NEW YORK – The Big Red jumped out to a two-set lead, but Columbia stormed back to win the final three, taking the match, 3-2 (25-14, 25-22, 25-27, 21-25, 9-15), this afternoon at Levien Gym. The game was Cornell's first five-set match of the season.
 
The Big Red had a well balanced attack with Carla Sganderlla (19), Kit McCarty (11) and Maddy Sroufe (10) all reaching double-digits, while Jenna Phelps finished with nine kills and a team-best .333 hitting percentage.
 
Sophomore Gabby Goodall posted a career-high 26 assists, while senior Alyssa Phelps had 22 on the day. Goodall and Phelps also finished with 12 and 10 digs, respectively, while freshman libero Lily Barber had a team-high 15 and junior Kiley McPeek chipped in 12.
 
Columbia (6-5, 1-0) was led by Ara Peterson (15-2-1-21) and Anja Malesevic (13-9-42), while Zoe Jacobs and Lauren Wilkins had eight kills apiece. Setter Grace Campbell tallied 53 assists, while the 2015 Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year Cassie Wes finished with 31 digs.
 
The Big Red dominated the first set, hitting .500 as a team as Sganderlla connected on 6-of-8 swings with no errors. The visitors jumped out to an early 8-4 lead and eventually pushed its advantage to double-digits (22-12) after an 8-2 run that featured two kills each from Sroufe and Jenna Phelps. Cornell also scored the final three points of the set with two kills from Sganderlla and a service ace from Jenna Phelps accounting for the 25-14 victory.
 
The second set was a battle, with eight ties and three lead chances. The teams fought to an 18-18 tie before Columbia used some timely hitting from Malesevic and Jacobs to go up, 22-19. A big block from Macey Wilson and Alyssa Phelps, followed by consecutive kills from Sganderlla and McCarty, knotted the game a final time at 22-22 and forced the Lions to call a timeout. Cornell finished strong, however, with a solo block and a kill from Sganderlla, along with a kill from McCarty, lifting Cornell to the 25-22 victory.
 
Another back-and-forth set was on tap for the third, but this time it was Columbia erasing a late 24-22 deficit to take the 27-25 victory.
 
The fourth set was tightly contested throughout but back-to-back kills from Wilkins and Kesi Neblett put the home team up, 21-18, and the Lions held on for the 25-21 win.
 
Columbia carried the momentum into the final set, jumping out to a 5-1 lead. The Big Red closed the gap at 9-1 after a kill from Sroufe, but that was as close as it got, as the Lions took the 15-9 victory.
 
Cornell (5-5, 0-1) returns home for the first time in nearly a month when it welcomes Brown and Yale to Newman Arena. Cornell will face the Bears on Friday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m., before taking on the Bulldogs on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 5 p.m.