MATCH INFORMATION
MATCH #4: Cornell vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
MATCH TIME: Friday, Sept. 11, 2009; 4:30 p.m.
MATCH SITE: West Gymnasium (Binghamton, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 10-2
LAST MEETING: Cornell defeated Fairleigh Dickinson, 3-0, on Sept. 25, 2004
2009 RECORDS: Cornell 0-3; Fairleigh Dickinson 3-5
LIVE VIDEO: None
MATCH #5: Cornell vs. Towson
MATCH TIME: Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009; 10:30 a.m.
MATCH SITE: West Gymnasium (Binghamton, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Series tied, 2-2
LAST MEETING: Cornell defeated Towson, 3-0, on Sept. 10, 1999
2009 RECORDS: Cornell 0-3; Towson 6-2
LIVE VIDEO: None
MATCH #6: Cornell vs. Binghamton
MATCH TIME: Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009; 6:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: West Gymnasium (Binghamton, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 19-6-2
LAST MEETING: Binghamton defeated Cornell, 3-0, on Oct. 28, 2008
2009 RECORDS: Cornell 0-3; Binghamton 2-4
LIVE VIDEO: None
MATCH NOTES
THE BINGHAMTON INVITATIONAL: The Big Red Volleyball team will try to pick up its first win of the season this weekend as they head to the Binghamton Invitational in Vestal, NY. They are set to face Fairleigh Dickinson on Friday at 4:30 pm, before taking on Towson and the host Bearcats on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., respectively.
SCOUTING FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON: Despite winning their first two matches of the year, the Knights have gone 1-6 over their next seven matches and find themselves slotted at 3-6 on the season. Megan Wheeler is leading the offense with 3.73 kills per set, while Kelsey Selmer is averaging 3.89 digs per set on defense.
THE SERIES VS. THE KNIGHTS: The Big Red has fared well against the Knights in their previous 12 meetings, going 10-2. However, they have not seen them since 2004, when Cornell came out victorious 3-0.
SCOUTING TOWSON: The Tigers are currently riding a five-match winning streak, improving to 6-2 on the year following a pair of wins over Navy and Morgan State. Katee Luecke is averaging 7.42 assists per set while Missy Rohrbaugh heads the defense with 3.66 digs per set.
THE SERIES VS. THE TIGERS: With the series versus Towson tied at 2-2, Cornell looks to take the lead when they play on Saturday. The Big Red defeated the Tigers 3-0 in the last meeting on September 10, 1999.
SCOUTING BINGHAMTON: The Bearcats slipped to 2-4 on the season following a pair of losses on Saturday at the Marquette Challenge, where they fell to both Butler and Marquette. Anna Lejina is leading Binghamton's offense with 3.80 kills per set. On defense, Brianna Strong is posting an impressive 5.15 digs per set.
THE SERIES VS. THE BEARCATS: Cornell has faced Binghamton 27 times, dominating the series at 19-6-2. However, Binghamton has won the last two meetings, both by a score of 3-0 in 2007 and 2008.
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 11 on the young season (1.2 per set). At the same time, Big Red opponents have posted 30 serving errors (3.22 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.
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. Up next is the Ivy League record for career digs, as Mushovic needs just 106 more to surpass 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
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 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.
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).
DIG IT: Senior Megan Mushovic has ranked among the national leaders in digs during all three of her seasons, posting 5.60 digs per set to rank fifth nationally last year. She was as consistent as any defensive player in the country in 2008, reaching double figures in digs in 24 of 25 matches on the season.
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 will open the home portion of its season as it hosts the Cornell Invitational on the weekend of Sept. 18-19. The Big Red will take on in-state rival Colgate on Friday evening at 7 p.m. Cornell returns the next day to take on St. John's at 11 a.m., and Buffalo at 7 p.m.
