MATCH INFORMATION
MATCH #20: Cornell at Dartmouth
MATCH TIME: Friday, Oct. 30, 2009; 7:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Leede Arena (Hanover, N.H.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 36-7
LAST MEETING: Cornell won 3-1, on Oct. 10, 2009
2009 RECORDS: Cornell: 6-13 (3-5 Ivy); Dartmouth: 7-11 (3-5 Ivy)
LIVE STATS: http://www.dartmouthsports.com/
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.dartmouthsports.com/

MATCH #21: Cornell at Harvard
MATCH TIME: Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009; 4:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Malkin Athletic Center (Cambridge, Mass.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 34-15
LAST MEETING: Harvard won 3-1, on Oct. 9, 2009
2009 RECORDS: Cornell: 6-13 (3-5 Ivy)*; Harvard: 8-11 (4-4 Ivy)*
LIVE STATS: http://livestats.prestosports.com/harvard/
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.stretchinternet.com/harvardvideo.html

* Records prior to Friday, Oct. 30 




MATCH NOTES
THE MATCHUP: The Big Red remains on the road this weekend as it travels to Dartmouth and Harvard this weekend. The game with the Big Green is slated for Friday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m., while the game with the Crimson will take place on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 4:00 p.m.

SCOUTING DARTMOUTH: After opening the Ivy League season with three straight wins, the Big Green has dropped five in a row to fall to 3-5 in the conference and 7-11 overall. The team is led by Madeline Baird's 3.55 kills per set, while Amber Bryant is posting 3.31 digs per set. Kendall Houston runs the offense, averaging 7.57 assists per set.

THE SERIES VS. THE BIG GREEN: Cornell's series with Dartmouth began in 1981 and the Big Red has dominated from the beginning, winning the first 13 meetings before falling to the Big Green for the first time on Oct. 12, 1996. Cornell owns a 36-7 record in the all-time series, winning 19 of the last 20 meetings, including both games last season and the contest earlier this season.

LAST TIME VS. DARTMOUTH: The Big Red jumped out to a two-set lead and then fought back from a seven-point deficit in the fourth set to defeat Dartmouth, 3-1, on Oct. 10, 2009 at Newman Arena. Cornell won sets one and two, 25-17 and 25-22, respectively, before dropping the third set, 25-22. In the final and deciding set, the Big Red earned a 26-24 victory to improve to 5-10 on the year and 2-2 in the Ivy League. Cornell had two players register double-digit kills, with Deveney Pula (15) and Alessa Cekauskas (11) leading the way. Cekauskas was extremely accurate in the match, with just one error on 33 attempts to hit for .303. Jordan Reeder had an excellent afternoon with 39 assists, 24 digs and five kills with just one error on nine attempts (.444). Joining Reeder with double-digit digs was Megan Mushovic, with a game-high 30, and Risa Ka'awa with 17. Dartmouth (7-7, 3-1) was led by Madeline Baird's 18 kills, while Megan MacGregor chipped in 10. Kendall Houston (22 assists) and Brianne Hucek (15) split the setting duties, while Amber Bryant (25 digs) and Jessie Hartman (18) split time at libero.

SCOUTING HARVARD: The Crimson has enters the weekend with a record of 8-11 overall and 4-4 in the Ivy League. Harvard has four hitters averaging more than two kills per set, with Anne Ingersoll leading the way at 2.83. Ingersoll is also leading the team in blocks per set (1.07). Setter Lily Durwood is averaging 9.46 assists per set, while Christine Wu is leading the Crimson defense with 5.03 digs per set.

THE SERIES VS. THE CRIMSON: Cornell and Harvard first met in 1977, a 2-0 Big Red victory. Cornell went on to win the next 10 contests before the Crimson earned its first win in the series during the 1988 campaign. The Big Red had won nine straight meetings, dating back to Oct. 9, 2004, before Harvard took the 3-1 victory earlier this season. Still, Cornell holds a significant lead in the all-time series, leading the Crimson 34-15.

