Lions Head to Brown, Yale for Season Finale

Friday, November 9

Providence, R.I.

7:00 P.M.

Columbia

Brown

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics/Mike McLaughlin

11/8/2018 3:02:00 PM | Volleyball

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

Volleyball has a chance to climb as high as fourth in the league standings heading into the final weekend of play

NEW YORK – The Columbia volleyball team (10-12, 4-8 Ivy) will travel to Brown and Yale this weekend for the final two games of the season. The action begins Friday at 7 p.m. when the Lions go for a season sweep against the Bears (10-12, 3-9 Ivy). The season finale is Saturday at 5 p.m. against league-leading Yale (17-4, 11-1 Ivy).

Both matches will be available on ESPN+. Live stats will be provided by BrownBears.com and YaleBulldogs.com.

IVY LEAGUE UPDATE
Columbia enters its final weekend in sixth place with a 4-8 Ivy League record. The Lions have a chance to climb as high as fourth with both Harvard (5-7) and Dartmouth (5-7) just one game ahead. Both teams are on the road against Princeton (10-2) and Penn (2-10). The Tigers are the only team that can catch first-place Yale (11-1). The Bulldogs welcome Cornell (8-4) and Columbia (4-8) to New Haven.

The full Ivy League standings can be accessed at IvyLeagueSports.com.

LION LEADERS
Kills: Emily Teehan – 265, 3.35/set
Hitting Percentage: Chichi Ikwuazom – .347 (min. 1.00 kill/set)
Assists: Audrey Cheng – 675, 8.54/set
Digs: Kalie Wood – 324, 4.10/set
Blocks: Rose Compton – 59.0, 0.80/set
Aces: Emily Teehan – 29, 0.37/set

IVY LEAGUE LEADERS (TOP 5)
Total Kills: No. 1 – Emily Teehan (265)
Kills/Set: No. 3 – Emily Teehan (3.35)
Assists: No. 3 – Audrey Cheng (674)
Assists/Set: No. 4 – Audrey Cheng (8.53/set)
Aces No. 1 – Emily Teehan (29), No. 3 – Kalie Wood (27)
Digs: No. 4 - Kalie Wood (294, 4.08/set)
Total Points: No. 2 – Emily Teehan (303.0)

LAST TIME OUT
Columbia wrapped up the home portion of its schedule with matches against Princeton and Penn last weekend. The Lions fell in three sets to the Tigers but responded with a four-set victory over Penn on Senior Night. After splitting two close sets, Columbia found itself trailing 13-7 in the third. Senior Madeleine Casey rose up for one of her five kills to turn the tide before first-year Shari Stenglein provided a timely ace to level the score at 17. Columbia was still clawing from behind down, 23-21, but scored the final four points to take a 2-1 set lead. In the fourth set, senior Lauren Wilkins put down each of Columbia's final four points to secure the victory and snap a six-match losing streak. Wilkins finished the night hitting .344 with 14 kills and three blocks while first-year Emily Teehan went for 15 kills and 11 digs to mark her ninth double-double.

LAST TIME AGAINST BROWN & YALE
Columbia hosted the two teams they will play this weekend during the first week of October. The Lions fell in straight sets to Yale (23-25, 21-25, 18-25) but earned a four-set win over the Bears (25-20, 17-25, 25-23, 25-13). First-year Emily Teehan went for a season-high 20 kills in the victory while senior Lauren Wilkins had 13. Teehan also put up 15 kills in the loss to Yale and went on to be named Ivy League Rookie of the Week for a second consecutive week.

SENIOR SEND-OFF
The careers of seniors Madeleine Casey, Luciana Del Valle, Natasha Kosowicz and Lauren Wilkins were honored prior to Saturday's match against Penn. The four seniors are all four-year members of the program who helped the Lions to a third-place finish with a 9-5 Ivy League record in 2016, tying for the most league wins in program history. Columbia has also been dominant at home since this senior class arrived at Morningside Heights, posting a record of 29-13 (.690) over the last four years at Levien Gymnasium. It included an 11-3 mark in 2016 that saw the program's first 3-0 start to Ivy League play.

