ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Columbia volleyball team opened up Ivy League play on Saturday afternoon with a match against the Cornell Big Red in upstate New York. After going up 2-0, the Lions allowed the Big Red to fight all the way back to complete a reverse sweep (24-26, 22-25, 25-21, 25-13, 15-11) and avenge last year's loss at Newman Arena. 

The afternoon got off to a great start, with Eva Atkins smacking three kills as part of a 10-3 run in favor of the Lions to open the first set. Cornell quickly responded with a 9-1 run of its own to tie things up, and the score remained tied after multiple alternating points until it was 22-22. Atkins crushed another kill on the next rally, and a Cornell attack error, gave the Lions two set points which the Big Red were able to fight off and tie the game back up at 24. Another Atkins kill and a set error from Cornell gave Columbia a 1-0 advantage in the match. 

Atkins picked up right where she left off in set two, opening up the game with a kill. From the first rally, neither team was able to take more than a two point lead until a a kill from Hailee Watts and a service ace from Clara Yu helped Columbia take a 23-19 lead. The Big Red trimmed the deficit down to two, but another kill from Watts closed things out and extended the Lions' lead to 2-0 in the match. 

Columbia was on the verge of a second consecutive win in Ithaca after last year's massive victory, but Cornell had other plans. The third set was tight all the way to the final stages, when the Big Red had a 20-19 lead. A kill from Jaida Sione sparked a 4-0 run for Cornell, and despite a clutch kill from Ruby van der Heide, the Big Red were able to close it out and force a fourth set. Cornell rode that momentum into set four, and took control early before cruising to a 25-113 win and forcing one final set. 

The Lions bounced back quickly in the final frame, taking a 5-3 lead behind kills from Harper Justema and Maria Happ. The Big Red answered with a 4-0 run to take the lead, and would hold off the Lions' attack the rest of the way to win the set 15-11 and complete the reverse sweep. 

Van der Heide had a career night for Columbia, tallying a career-high 38 assists and 15 digs for a double-double. Atkins collected 15 kills to lead the Lions, while Happ added nine and Julianna Williamson chipped in eight. Delaney Seaman notched a game-high 28 digs. 


Next weekend, the Lions will continue their Ivy League opening road trip, taking on Harvard at 7 p.m. on Friday and Dartmouth at 6 p.m. on Saturday.