LAST TIME VS. HARVARD: The Big Red dropped a 3-1 decision to Harvard on Oct. 9, 2009 at Newman Arena. The Big Red won the first set, 25-21, before dropping the next three, 25-20, 25-18 and 25-17. Both Deveney Pula and Juliana Rogers registered 10 kills for Cornell, with Pula hitting .148 for the match, while Rogers connected on .115. Alessa Cekauskas and Jessica Misse registered nine and seven kills, respectively. Sophomore setter Jordan Reeder posted 29 assists and senior libero Megan Mushovic tallied 19 digs, while Pula chipped in eight. Harvard (5-19, 1-2 Ivy) was led by three players with double-digit kills – Anne Ingersoll (12), Sandra Fryhofer (11) and Mikaelle Comrie (10). Lily Durwood registered 35 assists, while Christine Wu tallied a game-high 26 digs.

CORNELL'S LAST GAME: The Big Red fell to Princeton, 3-1, on Saturday in Princeton, N.J. After losing the first set, 25-14, the Big Red stormed back to win the second set, 29-27, but dropped the final two sets, 25-11 and 25-21. Freshman Deveney Pula led Cornell with 15 kills and just six errors on 46 attempts (.196), to go along with 12 digs and one service ace. Meagan Tatum also registered double-digit kills with 10 and just two errors on 34 attempts (.235), while Kelly Hansen chipped in seven kills. Jordan Reeder tallied 29 assists and Megan Mushovic posted 17 digs. Princeton (6-12, 4-3) was led by Sheena Donohue's 21 kills, while Lydia Rudnick (17), Cathryn Quinn (16) and Taylor Carroll (14) all posted double-digit kills as well. Michaela Venuti tallied 59 assists and Rudnick posted a game-high 18 digs.

MEET THE NEW BOSS: After serving as an assistant coach for the past five seasons, Sarah Bernson was named the ninth Wendy Schaenen '79 Head Coach of Volleyball at Cornell. In her five seasons as an assistant with the Big Red, Bernson helped the program to three Ivy titles (2004, 2005, 2006) and two NCAA tournament appearances (2005 and 2006). She has helped develop 16 All-Ivy performers over that span. Bernson was in charge of the program's recruiting and worked with the outside hitters, including the Big Red's all-time kills leader and first volleyball All-American in school history, Elizabeth Bishop '07.

IVY LEADER BOARD: Cornell has several players making their mark on the conference leader board. Jordan Reader ranks sixth in assists per game (7.50), while Megan Mushovic is sixth overall in digs per game (4.45). Mushovic also ranks 10th in the conference in service aces (0.25). The Big Red also has two players ranked in the top-10 for blocks, with Madeleine Przybyl sitting in fifth (0.83), slightly ahead of Juliana Rogers, who ranks eighth (0.80).

THE ART OF ZHENG: Cornell freshman setter Lucy Zheng saw significant action vs. Brown on Oct. 17, playing in all four sets and handing out a career-high 36 assists. The 36 assists is also the second-highest assist total for a Big Red player this season, second only to Jordan Reeder, who tallied 39 assists vs. Dartmouth on Oct. 10.

TRIPLE DIP: The Big Red had three players register double-digit kills in its last match, a 3-1 victory over Dartmouth, as Megan Mushovic tallied a game-high 30, while Jordan Reeder and Risa Ka'awa registered 24 and 17 digs, respectively. The last time Cornell had three players register at least 10 digs in a four-set match also came against the Big Green when Mushovic (19), Hilary Holland (17) and Erin McCarthy (10) reached the mark in a 3-1 Big Red victory.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Jordan Reeder was named the Ivy League Player of the Week for the first time in her career, after helping the Big Red earn the first conference win of head coach Sarah Bernson's career as the team defeated Columbia, 3-0, on Oct. 3. Reeder had the best match of her career, as she posted 34 assists to lead the Big Red offense. The sophomore setter also registered seven digs, two block assists, one service ace, and had two kills with no errors on four attempts (.500).

