Coming off a four-game road trip in which Columbia (11-12, 2-8 Ivy) failed to win a match, the volleyball team looks to rebound in its final home games of the season where they will play Penn (18-4, 9-0) and Princeton (7-13, 5-4). Penn is currently on top of the Ivy League standings with a perfect conference record while Princeton holds the fourth spot.
Penn won consecutive 3-1 matches against Yale and Brown last weekend, and is riding a nine-game winning streak. Against the defending Ivy League champion Yale, Penn squeaked out a narrow victory with sets of 23-25, 25-20, 25-23, and 25-21. The Quakers played resilient defense with 97 digs and found enough offense—led by freshman Lauren Martin’s 21 kills—to win.
The following day, Penn’s success came much easier against Brown. The Bears had an attacking percentage of just 0.054 and had 74 digs to the Quakers’ 89. Lauren Martin performed well again with 15 kills on 27 attempts, and junior Madi Wojciechowski had 31 of Penn’s 89 digs.
In New Jersey, Princeton took on Penn’s opponents that same weekend, trampling Brown 3-0 and suffering the opposite outcome 0-3 against Yale. The Tigers-Bears match was over in just 1:09 with Princeton securing its sets 25-16, 25-15, and 25-14. The Tigers posted an attacking percentage of 0.389 and had four players with 10 kills or more.
Princeton’s second game of the weekend saw a reversal of fortunes, which saw its four-game winning streak snapped in the Yale match. Yale’s Bridget Hearst scored 11 kills on just 19 attempts.
Columbia played Princeton and Penn on the road two weeks ago, losing both matches 1-3 and 0-3 respectively. At Princeton, the Tigers held a 102-81 edge in digs, which helped the Tigers survive the final set 28-26. Columbia freshman Megan Gaughn had 18 kills and Monique Roberts had 17 kills on 29 attempts.
The following day against the Quakers, although the Lions had 10 blocks—4 of them from Roberts—the Quakers still managed a 0.352 attack percentage. Columbia managed just 29 digs to Penn’s 52 and had a difficult time getting its offense moving. Freshman Kelsey Musselman had all 21 of Columbia’s assists and senior Ellie Thomas led the way with 10 digs.
Columbia starts off against Penn on Friday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. and finishes its last home game this season against Princeton at 4 p.m.
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