Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y.—Strong defensive play led the Big Red volleyball team to a commanding 3-1 win over Penn on Friday night in Newman Arena. Cornell continuously shut down the Quakers' offense to improve to 3-0 against Ivy competition. Junior libero Megan Mushovic registered 36 digs, while freshman Kelly Hansen made nine blocks and added 10 kills.

Penn (4-10, 0-2 Ivy) jumped out to a quick lead in the first set and held a 14-10 advantage at the midway point. The Big Red rallied to tie the set at 18 all before battling to a 25-22 victory. Mushovic notched nine digs for the Cornell back row and Hansen made three blocks.

In the second set, the two squads traded points back and forth but Penn held a slight edge with Cornell repeatedly fighting back to tie the score. The two teams were tied at 23 all when senior Emily Borman made a huge kill to give Cornell the momentum it needed to drive ahead to a 26-24 victory. Hansen led the Big Red offense with five kills while hitting .444. Mushovic continued her impressive defensive play with eight more digs.

Penn regrouped heading into the third and took a 10-5 lead. The Quakers continued its strong play to a 20-14 advantage. The Big Red made a late rally but could not overcome the deficit, and Penn cut Cornell's lead to one with a 25-21 set win. The Big Red notched 28 digs as a team with Mushovic recording 11 and senior captain Hilary Holland grabbing nine. Hansen and Woodbury were a force at the net combing for four blocks each.

Cornell bounced back from its third set loss to a take a 15-11 lead in the fourth and cruised ahead to a 25-16 deciding set. The Big Red hit .355 as a team with Woodbury notching three kills in just four attempts.

Borman notched a team-high 11 kills, while Juliana Rogers made 10 and added five block assists. Hansen hit .350 for the night and has hit above 300 in each of her last six matches. Woodbury totaled nine kills while hitting .316 and added six blocks. Holland totaled 41 assists with 16 digs.

Penn was led by Julia Swanson with 15 kills and 16 digs. Anne Magnuson totaled 12 kills while hitting .333, and libero Madi Wojchiechowski tallied 26 digs.

Cornell will be back in action Saturday afternoon when it will play host to Princeton for a 4 p.m. match.