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NEW YORK - Upon recently wrapping up a six-game home stand,
Columbia volleyball hits the road to continue Ivy League play vs. Princeton and
Penn this weekend. The Lions will take on Princeton on Friday, October 5 at 7
p.m. in Dillon Gym, followed by Penn on Saturday, October 6 at 5 p.m. at the
Palestra.
Columbia (7-5, 2-1 Ivy League) had a five game winning streak
snapped by Yale last weekend as the Bulldogs overcame the Lions, 3-0. Earlier
that weekend, Columbia defeated Brown in an exciting, 3-2, come-from-behind victory.
Friday's match vs. Columbia and first-place Princeton (6-7,
3-0 Ivy League) marks a key contest between two of the League's top three
teams. The Tigers enter the match with their sights on extending their winning
streak to four, while Columbia looks to get back on track in its first Ivy
League road matches of the season.
The Lions are led by a duo of the top Ivy League hitters in Heather
Braunagel, who currently ranks 16th in the nation hitting with a .407 hitting
percentage, and Savannah Fletcher, who is hitting .396 on the season. Senior
Megan Gaughn leads the Lions with 78 kills and 2.00 kills/set.
As a team, Columbia ranks 16th in the nation and
first in conference play with 2.88 blocks per set. Braunagel and Savannah
Fletcher rank 1-2 in the Ivy League with 1.34 and 1.28 blocks/set,
respectively.
Princeton is led by the reigning Ivy League Player of the
Week in senior outside hitter Lydia Rudnick, who posted consecutive
doubles-doubles to help boost the Tigers to key road Ivy League wins at Harvard
and Dartmouth. Rudnick leads the Tigers with 195 kills and 4.15 kills/set.
Penn (6-8, 1-2 Ivy League), which leads the nation with
21.25 digs per set, split last weekend's matches with a 3-0 sweep over
Dartmouth and a 3-2 loss to Harvard.
Leading the way for the Quakers is libero Dani Shepherd, who
has been the national pacesetter for three consecutive weeks. Shepherd has 6.43
digs/set going into the upcoming weekend, while Emma White leads the Penn
attack unit with 2.76 kills/set.
Live stats and live broadcasts will be available for both matches, so be sure to catch all the action.
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