Columbia University
Penn
Volleyball Concludes Home Schedule Against Penn and Princeton
11/2/2023 4:30:00 PM | Volleyball
Lions hosting Pride Game and Alumni Night on Friday, Senior Day on Saturday
INITIATIVES
Friday's game is Pride Day, and Columbia will up in special t-shirts that feature a rainbow Columbia logo. Pride bracelets will be handed out to spectators and staff at Levien Gymnasium throughout the night. Click HERE to hear from your favorite Lions about the importance of PRIDE and what PRIDE means to them!
Friday will also be Alumnae Night, and the Lions will be welcoming back all former Columbia Volleyball players who are in attendance for Alumnae Weekend.
Prior to Saturday's contest against the Princeton Tigers, the Lions will be honoring their eight seniors in a senior night ceremony.
LAST TIME OUT
Columbia closed out a five-game Ivy League road trip against Harvard last Saturday, falling to the Crimson in straight sets.
After a tough first set, the Lions bounced back in game two, scoring the first four points sparked by a kill from Avery Jones and capped on a block from Harper Justema and Juliana Williamson. The Harvard offense wasn't dormant long, eventually using a 5-0 run to take a 12-8 lead. That lead remained until it was 21-16, and Harvard would score four straight points to clinch the set and gain a 2-0 edge in the match.
The third set was the most competitive of the match, but the Lions just couldn't get over the hump and keep the game going. The Crimson held a 20-18 lead, and Justema and Soah Franklin smacked kills to keep the Lions in it, but it wouldn't be enough as Harvard went on to win 25-20.
Jones equaled her career-high in the match with a team-high eight kills. Franklin added seven kills to go with four total blocks. Annabel Happ collected a team-high 18 assists. Delaney Seaman and Lauren Cho tallied seven digs each.
SCOUTING PENN
Penn enters the weekend with a 3-17 overall record. The Quakers are 1-9 so far in Ivy League play, sitting in a tie with the Lions for seventh place.
Last season, Penn finished 2-22 overall, with a 1-13 mark in Ivy League play which placed them at the bottom of the conference for the season.
In the 2023 Ivy League Preseason Poll, Penn was picked to finish in eighth place, one spot behind Columbia.
Zada Sanger leads the Quakers with 228 kills on the season. Jordan Armstrong is the team's primary setter, tallying 426 assists in 2023. Abigail Reid has a team-high 191 digs so far this year.
SCOUTING PRINCETON
Princeton enters the weekend with a 10-8 overall record. The Tigers currently sit in second place in the Ivy League, owning a 7-3 conference record.
Last season, Princeton finished 21-4 overall, with a 13-1 mark in Ivy League play which was good for second place and a birth in the Ivy League Tournament where the Tigers were upset in the first round by the Brown Bears
In the 2023 Ivy League Preseason Poll, Princeton was picked to finish in second place once again, also receiving three first place votes.
Lucia Scalamandre leads the Tigers with 196 kills on the season. Sydney Draper is Princeton's primary setter, collecting a team-high 721 assists for far this season. Sydney Bold leads the team with 291 digs.
MATCHUP HISTORY
Penn leads the all-time series against Columbia, 31-3, however the series has been much more evenly matched in recent years. the Quakers and Lions have gone an even 5-5 over the last 10 meetings, with Penn winning the last matchup, defeating Columbia in four sets earlier this year in Philadelphia. Ruby van der Heide collected her second career double-double in the game, with 23 assists and 12 digs, and narrowly missed out on a triple-double smacking a career-high six kills. Lauren Cho had an awesome game on defense for Columbia, notching a career-high 19 digs.
Princeton leads the all-time series against Columbia, 53-7, with the Lions last win coming on October 14, 2017. Earlier this year, the Tigers defeated Columbia in straight sets in New Jersey. Eva Atkins led the team with nine kills on the night, while Soah Franklin and Avery Jones added four kills each. Ruby van der Heide led the Lions with 10 assists, while Delaney Seaman had a team-high seven digs.
ON DECK
The Lions will close out the 2023 season on the road next weekend with a matchup against Yale on Friday at 7:00 p.m. in New Haven and a contest against Brown on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. in Rhode Island.
HOW TO FOLLOW
All Columbia home games, and every Ivy League game, will be streamed via ESPN+. You can find Friday's game against Penn HERE and Saturday's game against Princeton HERE.
Live stats will be available via gocolumbialions.com, HERE.
In-game updates will be provided on both Twitter and Instagram.
For the latest on Columbia volleyball, follow @CULionsVB on Twitter and Instagram, and on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.
