Boxscore

ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell volleyball team won the first two sets, and then erased an eight-point deficit in the fourth set to defeat Brown, 3-1, this evening in Newman Arena. With the victory, the Big Red evens its Ivy League record at 3-3, while improving to 6-11 overall. Game scores were 25-16, 25-21, 17-25, 25-23.

Deveney Pula led the Cornell attack with 11 kills on 38 attempts, while Alessa Cekauskas tallied nine kills and Kelly Hansen chipped in eight. Cekauskas and Hansen also registered six and five block assists, respectively. Lucy Zheng got the starting setting duties for the match and responded with a career-high 36 assists, while Megan Mushovic registered a team-high 24 digs. Pula also reached double-digit digs with 10.

Brown (4-12, 0-5 Ivy) was led by Moira Gallagher's 12 kills and just two errors on 30 attempts for a .333 hitting percentage. Spencer McAndrews had a game-high 37 assists and Carly Cotton posted 25 digs.

The Big Red opened the first set with a kill by Cekauskas and capitalized on three straight Bears errors to build a 4-1 lead. Cornell kept Brown at arms-length throughout the middle part of the set before scoring five unanswered points to go up, 21-10. During the run, the Big Red got a pair of kills from Juliana Rogers and Cekauskas, to go along with a service ace from Zheng. From there, Cornell cruised to the 25-16 victory.

The second game proved to be far more competitive with seven ties. Still, once Cornell took the lead at 10-9 off a service ace from Taylor Nieman, the home team never trailed again. The Big Red got some breathing room when a kill by Pula and two Brown errors made it a 13-10 game. The Bears fought back to knot the game at 15-15 and twice more, with the last tie coming at 20-20, but two more Brown errors and a kill by Cekauskas made it a 23-20 game. The set ended on two attack errors from the Bears as Cornell took the win, 25-21.

The roles were reversed in the third set, as the Big Red struggled with errors, eventually falling 25-17. The set was close early on, but a small 4-1 run gave Brown the early advantage, 13-8. Later, the Bears registered four unanswered points to take the substantial 20-13 lead and put the set out of reach.

Brown carried its momentum in to the final set, jumping out to a huge lead, but Cornell used its best comeback of the season to storm back from a 19-11 deficit and take the 25-23 victory. Trailing by eight points, Cornell received a pair of kills from Rogers and Pula before two Brown errors made it a 20-15 game. Kills from Pula, Jessica Misse and Hansen, as well as a service ace by Mushovic brought the Big Red within one, 20-19, and a Brown attack error on the next play tied the game for the first time since 3-3. A kill by Gallagher returned the one-point lead to the visitors, but back-to-back kills from Pula and Misse gave Cornell the 22-21 advantage. A Big Red error knotted the game, but once again, both Pula and Misse put the ball down to give the home team the 24-22 lead. Brown held off the loss with a kill by Brianna Williamson, but a service error on the next play ended the set.

Cornell is back in action next weekend, as it travels to Penn on Friday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m., and Princeton on Saturday, Oct. 24 at 4 p.m.