PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Senior Madeleine Casey hit .326 and tallied a career-high 22 kills but the Columbia volleyball team could not come away with a victory, falling in a five-set heartbreaker against Brown (18-25, 26-25, 25-22, 17-25, 13-15) Friday night at the Pizzitola Sports Center.
Columbia (10-13, 4-9 Ivy) saved a set point in the second and scored the final three points of the second and third sets to lead 2-1 heading to the fourth. Brown (11-12, 4-9 Ivy) broke open a 12-all tie in the fourth by scoring 13 of the final 18 points to force a deciding fifth. The two sides were deadlocked at 13 after a kill by senior Luciana Del Valle. However, it was Brown that put away the match, using back-to-back kills by Eliza Grover and Elisa Merten to complete the comeback.
Casey's 22 kills marked the most by a Lion this season and topped the San Diego native's previous career best by six. She put away the second set with two kills and block to score each of the last three points. The senior right-side was nearly unstoppable in the third, hitting .500 with six kills on 10 swings. She also went for five kills on nine swings in an effort to help the Lions try and win the final set.
Del Valle joined Casey in double figures with 11 kills while also tying her season-high in digs (16) to earn her second double-double. Five Lions went for 10-plus digs on the night, led by junior libero Kalie Wood's match-high 24. Sophomore Setter Audrey Cheng recorded her seventh double-double with 42 assists and a career-high 19 digs. She also racked up a career-high nine kills (.529) to come up one shy of her first triple-double.
Grover and Ehlert led the way for Brown with 16 and 15 kills, respectively. Grover hit .333 and added 11 digs. Ehlert also got a double-double by digging up 19 balls. Paris Winkler led all Bears with 21 digs.
The Bears outblocked the Lions, 11-6, on the evening, including three critical blocks in the final set. Jacqueline Jacobs and Tylin Stiller headed the defensive effort at the net with five blocks apiece. Grover and Merten each had four.
The Lions complete the season on Saturday at Yale. First serve from Lee Amphitheater is set for 5 p.m.
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.
