Lions Set To Host Penn And Princeton On Morningside

Friday, November 1

New York, N.Y.

7:00 P.M.

Columbia University

Penn

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics/Mike McLaughlin

Lions Set To Host Penn And Princeton On Morningside

10/31/2019 12:08:00 PM | Volleyball

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Columbia Volleyball will welcome Penn on Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. and Princeton on Nov. 2 at 5 p.m. in a busy weekend at Levien Gym.

NEW YORK – With only four home matches remaining, Columbia Volleyball (10-8, 3-5 IVY) is set to host the Penn Quakers (9-8, 2-6 IVY) on Friday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. and the Princeton Tigers (11-6, 7-1 IVY) on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 5 p.m. for a full weekend of Ivy League matches at Levien Gym on Morningside.

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

REVIEWING THE PREVIOUS WEEK: The Lions hosted the Cornell Big Red on Saturday, Oct. 26, in its lone match of the previous weekend, with the Lions dropping that match to Cornell in straight sets (L, 0-3) to drop their second match of the season against Ivy League leading Cornell. During the match, senior Chichi Ikwuazom finished with 14 kills on .364 hitting and on her second-to-last kill of the match, Ikwuazom became the fourth Lion in program history to reach 900 career kills.

KILLING IT 900 TIMES: During the weekend of Oct. 26, in Columbia's lone match of the weekend, Ikwuazom reached 900 total kills for her career, becoming the fifth Lion in program history to reach that mark. The kill came on Ikwuazom's second-to-last kill of the match, on perfect set from junior Audrey Cheng who recorded the assist on the kill.

300 REASONS: Ikwuazom, who is in the middle of an extremely productive senior season, set a new mark for herself as she recorded her 300th career block against Yale on Oct. 18. Ikwuazom, who finished the weekend with 308 blocks in her career, became the fourth Lion in program history to reach the 300-block career mark and she currently sits second all-time on the all-time block list.

IKWUAZOM MAKES HER MARK: Besides where she sits on the blocks list, Ikwuazom has also worked her way into several single-season and career marks in the Columbia record book. In kills, Ikwuazom, who currently has 901 career kills, sits fifth all-time in career kills and she's quickly climbing up the single-season all-time kills mark as her current mark of 370 kills on the season places her fourth on that list.

Ikwuazom has already placed herself on the single-season total block list with 110 blocks in 2017, and she is on pace to finish in the top five of career total blocks, career total kills, single-season kills and single-season total blocks, where with 69 blocks so far this season Ikwuazom has an opportunity to add her name for a second time to the single-season total blocks list. Ikwauzom has also placed her name on the single-match total kills list as well, having recorded 29 kills twice this season which are the fourth-most in program history in a single-match.

IVY LEAGUE LEADERS: The Lions, along with Ikwuazom and Cheng, sit near the top of the conference in a handful of categories. As a team, Columbia is first in team assists (852) and team kills (903), while the Lions sit second in the league in team digs (934), and third in assists per set (12.53), kills per set (13.28) and team total attacks (2,268).

As for Ikwuazom and Cheng, the Lion senior sits first in hitting percentage (.447), kills per set (5.44), total kills (370), total points (414.5) and points per set (6.10). 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 (9.51).

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 (6.10), third in hitting percentage (.447) and kills per set (5.48), 14th in total kills (370) and 15th in total points (414.5).

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 24 student-athletes to have recorded at least one triple-double so far this season.

WHAT THE QUAKERS BRING: This will be the second meeting between the Lions and the Quakers on the 2019 season, with Columbia taking the previous match, 3-1, in a meeting that was played at The Palestra on Oct. 5 and entering Friday's action the Quakers have lost two straight and three out of their previous four matches. For Columbia it was the second straight win against the Quakers, and the first in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania since 2016.

All-time Penn holds a 44-5 advantage in the all-time series, but the Lions do enter Friday's match with a two-match winning streak against the Quakers. Columbia won the 2018 meeting on Morningside and a win on Friday would give Columbia three-straight against Penn and two-straight at home.

Offensively the Quakers are led by Parker Jones' 198 kills, but they do have a balanced attack with Margaret Planek (171 kills), Autumn Leak (166 kills) and Daniela Fornaciari (104 kills) giving Penn four members of its squad with at least 100 kills. Kacie Burton has been running the offense for Penn as she leads the team with 325 assists and on the defensive end of things, Carmina Raquel's 294 digs and Fornaciari's 51 blocks, leads the way for Penn.

Penn sits inside the top three in the Ivy League in only two categories, opponent hitting percentage (.212) and team service aces (93). Individually, Raquel's 4.39 digs per set places her first in the league and her 272 digs slots her at the top as well.

WHAT THE TIGERS BRING: Princeton comes into the weekend having lost only one match in Ivy League play, a four-set match at Cornell on Oct. 5. Sitting behind Cornell in the league standings, Princeton will begin its weekend in Ithaca, New York to face Cornell for a second time before heading down to Morningside to face the Lions.

The Tigers, who own a 48-7 all-time advantage over the Lions, won the previous meeting between the two sides in Princeton, New Jersey on Oct. 4, in straight sets and the Lions have not beaten the Tigers since a five-set victory on Morningside in 2017, giving Princeton a four-match winning streak against Columbia.

Devon Peterkin leads the Tiger offense with 192 kills while hitting .214, but Maggie O'Connell, who is hitting .323, sits right behind Peterkin with 162 kills. Elena Montgomery (145 kills) and Clare Lenihan (134 kills) round out the top four in kills for the Tigers, with Lenihan's .388 hitting percentage leading the four 100-kill Tigers in terms of hitting percentage.

In terms of getting the offense going, Jessie Harris has carried that load racking up 659 assists, while Cameron Dames' 252 digs and Lenihan's 53 blocks have led Princeton on the defensive side of things. Princeton leads the league in kills per set with 14.38 and that number is good enough to place them ninth in the country, while individually Harris' 11.29 assists per set places her first in the league and 12th in the country and her total assist count of 659 places her first in the league.

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).