and recorded 12 digs for her sixth double-double of the campaign.

LAST TIME AGAINST HAVARD & DARTMOUTH
Columbia walked away with home victories over Dartmouth and Harvard the weekend of Sept. 28-29 in New York. The Lions earned a four-set win against Dartmouth and followed that up with another four-set win against Harvard. Junior middle Chichi Ikwuazom and first-year outside Emily Teehan led the way with 16 and 17 kills, respectively, against Dartmouth. Ikwuazom also turned in an impressive performance defensively by leading all players with a season-high eight blocks. The two-time First Team All-Ivy selection was at it again against Harvard, totaling 16 more kills and five blocks. Senior outside Lauren Wilkins hit a career-best .409 with 11 kills while Teehan added a dozen. Junior libero Kalie Wood also impressed with 16 digs and helped the team secure the win defensively.

TEEHAN GOES BACK TO BACK
First-year Emily Teehan made an immediate impression on the Ivy League with back-to-back Rookie of the Week selections (Oct. 1, Oct. 8). The rookie's latest honors came after totaling 35 kills, 12 digs, three blocks and two aces in matches against Yale and Brown. She averaged 5.00 kills per set and blasted a career-high 20 kills with a .341 hitting percentage to lead the Lions to a four-set victory over the Bears. Despite a loss against Yale, 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
October 15: Luciana Del Valle
October 22: Emily Teehan, Lauren Wilkins

ACING THE COMPETITION
Columbia still reigns as one of the nation's best teams in service aces. The Lions enter the weekend ranked No. 28 in the NCAA and sit atop the Ivy League with Yale in aces per set (1.58). Emily Teehan (0.38/set) and Kalie Wood (0.38/set) are tied for No. 1 in the league's statistical rankings. Both have also recorded the most total aces with 25 apiece. 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
Columbia boasts a home record of 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

Harvard (9-8, 4-4 Ivy)
Series: Harvard leads 31-18 (since 1988)
Last Meeting: Sept. 29, 2018 at Columbia
Result: Columbia 3 – Harvard 1 (25-19, 25-16, 18-25, 25-22)

Team Leaders:
Kills: Christina Cornelius – 189, 2.78/set
Hitting Pct: Christina Cornelius – .299 (min. 1.00 kill/set)
Assists: Bella Almanza – 512, 7.53/set
Digs: Anna Uhr – 254, 3.74/set
Blocks: Christina Cornelius – 77.0, 1.13/set
Aces: Mindie Mabry – 22, 0.32/set

After a stuttering start to their Ivy League play which saw them lose games against Dartmouth, Cornell and Columbia, the Crimson went on to record three wins in a row, including a 3-0 win over Princeton, which remains the lone blemish on the Tigers' Ivy League slate. Harvard was unable to get by co-leader Yale, falling to the Bulldogs in three sets, but welcome the Lions to Malkin Athletic Center after coming off a 3-1 win over Dartmouth. Defensively sound, Harvard rank third in the Ivies with 151 total blocks. The Crimson are a threat behind the service line, ranking third behind Columbia in aces.

Dartmouth (7-11, 3-5 Ivy)
Series: Dartmouth leads 25-24 (since 1988)
Last Meeting: Sept. 28, 2018 at Columbia
Result: Columbia 3 – Dartmouth 1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-20, 25-18)

Team Leaders:
Kills: Nicole Liddle – 126, 2.57/set
Hitting Pct: Francesca Meldrum – .349
Assists: Annemarie Horn – 259, 4.89/set, Corinne Cox – 259, 4.39/set
Digs: Zoe Leonard – 205, 3.94/set
Blocks: Francesca Meldrum – 57.0, 1.14/set
Aces: Bella Hedley – 16, 0.26/set

Dartmouth opened up Ivy League play against Harvard, beating them in a thrilling five-setter before going on to lose the next three matches to Columbia, Cornell, and Princeton. Since then the Big Green have been unable to maintain a win streak, splitting each of their last four matches. Dartmouth is second in the Ivy League in blocks, averaging 2.44 per set to Harvard's 2.45 per set. Tola Akinwumi (1.27) and Francesca Meldrum (1.14) lead the league individually. However, opposing teams are still averaging more than 13 kills per set against the Big Green, which ranks last in the Ancient Eight.

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.