Boxscore

HANOVER, N.H. – The Cornell volleyball team fell to Dartmouth this evening in Hanover, N.H., 3-1. The Big Red dropped the first two sets, 25-20, 25-22, but won the third, 26-24, before dropping the fourth set, 25-20.

Cornell (6-14, 3-6 Ivy) was led by Deveney Pula with 19 kills and five errors on 53 attempts for a .264 hitting percentage. Alessa Cekauskas also chipped in nine kills, while Jessica Misse posted the best hitting percentage on the night for the Big Red (.375) with eight kills and just two errors on 16 attempts.

Jordan Reeder handed out a career-high 41 assists to go along with 13 digs and two service aces, while Megan Mushovic tallied a game-high 35 digs. Pula also registered double-digit digs for the Big Red with 10.

Dartmouth (8-11, 4-5 Ivy) hit very well for the match with Annie Villanueva registering 16 kills and just four errors on 29 attempts for a .414 hitting percentage, while Krista Covington posted eight kills and no errors on 18 attempts for a .444 hitting percentage. Alissa Santa Maria tallied 42 assists and 16 digs and four other Big Green players posted double-figures in digs – Lexie Campbell (24), Jessie Harman (18), Megan MacGregor (14) and Amber Bryant (11).

The teams battled to a 6-6 tie in the first set before three unanswered points by Dartmouth gave the home team the 10-7 advantage. The Big Red fought back to tie the game at 10-10, thanks to a Big Green error and one kill each from Misse and Pula. Dartmouth responded with a 7-1 scoring run to go up, 17-11, a lead Cornell could not overcome as the Big Green took the 25-20 victory.

Dartmouth jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead in the second set, but a pair of kills by Misse and a ball handling error on Santa Maria knotted the set at 4-4. The Big Green scored three unanswered points to go up, 7-4, but Cornell fought back to make it a one-point game, trailing 9-8. Once again, Dartmouth used an extended scoring run to take a significant 15-9 lead, but Cornell slowly chipped its way back into the set, pulling within two points, 20-18. The teams traded points all the way to 23-21 before a Dartmouth attack error brought the Big Red within one-point, 23-22, but a kill by Villanueva and a service ace by MacGregor closed the set and gave the home team the 25-22 victory.

Back-to-back kills by Misse and Madeleine Przybyl got Cornell off to a great start in the third set, but the teams battled through 18 ties, with neither team taking more than a two-point lead at any point in the set. With the Big Red trailing, 24-23, Cornell got a huge kill from Przybyl to tie the game for the final time before a back-to-back block assists by Przybyl and Alice Cope gave the Big Red the 26-24 victory.

The Big Green jumped out to a 6-1 advantage in the final set before Cornell used a 9-3 scoring run to go up by a point, 10-9. Dartmouth tied it up on the next play and from there the teams traded the lead back and forth until three unanswered points gave the Big Green the 16-13 advantage. The Big Red tied the game again at 16-16, and twice more down the stretch before the home team got back-to-back kills by Covington to go up, 21-18. Cornell couldn't recover, falling in the final set, 25-20.

The Big Red is back in action tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 31, as it takes on Harvard at 4 p.m.