Volleyball Ends Season On An Eight-Game Losing Streak, Finishing Last In Ivy League

Upper West Side NY

15 November, 2021

11:57 AM

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Columbia Daily Spectator BY JORGE HERNANDEZ NOVEMBER 14, 2021 On Friday and Saturday, the Lions traveled to Princeton and Philadelphia to face off against the Tigers and the Quakers. Entering the weekend on a six-game losing streak, the Lions hoped to finish their season strong with wins against Princeton and Penn. Instead, the team lost every set it played this weekend to finish their season on an eight-loss skid. In its first match of the weekend, Columbia (5-19, 2-12 Ivy) faced off against second-place Princeton (16-6, 10-4 Ivy). From the moment the game began, the Light Blue had difficulty scoring. After three consecutive errors from Columbia, Princeton gained an early lead. The Tigers never looked back and Columbia did itself in, racking up nine errors in the set. The winning point for Princeton came from a Columbia attack error, handing Princeton the set 25-12. While Columbia was more competitive in the second set, earning seven tied scores and four lead changes, the Light Blue ultimately fell due to their abysmal hitting percentage of .037. In the early part of the second set, the Lions were aggressive. After Princeton took an early 3-0 lead, the Light Blue was able to tie it up with senior libero Vannessa Pan at the service line. Pan brought the Lions to 3-3 but failed to keep the scoring streak going after a service error. The Lions continued to go back and forth with Princeton until the halfway point of the set, with the score tied at 12-12. A pair of back-to-back Tiger kills lit a spark in Princeton and forced a Columbia timeout. After the break, the Tigers came back in full force, only allowing two more points from the Lions before securing the set 25-14. The third and final set was perhaps the most difficult for the Lions, as the Tigers dominated from the first moment. After an initial exchange between the Tigers and Lions, Princeton's Lindsey Kelly took the service line. Kelly served for eight points, cementing Princeton's lead 8-2. With the momentum gained from Kelly's time at the service line, Princeton easily continued its campaign to victory, securing the set 25-14, and thus the match 3-0. The following day, the Light Blue competed against Penn (8-15, 5-9 Ivy). The beginning of the first set saw the Light Blue aggressive and within inches of victory. Midway through the set, the Lions capitalized on Penn's attacking errors, as well as two service aces from Pan and sophomore defensive specialist Yooni Park, and pulled ahead. However, thanks to some key late-game errors from Columbia, Penn was able to tie up the score 23-23. With the score knotted and Penn serving, the Lions were desperate to win. After a flurry of back-and-forth scores by each team, Penn took the service line at 26-26. Penn secured the first set 28-26 off of an attack error from senior outside hitter Isa Lamus. The second set also saw fierce competition between the Lions and the Quakers, as demonstrated by 14 tied scores and six lead changes. Both teams matched each other point-for-point until the game was knotted 19-19. However, two errors on Columbia's behalf provided the momentum for the Quakers to push through and win the set, 25-22. With neither team willing to give an edge to the other, the third set resulted in a late-game tie at 23-23. The last time the score was tied in the set was at 23-23, with Penn at the service line. After Penn challenged the ruling on the court that deemed their kill out of bounds, the call was reversed and the Quakers were one point closer to victory. Hoping to tie the match up and push the set into extra points, Columbia sophomore outside hitter Saj McBurrows approached the net to spike it, but instead hit the ball into the net, costing Columbia the match in their final game of the season. With this weekend's two losses, Columbia finished their season on a seven-conference-game losing streak. Their overall hitting percentage this season was .208, but their conference hitting percentage was a low .143. The Lions finished last in the Ivy League, only winning two of their 14 games played. Deputy Sports Editor Jorge Hernandez can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @jhernandez2001. Founded in 1877, the Columbia Daily Spectator is the independent undergraduate newspaper of Columbia University, serving thousands of readers in Morningside Heights, West Harlem, and beyond. Read more at columbiaspectator.com and donate here.