Lions Set to Host Yale and Brown This Weekend

Friday, October 5

New York, N.Y.

7:00 P.M.

Columbia University

Yale

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics/Mike McLaughlin

10/4/2018 10:59:00 AM | Volleyball

ESPN+ vs. Yale ESPN+ vs. Brown Live Stats

Volleyball Alumnae Day Friday, Dig Pink Saturday

NEW YORK – Columbia volleyball (8-5, 2-1 Ivy) will look to build on its success from last weekend when it hosts Yale (8-4, 2-1 Ivy) on Friday followed by Brown (8-5, 1-2 Ivy) on Saturday. Friday's match begins at 7 p.m. and will be Alumnae Day. Saturday is Dig Pink night with the match starting at 5 p.m.

Both of this weekend's matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Live stats will be provided by GoColumbiaLions.com with live updates also available by following @CUVB on Twitter.

WEEKEND EVENTS
Friday is Columbia Volleyball Alumnae Day. Volleyball alumnae in attendance will be recognized between the second and third sets. The Lion Store will also be open at Friday's game and will be located in the lobby outside the floor level of Levien Gym. An alumnae game will take place Saturday morning at 10 a.m.

Saturday is Columbia's annual "Dig Pink" game. The first 100 fans will receive a pink Columbia Volleyball aluminum water bottle. The Lions will be wearing pink socks and pink warmups to help raise breast cancer awareness. Each year, hundreds of teams across the country participate in Dig Pink. Click here for more information on Dig Pink.

LION LEADERS
Kills: Emily Teehan – 147, 3.06/set
Hitting Percentage: Chichi Ikwuazom – .347 (min. 1.00 kill/set)
Assists: Audrey Cheng – 409, 8.52/set
Digs: Kalie Wood – 207, 4.31/set
Blocks: Chichi Ikuwazom – 40, 1.08/set
Aces: Kalie Wood & Emily Teehan – 20, 0.42/set

IVY LEAGUE LEADERS (TOP 5)
Kills: No. 3 – Chichi Ikwuazom (3.57/set), No. 5 – Emily Teehan (3.06/set)
Hitting Percentage: No. 4 – Chichi Ikwuazom (.347)
Aces No. 1 - Kalie Wood & Emily Teehan (0.42/set)
Digs: No. 4 - Kalie Wood (4.31/set)
Points: No. 2 - Chichi Ikwuazom (4.23/set), No. 4 - Emily Teehan (3.63/set)

IVY LEAGUE SWEEP
Columbia is feeling good after walking away with home victories over Dartmouth and Harvard last weekend. 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 Dartmouth, 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 EARNS ROOKIE OF THE WEEK HONORS
For her exceptional performance last weekend, first-year outside hitter Emily Teehan was named the Ivy League's Rookie of the Week for the first time. The Toronto native helped Columbia to a pair of Ivy league wins by totaling 29 kills, 18 digs, six aces and three blocks. Teehan averaged 3.62 kills, 2.25 digs and 0.75 aces per set, recording her team-leading sixth double-double with a season-high 17 kills and 10 digs in Friday's victory over the Big Green. Saturday, Teehan followed up with a dozen kills, eight digs and her second straight three-ace match against the Crimson, hitting .400 with five kills in the final set to clinch the match. Teehan ranks among the Ivy League's top five in kills per set (3.06) and points per set (3.63) while leading all ivy league rookies in both categories. Additionally, she is No. 1in the league in aces, totaling 20 on the season and averaging 0.42 per set.

CHICHI AWARDED FIRST PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior middle Chichi Ikwuazom was named Ivy League Player of the Week for the first time in her career for matches played Sept. 10-16. Ikwuazom led the Lions to a 3-1 record that weekend, including home sweeps over St. Francis and Fordham, as well as a five-set triumph at Hofstra. The two-time First Team All-Ivy League selection wrapped up the weekend hitting .400 with 54 kills (3.86/set) and 12 blocks (0.86/set). Her highlights included a 14-kill performance and .545 hitting percentage against St. Francis, followed by 13 kills and five blocks the following day at Hofstra. Ikwuazom was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week three times in 2016.