HOME DOMINANCE
Columbia boasts a home record of 24-8 (.750) since the start of the 2016 season. The Lions went 11-3 at home in 2016, 7-2 last season and 6-3 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.

HONOR ROLLING
First-year Emily Teehan made her fifth appearance on the Ivy League Honor Roll for her performance last weekend against Princeton and Penn. The rookie strung together back-to-back 15-kill performances which also included 11 digs for her ninth double-double of the season in the victory over Penn. Teehan has reached double figures in kills in five straight matches heading into this weekend, including 15 kills in four of the last five. Senior outside Lauren Wilkins and sophomore setter Audrey Cheng were also named to this week's Honor Roll. Wilkins hit .344 with 14 kills on her Senior Night to help defeat the Quakers. Cheng went for 40 assists in the match while hitting .417 with six kills, six digs and a block.

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
October 29: Emily Teehan
November 5: Emily Teehan, Lauren Wilkins, Audrey Cheng

ACING THE COMPETITION
Columbia still reigns as one of the nation's best teams in service aces. The Lions enter the weekend ranked No. 48 in the NCAA and are ranked second the Ivy League in aces per set (1.51). Emily Teehan (0.37/set) and Kalie Wood (0.34/set) go No. 1 and 2 in the league's statistical rankings with Teehan also cracking the NCAA's rankings at No.79. Both have also recorded the most total aces in the Ivy League with 29 and 27, respectively. Last season, Columbia averaged 1.73 aces per set, ranking No. 1 in the Ivies and No. 8 in the final NCAA statistical rankings.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS

Brown (10-12, 3-9 Ivy)
Series: Brown leads 34-19 (since 1988)
Last Meeting: Oct. 6, 2018 at Columbia
Result: Columbia 3 – Brown 1 (25-20, 17-25, 25-23, 25-13)

Team Leaders:
Kills: Sabrina Stillwell – 270, 3.70/set
Hitting Pct: Jacqueline Jacobs – .272
Assists: Kristin Sellers – 733, 8.14/set
Digs: Paris Winkler – 327, 3.63/set
Blocks: Jacqueline Jacobs – 71.0, 1.06/set
Aces: Makena Ehlert – 25, 0.28/set

Brown will hope to avoid being caught by last-place Dartmouth as the Bears sit in seventh place at 3-9 in league play, one game ahead of the Big Green. They earned a big five-set victory last weekend at Harvard (18-25, 25-23, 28-30, 26-24, 15-8) in which they fended off match point in the fourth set. Brown has played five five-set matches against league competition with a record of 2-3 in those matches. They rank last in Ivy play in hitting (.159), kills (10.76/set), assists (10.16/set), blocks (1.78/set), aces (0.98/set) and opponent hitting percentage (.243).

Yale (17-4, 11-1 Ivy)
Series: Yale leads 45-5 (since 1988)
Last Meeting: Oct. 5, 2018 at Columbia
Result: Yale 3 – Columbia 0 (23-25, 21-25, 18-25)

Team Leaders:
Kills: Ellis DeJardin – 203, 2.86/set
Hitting Pct: Frances Arnautou – .317
Assists: Frances Arnautou – 764, 10.61/set
Digs: Kate Swanson – 359, 4.99/set
Blocks: Samantha Bray – 63.0, 1.03/set
Aces: Gray Malias – 21, 0.29/set

Yale controls its own destiny with a one-game lead on Princeton entering the final weekend of play. The Bulldogs have rolled off nine straight wins and are a perfect 7-0 on the year at home, including 5-0 in league play. The only team to defeat the Bulldogs in Ivy League play was Princeton, who did so in four sets on September 29 in New Jersey. Yale got its revenge with a five-set victory two weeks ago in New Haven. The Bulldogs rank No. 1 through league play in aces (1.45/set) and opponent hitting percentage (.155). They are second in hitting percentage (.225), kills (13.48/set), assists (12.73/set), blocks (2.83/set) and digs (16.05/set). Junior setter Frances Arnautou is second in the league in assists per set (10.90) and 10th in digs per set (3.10). Senior libero Kate Swanson leads all Ivy competitors in digs per set (5.13).

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.