CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – In the final match of the 2019 season, Columbia Volleyball (12-12, 3-9 IVY) completed a pair of comebacks, in both the fourth and fifth sets, to take down the Harvard Crimson (5-18, 3-11 IVY) in a five-set marathon at the Malkin Center on Saturday night.
 
The Lions used a late rally in the fourth and the fifth sets to snag the win, and they were led offensively by senior Chichi Ikwuazom, who in her final collegiate game, finished with 20 kills and hit .366, while first-year Soah Franklin smashed 12 kills on .706 hitting percentage to give Columbia a balanced and powerful attack all night long.  As a team, the Lions had 69 kills to Harvard's 57 and Columbia racked up 70 digs to Harvard's 49 in a solid performance by the Lions.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: The first set would set the tone for the night, with both sides trading points throughout, but midway through the set, Harvard looked to be pulling away.  At the 16-14 mark, with Harvard in the lead, the Crimson began to add on to their point total and over a seven-point stretch the Crimson built their lead to 20-17.  But at that point the Lions began to fight their way back into the set, and powered by a pair of kills from Ikwuazom, Columbia would rip into the Harvard lead and after the second Ikwuazom kill the score sat at 22-21 with Harvard still holding a slight lead.
 
Harvard then pushed the set to the brink, holding an 24-22 lead following an Ikwuazom attack error.  Facing set point, the Lions twice stayed alive, and blocks by junior Audrey Cheng and Franklin tied the set up at 24-24.  Into extra points things went, and the set would knot up again at 25-25, before kills from first-year Pierce Woodall and senior Kalie Wood gave the Lions the final two points and a big 27-25 first set win.
 
In the second set, the Lions and Crimson again traded points throughout, the difference in the second set was that Harvard never pulled completely away from Columbia.  And near the end of the set, the score tied up at 21-21 and would knot up four more times over the final stretch, but the final two points would go Harvard's way, with the Crimson taking the set 26-24 to tie the match up.
 
The Crimson would control the majority of the third set, taking that set 25-16, to take a 2-1 lead in the match, but it was at this point that the Lions refused to let their season end without having the final say.  Throughout the fourth set, with the Lions facing possible elimination, Columbia fought hard from start to finish, battling through 13 ties during the action to set up a final stretch that would go in Columbia's favor. 
 
With the score sitting at 20-18, with Harvard in the lead, the Lions would get two kills from Ikwuazom and a pair of aces from first-year Kiara Robichaud, ripping off seven straight points to end the set, with Robichaud hitting an ace to take the set 25-20 in favor of the Lions to force a fifth and deciding set.
 
Harvard began the fifth set by taking a quick 7-3 lead, which seemed like enough, but not against this Lions team.  A timeout by Columbia calmed the Lions down and they began to work back into the set, and despite Harvard again looking to pull away, the Lions dug deep and eventually knotted up the score at 13-13, thanks to sophomore Emily Teehan holding serve for back-to-back points.
 
The Crimson then got a kill from Jaimie Rao, who put Harvard on match point at 14-13, but that would be the closest that Harvard would get to winning match.  A kill from Ikwuazom took Harvard off of match point and as Wood took serve, the score sat at 14-14.  Back-to-back points from the Lions on Wood's service, were the final two points of the match, giving Columbia the 16-14 fifth set win, and a 3-2 win in the match to wrap up the 2019 season.
 
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