IVY LEAGUE WEEKLY HONOR ROLL
September 3 – Isa Lamus, Emily Teehan
September 10 – Chichi Ikwuazom, Kalie Wood
September 17 – Chichi Ikwuazom (POTW), Emily Teehan
September 24 – Chichi Ikwuazom, Kalie Wood
October 1 – Emily Teehan (ROTW), Chichi Ikwuazom, Lauren Wilkins

ACING THE COMPETITION
Columbia is once again among the nation's best teams in service aces. The Lions enter the weekend No. 22 in the NCAA and sit atop the Ivy League in aces per set (1.69). Kalie Wood (0.42) and Emily Teehan (0.42) share the Ivy League's individual lead and both have also recorded the most total aces (20). 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
After picking up two more wins last weekend, Columbia improved its home record to 22-6 (.786) since the start of the 2016 season. The Lions went 11-3 at home in 2016 and followed with a 7-2 mark a season ago. Over that time, the Lions are also 11-4 (.733) 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

Yale (8-4, 2-1 Ivy)
Series: Yale leads 44-5 (since 1988)
Last Meeting: Nov. 11, 2017 at Columbia
Result: Yale 3 – Columbia 2 (17-25, 30-28, 33-31, 19-25, 8-15)

Team Leaders:
Kills: Ellis DeJardin – 113, 2.76/set
Hitting Pct: Kate Swanson – .333
Assists: Frances Arnautou – 437, 10.40/set
Digs: Kate Swanson – 210, 5.00/set
Blocks: Frances Arnautou – 29.0, 0.69/set
Aces: Frances Arnautou/Kate Swanson – 12, 0.29/set

Yale earned back-to-back road sweeps over Brown and Penn before dropping their first Ivy League match of the season at Princeton in four. The Bulldogs hosted the Tigers in a one-game playoff to determine the Ivy League's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament last season but fell in three sets. Yale went 6-3 through the non-conference season, including four straight wins to start the year against Fairfield, Central Connecticut State, Quinnipiac and Army. The Bulldogs rank second in the Ivy League in kills (13.48), assists (12.60), aces (1.45) and blocks (2.21) per set. Junior setter Frances Arnautou leads the team in assists, blocks and aces and ranks No. 2 in the Ivy League in assists per set (10.40). Senior libero Kate Swanson's 5.00 digs per set pace the Ancient Eight.

Brown (8-5, 1-2 Ivy)
Series: Brown leads 34-18 (since 1988)
Last Meeting: Nov. 10, 2017 at Columbia
Result: Columbia 3 – Brown 0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-22)

Team Leaders:
Kills: Sabrina Stillwell – 208, 4.00/set
Hitting Pct: Jacqueline Jacobs – .313
Assists: Kristin Sellers – 511, 9.83/set
Digs: Paris Winkler – 182, 3.50/set
Blocks: Tylin Stiller – 42.0, 0.84/set
Aces: Makena Ehlert/Sabrina Stillwell – 14, 0.27/set

After opening Ivy League play with three-set losses to Yale and Princeton, Brown got in the win column with a come-from-behind, five-set victory at Penn on Saturday (23-25, 17-25, 25-22, 26-24, 15-13). It marked the Bears' first victory at the Palestra since 2013. Brown rolled off four straight wins over Niagara, Bucknell, Chicago State and Stetson on the way to a 7-3 mark in non-conference play. They lead the Ivy League by one percentage in point in hitting (.230) and are also No. 2 in digs (16.38) and No. 3 in kills (13.38) per set. Senior Sabrina Stillwell leads the attack with an Ivy League-best 4.00 kills per set. Stillwell posted 20-plus kills five times in non-conference play but has been limited to a total of nine in Brown's last two matches combined. She is also the league leader in points per set (4.39).

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.