Boxscore

FAIRFAX, VA. – The Cornell volleyball team stumbled in its first outing of the 2009 season, falling to Morehead State in straight sets, 25-12, 25-19, 25-19. Despite the loss, 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.

Jordan Reeder ran the offense, handing out 19 assists, while chipping in defensively with five digs and two block assists. The Big Red got a team-high six kills by Erin McCarthy and five kills apiece from Meagan Tatum and Juliana Rogers.

Morehead State (4-0) was led by Ellie Roberson's 11 kills, while Kristie Brangers posted 32 assists on the day. The Eagles saw four players reach double-digit digs, with Brangers and Kaitlin Craven leading the team with 12 apiece.

The Big Red traded points with Morehead State to open the first set before the Eagles rallied off four straight points to take an early 7-3 lead. Back-to-back kills by Tatum got Cornell back into the set, 7-5, but the Eagles used an 8-2 scoring run to go up 15-7. From there MSU cruised to the victory.

The second set proved to be the most exciting of the day, with the two teams battling back and fourth throughout the first half. The Big Red managed to pull out to a 12-11 lead, but the Eagles rattled off six points in a row to go up, 17-12. The teams traded the next three points and trailing 19-13, the Big Red fought back with a 5-1 run of its own, getting kills by McCarthy, Madeleine Przybl, Alice Cope, Rogers and Alessa Cekauskas to make it a 21-19 game. That was as close as Cornell would get, however, as MSU closed the set with four straight points to take the victory.

The Eagles jumped out to a 5-0 lead to open the third set of the day, and stretched its lead to 16-5 before Cornell used a 9-3 run to get back into the contest. McCarthy proved to be an integral part of the run, registering three kills to go along with a service ace to help the Big Red make it a 20-14 game. MSU ended the Cornell run with a kill by Liz Schuler and the teams traded points the rest of the way to account for the 25-19 final.

Cornell is back in action tomorrow as it continues play at the Patriot Invitational, facing the host school, George Mason, at 12:30 p.m., before taking on Kent State at 4:30 p.m.