The baseball team split a four-game weekend series with Columbia, eliminating any shot of another Ivy League Gehrig Division title. Cornell takes on Binghamton this afternoon.

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After opening the season with two straight victories, the Red has dropped each of its last six games. The Red’s best remaining chance to earn a victory will come tomorrow, when Cornell hosts the Columbia Lions. Cornell will close the season the following week at Penn, a team that has not lost since September.

Just a week after giving Columbia its first Ivy League victory since 2006, the Red rebounded with its first Ivy win of the year on Saturday — a convincing 25-18, 25-15, 25-18 three-set sweep of the Lions.

With a hard-fought win over Cornell last weekend, Columbia broke a 33-match Ivy League losing streak. This weekend, the Lions have the chance to break their 27-match Ivy losing streak on the road when they come to Ithaca to take on the Red again.

The Lions’ (7-4, 1-0 Ivy) win didn’t come easy, being pushed to extra points in the second and third sets by the Red (3-9, 0-1 Ivy). Going back and forth until the very end, the Lions pulled away 25-20, 28-26, 27-25. With the win, Columbia moved to 5-44 all-time against Cornell.

Columbia’s resurgence this season has been led by second-year head coach Jon Wilson and a trio of freshmen quickly making their mark on the team. Outside hitters Megan Gaughn and Erin Longinotti and setter Kelsey Musselman have paced Columbia in its early surge.

Easy points were in very short supply this weekend for the volleyball team, as the Red was forced to fight for every single point only to lose in straight sets, 25-20, 28-26, 25-27, to a tenacious Columbia team in both teams’ Ivy League season opener. Forced to make a quick turnaround, the club then picked itself back up and rebounded less than three hours later with another tough match ­­–– a Cornell win this time –– against Hartford that went all the way to five sets, 17-25, 26-24, 22-25, 25-13, 15-11.

With the win, Columbia (8-4, 1-0 Ivy) earned its first victory over Cornell since 2001, and has now posted its best start since 2000 — the Lions’ best season in history. Including the Hartford victory, Cornell is now 3-9, 0-1 Ivy.

If one thing could be taken away from this weekend’s game, it is that when the going gets tough, the field hockey team perseveres. On an overcast and chilly Saturday afternoon, the Red demonstrated once again that it thrives under pressure. Cornell (7-0, 2-0 Ivy) outlasted Columbia (3-3, 0-1 Ivy), 2-1, in double overtime for its third extra-session victory in four competitions.

Sophomore attack Olivia Boyd preserved the Red’s undefeated streak and recorded her second career goal by tipping junior midfield Kate Thompson’s shot into the back of the cage after more than 100 minutes of play.

With only three days to recover from a 3-0 loss to cross-town rival Syracuse, the Red opens its Ivy League schedule tomorrow in New York City, taking on Columbia. Cornell will also finish off its non-conference schedule, taking on Hartford tomorrow as well.

When the Red (2-8) made the trip to Syracuse (10-4) Wednesday night, nobody was hoping for a repeat of last year’s 3-0 win by the Orange. But that’s exactly what they got, falling in straight sets, 25-20, 25-15, 25-12.

“We started off really strong, but we just weren’t able to close,” said head coach Sarah Bernson. “Our discipline broke down. We haven’t gotten to that point yet of pushing through and finishing a set. When [our opponent] challenges us at those key moments –– that’s what we need to work on.”

The field hockey team has started its season on a record setting pace. It has six victories in as many contests — the best start in school history.

Tomorrow, at home against Columbia (3-2, 1-0 Ivy), Cornell (6-0, 1-0 Ivy) tries to make it seven straight wins, and two straight in the Ivy League. Cornell looks to continue its dominance against Columbia, hoping to improve to 13-1 all time against the Ivy League rivals. Columbia hasn’t been faring as well as Cornell this season, but head coach Donna Hornibrook isn’t making any guarantees just yet, saying, “Columbia is a respected and formidable team, and we’re going to have to play our very best to beat them. We can still improve on all facets of our game.”

With three wins over Columbia this weekend, the softball team has already wrapped up the Ivy League South Division crown. Cornell still has two doubleheaders with second-place Princeton (8-8) next weekend, but at 13-3, Cornell has a five-game lead and the divisional crown for the first time since the Ivy League switched to a two-division format in 2007.

“It’s amazing,” said sophomore pitcher Elizabeth Dalrymple. “When we found out today [that we won the division] it was just an incredible feeling. We’re so happy for the seniors who’ve been working for four years.”