NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The Columbia volleyball team ended the 2018 season with a three-set defeat to Ivy League champion Yale (20-25, 32-34, 15-25) Saturday evening at Lee Amphitheater.
 
Columbia finishes the year with a record of 10-14 overall and a 4-10 mark in league play. The Lions tied for sixth in the Ivy standings with Brown. Meanwhile, Yale (19-4, 13-1 Ivy) clinched the outright Ivy League title and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It is the seventh time over the last nine years the Bulldogs have earned at least a share of the championship.
 
The second set went a long way in deciding the outcome of Saturday's finale. It consisted of 20 ties and seven lead changes before the Bulldogs pulled it out. The Lions earned their first of five set points when Rose Compton put down one of her six kills in the match to give the Lions a 25-24 lead. Yale called for time and saved the set on a kill by Ellis DeJardin. The two sides went back-and-forth and traded eight set points between one another. Yale earned its fourth crack at the set off another DeJardin point before the first-year clinched it with her eighth kill of the set.
 
The second set's outcome seemed to deflate Columbia's hopes of winning the match as Yale jumped out to a 12-4 advantage in the third and led throughout to complete the sweep.
 
Despite the way the season played out, head coach Allison Keeley said the Lions have a lot going for them heading into next year. "We had a tremendous work ethic and played with a lot of resilience," said Keeley after her first season with the program. "I thought this team continued to improve and fight, despite some injuries, and played their best ball at the end of the season. We have a lot of really good young players that can really help us make an impact in this league."
 
Madeleine Casey led the Lions with 14 kills in what was her final collegiate match. The senior hit .346 on 26 attack attempts just one night after setting her career-high in kills with 22 against Brown. Compton, a junior, hit .312 with six kills on 16 swings and added two blocks. Sophomore setter Audrey Cheng ended the year with her eighth double-double, tallying 26 assists, 10 digs, four kills and a block. Senior Luciana Del Valle went for a match-high 16 digs, junior libero Kalie Wood had 14 and first-year Shari Stenglein came up with 10.
 
DeJardin led Yale with 14 kills (.282) and earned a double-double by adding 13 digs. Samantha Bray and Kelley Wirth had a dozen kills apiece. Bray hit .400 and added a match-high four blocks. Setter Frances Arnatou also had four blocks to go with her match-high 42 assists.
 
The Ivy League will announce its postseason honors and awards next week.

WATCH ON ESPN+
After the Ivy League announced its partnership with ESPN, all Ivy League and home matches are scheduled to be played on ESPN+. 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.