Lions Make Trip To Yale And Brown

Friday, October 18

New Haven, Conn.

7:00 P.M.

Columbia University

Yale

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics/Mike McLaughlin

10/17/2019 4:30:00 PM | Volleyball

Watch (Yale)Live Stats (Yale)Watch (Brown)Live Stats (Brown)

Columbia Volleyball will make another Ivy League swing, with a visit to Yale on Friday, Oct. 18 and Brown on Saturday, Oct. 19.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – After a weekend Ivy League sweep at home, Columbia Volleyball (10-5, 3-2 IVY), who is riding a three-matching winning streak, again will hit the road for a pair of Ivy League matches starting with Yale (8-6, 4-1 IVY) on Friday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m., before finishing the weekend at Brown (9-6, 1-4 IVY) on Saturday, Oct. 19 with that match set to get going at 5 p.m., with both matches being streamed on ESPN+.

HOW TO WATCH/FOLLOW
at Yale – Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+) | Twitter (@CUVB)
at Brown – Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+) | Twitter (@CUVB)

REVIEWING THE PREVIOUS WEEK: After winning its first Ivy League match on Oct. 5 at Penn, Columbia continued its winning ways with a weekend sweep at Levien Gym, taking down Harvard in straight sets and Dartmouth in four sets to improve to 3-2 in the league. Over the two matches, the Lions recorded 14 blocks in each match for a weekend total of 28 blocks, the most in back-to-back matches since 2017.

Sophomore Emily Teehan was key over the weekend, recording a season-high 17 kills against Dartmouth and 11 against Harvard for 28 kills over the weekend and the Lion sophomore has now recorded at least 10 kills in five straight matches. Not to be outdone, senior Chichi Ikwuazom racked up 33 total kills on her way to an Ivy League Honor Roll nod, while first-year Soah Franklin was a force at the net, helping the Lions rack up 28 blocks over the two matches with 11 total blocks over the weekend as she got her first Ivy League Honor Roll nod.

WOODALL GETS IT DONE: Besides the production the Lions received from Ikuwazom and Teehan, another key factor to the Lions' weekend sweep and three-match winning streak is the emergence of first-year Pierce Woodall, who over the weekend racked up 13 kills, including eight big kills against Dartmouth, and over the past three matches she has 19 kills in the best stretch of her young collegiate campaign.

IVY LEAGUE LEADERS: The Lions, along with Ikwuazom and junior Audrey Cheng, sit near the top of the conference in a handful of categories. As a team, Columbia is first in assists per set (12.67), team assists (740), team digs (804), team kills (785) and total team attacks (1,922).

The Lions have also been hitting near the top of the league, sitting second in hitting percentage (.260) and team total blocks (109) while they are averaging 13.53 kills per set which is third in the league. As for Ikwuazom and Cheng, the Lion senior sits first in attacks per set (10.10), hitting percentage (.454), kills per set (5.64), total points (367), points per set (6.33) and total kills (327). Cheng, not to be outdone, is the only student-athlete from the Ivy League to have recorded a triple-double this season and she sits third in the league in assists per set (9.71) and first in total assists (563).

CHICHI ADDS TO THE CASE, AGAIN: Ikwuazom was named the Ivy League Player of the Week following her 67-kill three match performance over the week of Sept. 30-Oct. 5. Ikwuazom, during the week, hit .514 while averaging 5.58 kills per set over the stretch.

Ikwuazom has been filling up her trophy case over the first month of the season and she was named the Ivy League Player of the Week over the first three weeks, giving her three straight weeks from Sept. 9-23 where Ikwuazom held the title. And with this past week's nod Ikwuazom has now held the Ivy League Player of the Week mantle four out of the five times it has been handed out so far this season.

The Lion senior's performance has also gotten national attention as well, with Ikwuazom being named the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week, for the week of Sept. 23, following her three-match performance the weekend prior, where she racked up 81 total kills, averaged 5.79 kills per set and hit .470.

