NEW YORK — The Columbia volleyball team was defeated in three sets by reigning Ivy League champion Princeton (17-25, 19-25, 19-25) Friday night at Levien Gymnasium.
 
Columbia (9-12, 3-8 Ivy) played from behind through the majority of each set. The Lions hung tough to battle back from 20-11 down in the second and pull within as many as five. They also came back from a 10-4 Princeton start to the third, forcing the Tigers into a timeout at 15-11 before cutting the deficit to three on kill by Emily Teehan, 19-16. Ultimately, Princeton (16-6, 9-2 Ivy) proved to be too much, using a 13-kill, .522-hitting night by Maggie O'Connell to end the match in three.
 
The Lions were led by first-year Emily Teehan. The two-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week went for a match-high 15 kills and added five digs. It marked the Toronto native's 15th match of the season with double figures in the kills column. Senior Natasha Kosowicz, one of four seniors playing in their final weekend at Levien Gymnasium, boosted the Lions with a season-high six kills and topped it off with six digs. Junior libero Kalie Wood and senior Luciana Del Valle shared the match-high in digs with 15 apiece.
 
O'Connell's 13 kills highlighted the night for Princeton. Clare Lenihan added to the performance by hitting .318 with eight kills. Defensively, the Tigers outblocked Columbia, 8-2, behind six from Lenihan. Rookie Cameron Dames led the effort on the ground with 14 digs and was one of three Tigers to reach double figures. Setter Jessie Harris had the match's lone double-double, going for 31 assists and 10 digs.
 
Columbia got off to a positive start with the first two points of the match when Del Valle and junior Rose Compton rose up for a block that was followed by one of Grace Campbell's two aces in the match. Princeton quickly rebounded with seven of the next eight points and never trailed the rest of the set. Teehan kept it close with a kill at 11-9 before Kosowicz came in to serve and aced Devon Peterkin to tie things up at 12. However, the Tigers scored the next nine points on Dames' serve to take the opener.
 
The Lions again scored the opening two points of the second set when Del Valle put down a kill and followed up with an ace. Just as they did in the first, the Tigers countered with a big run to take command. They scored six of seven points to force Columbia to call for time. The Lions burned their second timeout trailing, 11-7, that wound up as part of an 8-1 run to put the Tigers in control. The lead grew to as many as nine, 20-11, before Columbia began to get back into it with four straight points. It wasn't enough to come all the way back as Princeton took a two-set advantage.
 
The third was the most competitive set of the night but Columbia's only two leads came at 1-0 and 3-2. Princeton capped a 5-0 run on a Lenihan kill to go up, 10-4, and the Lions were playing catchup the rest of the way. Four kills by Teehan and three kills on eight swings from first-year Isa Lamus kept the Lions hanging around. Teehan's 14th kill of the night made it a three-point match, 19-16, but back-to-back kills by Peterkin all but sealed it.
 
Columbia will hope to end the home season on a positive note and snap its six-match losing streak on Saturday when it welcomes Penn to Levien Gymnasium. The Lions will be celebrating Senior Day, honoring the careers of Madeleine Casey, Luciana Del Valle, Natasha Kosowicz and Lauren Wilkins in pre-match ceremony.

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