Volleyball thwarted by Quakers and Tigers in final showing on home court

In Columbia volleyball’s home finale, the Lions were unable to reverse their five-game losing streak, as they were trounced by Penn in three sets and by Princeton 3-1.

Penn—currently poised for the Ivy title with a perfect league record—stood as the overwhelming favorite to defeat Columbia. But early in the first set, the Lions kept within reach because of several Penn errors and timely kills by Megan Gaughn and Sarah Thompson. After a Thompson kill, Penn found itself in a relatively tight 13-9 game. Following a kill by Ashley Hawkins to put the Quakers up by five, the Lions’ defense exhibited tenacity, digging all of the Quakers’ hits and forcing Penn into four straight attack errors to close the gap to 15-14. From there on, despite more spectacular Columbia digs, Penn was able to still win most of those rallies and eventually secured the set, 25-18.

The second set was awful for the Lions, who quickly found themselves down 4-0. It only got worse from there, as Columbia barely managed to return Penn’s serves and committed many unforced attack errors. At 15-5, Columbia made a mini-run, but by then the set was all but decided and Columbia lost, 25-14.

In the final set, the Lions found a way to catch up to the Quakers right when it looked like Penn would pull away. The Lions even led early after Monique Roberts scored a kill to make the score 5-4. Then Penn scored four straight, and it looked like game two would repeat itself. This time, though, Columbia fought back, tying the game at nine-all. From there, Penn would make a series of runs, but Columbia responded every time to keep the game close. It still wasn’t enough, as Penn won its final set 25-21 to sweep the match.

Gaughn led the Lions with nine kills. Defensively, Ellie Thomas had 19 digs and Heather Braunagel had two blocks.

The following day, Columbia played its final home game of the season against Princeton. On Senior Day, the Lions came out roaring, jumping ahead to a 5-3 lead. The game swung back and forth in a nail-biter that saw neither team lead by more than three. Eventually Columbia won the set 25-23, with outstanding performances from Gaughn and Roberts.

The second set was another close one, as the Lions kept swinging behind steady contributions from Gaughn and Roberts and a stellar hitting performance by Cindy Chen. This time, though, the Lions faltered late, letting a close 16-14 game balloon into a 21-15 lead for the Tigers that became a 25-18 Princeton win.

From there the night got worse, as Columbia came out flat in the next set, allowing Princeton to score the first four points. After the Lions cut the score to 9-8, Princeton scored the next six points and never looked back en route to a 25-19 victory.

Columbia ended up losing the fourth and final set, 25-15.

Gaughn and Chen recorded 14 kills each (seven came in the second set alone for Chen) to lead the way for the Lions. Roberts recorded five blocks for the game and Gaughn had an active night defensively as well, contributing 11 digs in the losing effort.

The Lions will close out their season on the road against Yale and Brown this weekend.