NATIONAL CHICHI: Entering the weekend, Ikwuazom remains ranked as one of the best in the nation on the offensive side, as she is second in points per set (6.33), third in kills per set (5.64) third in hitting percentage (.454) and ninth in total points (367.0) and total kills (327).

ROBICHAUD'S ROOKIE NOD: First-year Kiara Robichaud was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week for the week of Sept. 23. That nod gave her two accolades over the first month of her collegiate career with a visit to the Ivy League Honor Roll coming on the week before.

CHENG TRIPLES UP: In Columbia's home opener against Fordham, on Sept. 19, Cheng had herself a night, recording 47 assists, 13 kills and 12 digs on her way to her first career double-double and the first by a Lion since Paula Lobeck recorded a triple-double on Sept. 17, 2002. Historically it was the ninth triple-double in program history and Cheng becomes the fourth Lion to ever record a triple-double.

Nationally, Cheng is one of 22 student-athletes to have recorded at least one triple-double so far this season.

WHAT THE BULLDOGS BRING: Yale comes into its match with Columbia having won eight out of its previous nine matches, including an eight-match winning streak that was snapped during Yale's last match (Oct. 13) in a straight set loss at Princeton. Before that loss, the Bulldogs had opened up Ivy League play with wins over Brown, Harvard, Dartmouth and Penn, outscoring their opponents 12-1 over the stretch.

Yale holds a 46-5 advantage in the all-time series, and the Bulldogs have taken the previous five matches contested between the two programs. A win on Friday by Columbia would be the first win over Yale since Sept. 30, 2016, a 3-2 win on Morningside, and a victory in New Haven, Connecticut would only be the second win all-time at Yale, with the lone road win coming on Oct. 27, 2001.

Kathryn Attar (127) and Ellis DeJardin (126) lead the offensive attack for Yale, while Frances Arnautou, with 488 assists, has been the grease in the Bulldog's offensive wheels throughout the season. Defensively, Yurika Boyd leads the team with 190 digs (3.80 Dig/S), while Izzy Simqu (33.0) and Bray (31.0) have controlled the net and lead the team in blocks.

In the league, Yale is middle-of-the-road, borderline bottom of the league in all categories, but they sit third in the Ivy League in aces per set (1.50), digs per set (14.26) and team attacks per set (34.32). Individually, Arnautou sits second in the league in assists per set (9.76) and Bray is fifth in the league in hitting percentage, hitting .372.

WHAT THE BEARS BRING: Brown will first host Cornell, on Oct. 18, before the Lions visit Providence, Rhode Island, but entering the weekend the Bears have lost three straight Ivy League matches and four out of its last five. The previous weekend saw Brown fall in straight sets at Penn (Oct. 11) before losing in four at Princeton (Oct. 12) and over the five Ivy League matches Brown has played they have been outscored, 4-12.

The all-time series sees Brown holding a 35-19 advantage, with the Bears taking the last matchup between the two programs, 3-2, in Providence. But Columbia did take the 2018 meeting between the two that was played at Levien Gym, 3-1, and the last time that Columbia went to Brown and won was a straight set victory on Oct. 28, 2016.

With 378 assists and an average of 6.63 assists per set, Kristin Sellers has been the catalyst for the Bears offense, helping set up Makena Ehlert for a team-high 178 kills. On the defensive side of things, Ehlert also leads the team with 147 digs, while Kaitlyn Wong sits right behind her with 134 digs.

Where the Bears do have numbers is on the block, with Jacqueline Jacobs leading the way with 38 blocks, but Eliza Grover and Tylin Stiller both come in with 34 blocks each to give the Bears three strong blockers. As a team, the Bears rank second in the Ivy League in aces per set (1.51), team service aces (86), team total attacks (1,907) and team total blocks (109).

FOLLOWING THE LIONS: Stay up to date on all things Columbia Volleyball by following the Lions on Twitter (@CUVB), Instagram (@columbiawvball) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).