Volleyball looks to carry momentum into pair of Ivy matches

With a midweek victory over Central Connecticut State giving them momentum for this weekend’s contests, the women’s volleyball team will begin its Ivy League portion of the season on Friday in a matchup against Dartmouth (6-6, 2-0 Ivy). Columbia (10-5, 1-1) will then continue its Ancient Eight campaign in a faceoff against Harvard (4-9, 0-2) on Saturday.

The Big Green and the Crimson both began their conference schedules on Sept. 25 facing each other in what would end as a Dartmouth sweep. The following weekend the teams switched venues, but despite the change in scenery, the results were the same. Dartmouth walked away from the season series atop the Ivy League standings and Harvard took its place at the bottom.

Senior Megan MacGregor led the Big Green in both competitions with a double-double in match one (12 kills and 11 digs) and a match-high 16 kills and .517 hitting percentage in match two. Sophomore Madeline Baird also had an impressive performance in both contests with a match-high 16 kills followed by 12 in the final match. As of Oct. 5, MacGregor is 10th in the league for points while Baird stands at fourth, both falling short of Columbia freshman Megan Gaughn in the second spot. Dartmouth’s serving is particularly strong so far this season, with sophomore Kendall Houston picking up nine service aces against Harvard and standing fourth in the league in service aces behind MacGregor at number three.

The Crimson are led this season by sophomore Anne Carrol Ingersoll who had 11 kills and three blocks in the first contest against the Big Green and seven kills and three blocks in the second. Ingersoll leads the conference (as of Oct. 5) with a .342 hitting percentage and is second for blocks, with 36 behind Columbia sophomore Monique Roberts, who holds a substantial lead with 55 blocks.

Dartmouth and Harvard were Columbia’s final two opponents last season. The Big Green defeated the Light Blue in a close four-set match 25-13, 25-22, 20-25, 25-20. MacGregor and Baird both posted double-doubles in the victory with 11 kills and 11 digs and 19 kills and 11 digs, respectively. In their last meet, Harvard swept Columbia 3-0. In the loss, senior Ellie Thomas and sophomore Cindy Chen led defensively with seven digs each.

Columbia will look to raise its standings in the Ivy League this weekend beginning competition against Dartmouth on Friday Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. followed by a Harvard matchup on Saturday at 4 p.m.