NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — In sweeping fashion, Columbia volleyball (1-0) took down St. Peter's (0-5), 3-0, to begin 2022 with a win and give head coach
Patric Santiago his first win as the Lions' head coach at the Central Connecticut State Invitational held at Detrick Gymnasium.
Columbia used a dominating third set and a strong finish to the second set to take the match, 25-17, 25-22, 25-9. On the attack,
Kiara Robichaud led the Lions with 14 kills and a .526 hitting percentage, finishing with 12.5 points and
Ruby van der Heide set the tone, finishing with a match-high 25 assists in her first collegiate match.
"I was incredibly proud of our young women tonight," said Santiago. "While it was great to get a win, seeing them support each other, lift each other and compete was the best part of the evening. We are so grateful for the opportunity to build a strong foundation here at Columbia, brick by brick and so thankful for the support we get from our staff, administrators and families."
As a team, the Lions were strong defensively holding St. Peter's to .053 hitting percentage on the night and Columbia set the tone from the service line, finishing with seven aces, led by
Vanessa Pan,
Lauren Cho and
Pierce Woodall whom all had a pair of aces in the match.
HOW IT HAPPENED: Columbia opened up a gap in the first set to begin the match, jumping ahead 13-5 thanks to a trio of kills from Robichaud. St. Peter's did battle back, getting within one point at 14-13 and following a Columbia attacking error, Santiago called Columbia's first timeout.
The Lions responded and came out of the timeout scoring six of the next nine points to jump ahead 20-15, hitting 20 points with a kill from
Saj McBurrows. St. Peter's, who hit only .045 in the set, could only manage two more points over the final seven and a kill from Woodall, assisted by van der Heide, gave Columbia the opening set 25-17 victory.
St. Peter's played its best set of the match in the second, and Columbia faced its first test of the season, evident by the 10-10 score early in the set, the score being knotted from a kill by
Maria Milisa. The Peacocks hit their best percentage in the match, finishing the second set at .200, and the score was tied as late as 22-22.
Down the stretch, Columbia's defense put up a wall at the net and the tied score was broken by a block by
Juliana Williamson. The winning point came from a pair of blocks by Williamson and
Amanda Holsen, and after sending back the final attack of the set the Lions had wrapped up a 25-22 second set win.
Rolling into the third set up 2-0, the Lions roared to their biggest margin of victory since 2019, and when the score hit 14-8, Columbia pulled away in dominating fashion. Sparked by Woodall's kill, Columbia scored the next nine points to take a controlling 23-9 lead. A kill from
Aidan Conner, followed by a St. Peter's attack error, locked up the 25-9 third set victory and a straight-set season-opening win.
GAME NOTES:
- This was the first time Columbia won the season opener in straight sets since 2014
- Columbia won its opening match for the first time since 2019
- The win was the first time that the first win of the season was a straight-set victory since 2018
- Columbia's 25-9 third-set victory was the biggest margin of victory since a 25-9 third set win over LIU in 2019
FOLLOWING THE LIONS: Stay up to date on all things Columbia volleyball by following the Lions on Twitter (@CULionsVB), Instagram (@culionsvb) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).
