ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell volleyball dropped a 3-1 decision this evening to Harvard 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 (4-10, 1-2 Ivy) got off to a big 5-1 lead in the opening set, thanks to kills by Rogers, Pula and Misse, before the Crimson fought back to tie the game at 6-6. From there, Harvard used an 8-3 scoring run to take a 14-9 lead. The Big Red rebounded, however, using three kills from Misse to take back the 18-17 lead. Cornell never trailed again as it went on to the 25-21 victory, which was capped by another kill from Misse.

 

Harvard jumped out to a commanding 10-4 lead in the second set, but the Big Red fought its way back into the contest, pulling within one-point, 17-16. During its 12-7 run, Cornell got three kills by Rogers, a pair of service aces by Misse and an ace by Taylor Nieman. The Big Red stayed in the set, but couldn't come all the way back, as it fell, 25-20.

 

In the third set, the Crimson jumped out to an early 12-6 lead and hit an impressive .469 for the set as it rolled to a 25-18 victory.

 

The teams battled back and forth in the early part of the final set, before a 5-2 Harvard run gave the visitors a 10-6 lead. The Big Red fought back to within three points, 17-14, but a Lucy Zheng kill was answered by four straight Crimson points, as Harvard pushed its lead to 21-14. The Crimson took the final set, 25-17.

 

Cornell is back in action tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 10, as it plays host to Dartmouth in Newman Arena at 4 p.m.