NEW YORK — The Columbia volleyball team began Ivy League play with a hard-fought, four-set loss to Cornell (23-25, 18-25, 25-22, 25-27) Saturday afternoon at Levien Gymnasium.
 
After dropping the first two sets, Columbia (6-5, 0-1 Ivy) outlasted Cornell (6-5, 1-0 Ivy) through 15 ties and five lead changes, scoring six of the last eight points to get on the board and keep the match alive. The fourth was another tightly contested set that went all the way to the wire, as Columbia saved a match point and took a 25-24 lead on a kill by first-year Emily Teehan but could not put the set away. The Big Red scored the final three points, clinching the match on their 12th block of the afternoon.
 
"I think we are a little disappointed," said head coach Allison Keeley after her first Ivy League contest. "We worked really hard to get to this point and we just didn't execute on a lot of simple things we know how to do well. We need to shore up our serving and passing, but we'll be alright and bounce back for next weekend."
 
Leading the Columbia attack was senior Lauren Wilkins and first-year Emily Teehan. The outsides combined for 23 of the team's 46 kills and were the only two Lions to reach double figures. Teehan also posted 10 digs to secure the fifth double-double of her rookie campaign. Reigning Ivy League Player of the Week Chichi Ikwuazom had nine kills and a season-high seven blocks to lead the defense at the net. Junior libero Kalie Wood registered a match-high 19 digs.
 
For Cornell, senior Carla Sganderlla led all players with 20 kills, marking her second 20-kill match of the season. The outside hit .298 on 47 swings and completed a double-double with 12 digs. Junior middle Jada Stackhouse posted a match- and season-high eight blocks, while setter Zoe Chamness went for 35 assists and 11 digs for her double-double.
 
Cornell escaped with a first set the was largely controlled by Columbia. The Lions hit .357 and led by as many as five on six different occasions. A kill by Teehan brought the margin to 17-12, but the Big Red slowly chipped away before leveling the score at 19 and taking their first lead of the set after a Columbia timeout. The Lions battled back to take a 23-22 lead, but the momentum stopped there as Cornell scored the final three points and won the set on back-to-back service aces by Lily Barber.
 
The second set was all Cornell, seemingly grabbing all the momentum from the first to race ahead 10-2. Columbia's deficit grew to as many as 11 points, 15-4, but they didn't go down quietly. Consecutive aces by first-year Isa Lamus sliced the margin to 16-9 and a late 8-3 push brought the Lions all the way back with four, 22-18. One of Columbia's 13 service errors in the match stopped the run and Cornell went up two sets on a block by Jenna Phelps and Avery Hanan.
 
The five-minute intermission helped bring Columbia back to life. Neither side led by more than three points in a back-and-forth third set. After Cornell led the majority of the way, Columbia took its first lead since 10-9 when Jillienne Bennett sent an attack long to put the Lions on top, 21-20. Ikwuazom made it a two-point cushion with one of her two aces on the day before another Bennett error presented the Lions with three set points. Lamus and senior Luciana Del Valle clinched the set with a thunderous block that brought the Levien Gymnasium crowd to its feet.
 
The fourth played much like the third – again, neither side leading by more than three – and Columbia rolled off four straight points to go up 21-19 after a kill by Wilkins. The match appeared like it was headed to a fifth, but Cornell put away any thoughts of a comeback by saving set point with a kill by Stackhouse and escaping New York victorious on Hanan's and Phelps' block.
 
Columbia remains in the Big Apple for two Ivy League matches next weekend, welcoming Dartmouth to Levien Gymnasium on Friday at 7 p.m. before playing host to Harvard on Saturday at 5 p.m. Both matches will be available on ESPN+.

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.