WORCESTER, Mass. — Allison Keeley earned her first victory as head coach of the Columbia volleyball program with the Lions defeating tournament host Holy Cross in straight sets (25-19, 25-19, 25-19) Saturday afternoon. Columbia split the day's matches after falling to an undefeated Drake side (21-25, 21-25, 20-25).
 
"I thought we played well and executed the things we've been working on," said Keeley, who picked up her 225th career coaching victory. "We struggled to execute the things we haven't really tackled yet, but we were consistent. In general, one of our goals was to be gritty and tenacious, and I think we did that. We competed well and it was a positive start."
 
First-years Emily Teehan and Isa Lamus impressed in their first collegiate tournament. Teehan teed off against the Crusaders (0-6), hitting .536 with a match-high 17 kills and three aces to lead the Lions (1-2) to victory. The Toronto native added 10 more kills and four aces against Drake (6-0) and completed the weekend averaging 4.00 kills per set and totaling a team-best nine aces. Meanwhile, Lamus hit .435 with a match-high 14 kills against the Bulldogs and added eight kills at a .333 clip against Holy Cross. Lamus wrapped up the weekend hitting .404 with 32 kills and a team-high 10 blocks and was named to the Holy Cross Invitational All-Tournament Team.
 
"Emily and Isa are adjusting really well to the college game," Keeley added. "I also thought Madeleine Casey established herself as someone who could take on a larger role this year."
 
Casey started all three matches on the right side this weekend, totaling 34 kills (3.09/set), 25 digs (2.27/set) and six blocks (0.55/set). She posted career-highs in all three categories in Friday's season opener and totaled the second-most points for the Lions through the tournament.
 
Keeley also complimented starting libero Kalie Wood, who totaled 54 digs to an average of 4.91 per set in three matches. Sophomore setter Audrey Cheng quarterbacked the Lions to victory with 33 assists against the Crusaders and averaged 8.09 assists per set to start the campaign. Rookie setter Shari Stenglein made her collegiate debut against Drake and totaled a team-high 19 assists in two sets played.
 
"We're very deep at setter and all three have their strengths," Keeley went on to say. "Grace Campbell did a really nice job and helped during the Holy Cross game. Shari picked up the tempo of our offense against Drake."
 
Columbia scored 11 of the last 15 points of Saturday's first set against Holy Cross, snapping a 15-all tie with an 8-2 run that included a pair of kills from both Teehan and senior Luciana Del Valle. A 10-1 run that included six straight points off Teehan's serve broke open the second set. The rookie had three straight kills and one of her three aces in the match to put the set out of reach. Holy Cross tried to rally back from 24-15 down, but Teehan was there to put an end to the set.
 
A back-and-forth third set saw Holy Cross hold leads of 13-10 and 14-12 before the Lions came roaring back. A 7-2 spurt turned the tables, 19-16, before kills by senior Lauren Wilkins and Madeleine Casey presented the Lions with match point. Kalie Wood finished it off with an ace.
 
The latter match of the day saw Columbia give an unbeaten Drake team everything it could handle before ultimately coming up short. The Lions held leads of 10-5, 15-11 and 19-15 in the opening set, but Drake went on a 7-0 run that Columbia couldn't stop despite using both of its timeouts. Cathryn Cheek put down the set clincher with one of her team-high eight kills.
 
Drake jumped out to a 12-4 lead in the second but the Lions hung tough and climbed their way back within two late. Three straight kills by Lamus cut Drake's lead to 23-21, but that was as close as it got as the Bulldogs took a two-set lead. Columbia tried to rally again late in the third after trailing 23-16, using back-to-back kills by Del Valle and Lamus, as well as an ace from Rose Compton. A blocking error thwarted the comeback effort.
 
Columbia travels to Delaware next weekend for the Delaware Invite. Action begins Friday with a doubleheader against Grand Canyon and Marist beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday pits the Lions against the host Blue Hens at 12:30 p.m.

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