This weekend, the Lions will play their first home games as they host the Binghamton Bearcats, Iowa Hawkeyes, St. Francis Terriers, and St. John’s Red Storm in the 2011 edition of the Columbia Invitational, to be held today and tomorrow at Levien Gymnasium.

The Light Blue (3-3) heads into this tournament on the tail end of back-to-back losses last Saturday, including a close 3-2 loss to Boston College in Saturday’s last game. The team looks to get back on track at home this weekend, starting off with Binghamton today at noon.

Binghamton (6-6) comes into the tournament riding a four-match winning streak. After failing to win a single game during the month of August, the Bearcats were able to turn around and have a near-perfect September. So far, their only loss this month came in a 3-0 shutout against UConn on Sept. 3. Since then, Binghamton has dominated its opponents, dropping only four sets in its last four matches. Last weekend, the Bearcats stole the show at the Rutgers Invitational, defeating the hosts 3-1 in a match that featured four different players registering double-digit kills.

The Hawkeyes (6-3) are also riding high on a streak of victories after impressive play last weekend as they hosted Chicago State, Loyola, and Oakland in the Iowa Invitational. Iowa only dropped two sets last weekend as it swept its opponents. The Hawkeyes effort last Friday against Chicago State was lead by senior Tiffany Nilges and freshman Erin Leppek, each of whom recorded eight kills in their shutout of Chicago State. Nilges, who was named the tournament MVP, would go on to lead Iowa to victory against Loyola and Oakland on Saturday.

Unlike Binghamton and Iowa, St. Francis (N.Y.) has been pressed for success this season as the Terriers have an overall record of 1-10 on the season and are currently in the midst of a three-game losing streak after being swept at the Providence Tournament last weekend. The Terriers’ only win of the season came against Saint Peter’s on September 6.

St. John’s (7-6) comes into the tournament after going only 1-1 last weekend at the Rose Hill Classic in the Bronx and losing this week to LIU in Brooklyn. Following last Sunday’s loss to Colorado, the Red Storm was able to finish the day with a victory, beating Fordham in Sunday’s second match. Senior co-captains Darlene Ramdin and Brunna Kronbauer led St. John’s effort on Sunday recording 36 and 33 kills respectively.

In order to win this weekend, the Light Blue will once again need offensive threats junior Megan Gaughn and senior Cindy Chen, who lead the team with 66 and 48 kills, respectively, to step up. On the defensive end, the team will rely on sophomore Charlee Dyroff and Chen, who lead the team with 98 and 80 digs, respectively.