NEW YORK — After opening the season on the road, Columbia volleyball (1-2) returns to Morningside for its home opening weekend, hosting the Big Apple Tournament from September 9-10, opening Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium on Friday at 7 p.m against Lafayette.
Columbia will then face Manhattan (1 p.m.) and St. Francis Brooklyn (7 p.m.) on Saturday. Lafayette, Manhattan and St. Francis will also face each other over the weekend, with Manhattan and St. Francis facing off at 4:30 p.m. on Friday to open the weekend. On Saturday, St. Francis (BK) will face Lafayette at 11 a.m. and Lafayette will meet Manhattan at 5 p.m.
All the matches, including the non-Columbia matches, will be streamed on ESPN+. Attendance is free of charge and the entrance to Levien Gym is at the corner of 120th and Broadway.
LAST TIME OUT: Columbia opened its 2022 campaign over the weekend of Sept. 2-3, heading to New Britain, Connecticut, taking part in the Central Connecticut State Invitational, where the Lions went 1-2.
The weekend began with a straight-set win over St. Peters, where head coach Patric Santiago got his first win as Columbia’s head coach. The Lions dominated the match, winning 25-17, 25-22, 25-9 and the final set victory was Columbia’s largest margin of victory since 2019. It was also the first straight-set win in the season opener since 2014.
Columbia dropped its next two matches, falling in straight sets to Binghamton and CCSU to wrap up the weekend.
RETURNING ROARS: The Lions return eight starters from the 2021 team that knocked off Harvard in straight sets on the road and got themselves a straight-set win over Cornell at home.
Second-team All-Ivy honoree Noelle Foster returns as the team leader in kills, finishing 2021 with 315 total kills and 3.89 kills per set. Returning setter Cadence Gronski, who led the team in assists despite missing the second half of the season due to injury, will look to set Columbia’s attack that finished third in the league with 11.93 assists per set.
IVY PLAYSOFF: One new wrinkle to the season comes from the Ivy League, with this year being the first time that the league will have a four-team playoff to decide its representative in the NCAA Tournament. The four-team playoff, announced recently by the conference, will be hosted by the top seed. The Ivy League Tournament is scheduled for Nov. 18-20, and the availability of space for the hosting program will decide the two days the tournament will run on.
THE VISITORS: All three squads enter the weekend having played at least three matches. St. Francis Brooklyn (2-6) has the most matches under its belt out of the four teams playing over the weekend. Manhattan (0-3) has a familiar opponent with Columbia, having faced and lost to CCSU (0-3) on Sept. 7.
Lafayette spent its opening weekend (Sept. 2-3) at the Villanova Classic in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Leopards got a straight-set win off New Hampshire.
FOLLOWING THE LIONS: Stay up to date on all things Columbia volleyball by following the Lions on Twitter (@CULionsVB), Instagram (@culionsvb) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).
