Volleyball Heads To Princeton And Penn For An Ivy League Road Swing

Friday, October 4

Princeton, N.J.

7:00 P.M.

Columbia University

Princeton

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics/Mike McLaughlin

Volleyball Heads To Princeton And Penn For An Ivy League Road Swing

10/3/2019 1:32:00 PM | Volleyball

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Columbia Volleyball will head on the road to continue conference play as they head to Princeton on Oct. 4 and Penn on Oct. 5.

PRINCETON, N.J. – Looking for its first Ivy League win of the season, Columbia Volleyball (7-4, 0-1 IVY) again hits the road, for the second straight weekend for a pair of Ivy League matches, this time taking on the Princeton Tigers (5-5, 1-0 IVY) at Dillon Gymnasium on Friday, Oct. 4 (7 p.m.), before wrapping up the weekend at Penn (7-3, 0-1 IVY) on Saturday, Oct. 5 (5 p.m.).

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

REVIEWING THE PREVIOUS WEEK: The Lions opened up Ivy League play this past Saturday (Sept. 28) with a visit to Cornell, in a match that the Lions lost in straight sets, 21-25, 16-25, 19-25. Columbia returned to action on Monday, Sept. 30, when they hosted Stony Brook, a match Columbia would drop as well, this time in four sets, 17-25, 13-25, 25-16, 24-26.

Despite the overall results, senior Chichi Ikwuazom continued her great senior campaign, recording 15 kills while hitting .407 against Cornell. In the match against Stony Brook, Ikwuazom again finished with the match-high in kills, collecting 23 on 33 total attacks to hit for a unbelievable number of .576.

NATIONAL CHICHI: Entering the weekend, Ikwuazom is ranked as one of the best in the nation on the offensive side, as she is second in points per set (6.45), third in kills per set (5.81) fourth in hitting percentage (.480) and 11th in total kills (250) and total points (277.5).

IVY LEAGUE LEADERS: 11 matches into the 2019 season, and 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 (12.53), team assists (539), team digs (597) and team kills (573).

The Lions have also been hitting near the top of the league, sitting second in hitting percentage (.256) and total attacks (1,431) while sitting third in kills per set (13.33). As for Ikwuazom and Cheng, the Lion senior sits first in hitting percentage, kills per set, total points, points per set and total kills, while sitting second in attacks per set. 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 second in the league in assists per set (9.33).

CHICHI ADDS TO THE CASE: 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 has held the title. Ikwuazom's performance also got 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.

ROBICHAUD'S ROOKIE NOD: First-year Kiara Robichaud joined Ikwuazom on the Ivy League award list, with Robichaud being 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 21 student-athletes to have recorded at least one triple-double so far this season.

WHAT THE TIGERS BRING: Princeton enters Friday's match with Columbia having won its previous three matches, including taking its Ivy League opener against Penn in straight sets, at home on Sept. 27. This will be only the third home match of the season for Princeton, with the Tigers having split their home schedule, having lost a tough five-set match to then-ranked No. 14 Oregon on Sept. 17 and they carry a 5-5, 1-0 Ivy League record into the match with Columbia.

All-time Princeton leads the series, 47-7, and this will be the 55th meeting all-time between the two programs. The Tigers have taken the previous three matches, with Columbia's last win coming on Morningside in 2017 and the last time that the Tigers went into Dillon Gym and won was in 2010.

Jessie Harris leads the Tigers in setting up their offense, with 358 total assist and she is averaging 10.53 assists per set, which places her first in the league. The scoring has come from Devon Peterkin's 128 kills (3.56 k/s) and Elena Montgomery's 115 kills (3.48 k/s) while on the defensive side of things, Peterkin has led the way with 94 digs and Maggie O'Connell and Clare Lenihan are both tied in the team in blocks with 25 each.

As a team, the Tigers are hitting .230, while opponents are hitting just a bit better at .233, but the Tigers have been efficient setting the ball, averaging 12.2 assists per set, which ranks them third in the league.

WHAT THE QUAKERS BRING: The Quakers will host Cornell on Oct. 4 before the Lions visit The Palestra, but the Quakers enter the weekend at 7-3, 0-1 Ivy League after dropping their conference opener at Princeton, on Sept. 27, and they will play Cornell having lost the previous two matches, which comes off a stretch where the Quakers won six straight matches, including taking two of three on a west coast trip that saw them take down Seattle (W, 3-2) and UC Riverside (W, 3-1).

The all-time record for the series is 44-9 with Penn owning the advantage heading into what will be the 54th meeting all-time, but the Lions did take the previous match, 3-1, on Morningside to collect a win on Senior Day. The last time the Lions went into The Palestra and won was a 3-1 victory in 2016.

Carmina Raquel has been a defensive force for the Quakers, leading the team and the Ivy League in total digs (197) and her 4.80 digs per set ranks her 39th in the country. Offensively Parker Jones is leading Penn in total kills (122) and kills per set (2.98), while Kylie Kulinski has been setting the table for the Quakers' offense with a team leading 170 assists, but she has gotten help from Taylor Fourticq's 133 assists.

As a team, the Quakers have been serving with high efficiency, as they have recorded 65 total service aces which ranks them first in the league. Penn has also been solid hitting, racking up a hitting percentage of .201 while holding teams to a hitting percentage of .185 through the first 10 matches of their season.

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).