RECORD SETTER: Three-time all-conference libero Megan Mushovic set the Cornell record for career digs last season, tallying 1,612 digs in just three years. With her 22 digs vs. Hartford on Sept. 26, she surpassed the Ivy League record for career digs with 1,777, passing Brown's Tomo Nakanishi '99 at 1,762 … Mushovic also owns the top two spots in Cornell's list of single season digs, with 598 in 2007 and 549 in 2008.

ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM: Deveney Pula was named to two all-tournament teams this season, making the Cornell Invitational team after earning similar honors at the Binghamton Invitational. At the Cornell Invitational, Pula led the Big Red with 26 kills on 91 attempts over three matches, to go along with 22 digs. At the Binghamton Invitational, Pula registered 26 kills on 92 attempts with just 10 errors for a kill percentage of .174. She also registered 32 digs, two service aces, two block assists and one assist.

MISSING MISSE: Jessica Misse had not seen the court in two years due to a myriad of injuries, but she made her return to the court at the Binghamton Invitational on the weekend of Sept. 11-12. The senior middle blocker saw action in all three games that weekend and posted 12 kills and four blocks during the tournament. So far this season, Misse has seen action in 15 matches, registering 72 kills and just 30 errors on 186 attempts, for a team-best .226 kill percentage.

DIGS A LOT: Despite falling to Morehead State in the season opener, the match proved to be yet another opportunity for senior libero Megan Mushovic to write her name in the Cornell record books, as she posted the third-best performance in school history for digs in a three game match, finishing the day with 26.

SAFE SERVING: The Big Red has done an outstanding job of keeping serving errors to a minimum, registering just 117 on the season (1.7 per set). At the same time, Big Red opponents have posted 149 serving errors (2.2 per set).

SETTING UP: Sophomore Jordan Reeder saw the first significant action of her career, surpassing her career assist total during the opening weekend. Reeder, who entered the Patriot Invitational with 22 career assists, racked up 68 assists on the weekend, including a career-high 33 vs. George Mason (four sets).

HI! MY NAME IS: There is a new face on the Cornell sideline, as Chris Duenow, the all-time winningest head volleyball coach at Concordia University (Ore.), joins Coach Bernson's staff as an assistant coach. Duenow was the head coach at Concordia for seven seasons, posting a 108-89 record overall and a 73-39 mark in the Cascade Collegiate Conference, including the 2002 league title. That 2002 team went 24-3 overall and posted a perfect 18-0 league mark, extending its conference win streak to 65 regular season victories. He helped mentor 14 first-team all-league selections, six first-team all-region picks, one All-American and one conference Rookie of the Year.

SEASON OPENERS: Cornell is 25-12-1 all-time in season openers. Since 1995, the Big Red is an impressive 12-3 in the first match of the season.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: Seniors Megan Mushovic and Juliana Rogers have been named co-captains for the 2009 season. Mushovic has been one of the top liberos in the nation over the past three seasons, while Rogers became one of the top offensive weapons for the Big Red as a junior leading the team in kills per set (2.66) and placing second in total kills (221).

FRESH FACES: The Big Red added seven freshmen to the team this season - Sydney Campbell, Alice Cope, Hanna Drake, Taylor Nieman, Deveney Pula, Ana Vanjak, Lucy Zheng. Among the seven, five are taller than 5'10", with three of those five standing 6'2" or taller. The rookie class also draws heavily on key volleyball-playing states, as four of the players hail from California, with another two from Texas. The seventh, Vanjak, is originally from Croatia but has lived in Germany for the past few years.

RECAPPING 2008: The Big Red volleyball team closed out its 2008 season tied for third place in the Ivy League with a 9-5 record and was 10-15 overall for the season. Megan Mushovic, Emily Borman and Hilary Holland each earned All-Ivy honors following the season. Mushovic was named first-team for the second-straight season at libero after leading the league in digs. Borman received second-team honors at middle blocker, and Holland was an honorable mention selection at the setter position.

UP NEXT: Cornell is back in action next weekend, as it returns home to play host to Princeton on Friday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m., and Penn on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 4 p.m.