Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y. – In its final non-conference game of the season, the Big Red volleyball team fell to instate rival Syracuse in straight sets this evening at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y. The Orange defeated Cornell, 25-12, 25-23, 25-16, to improve to 21-3 on the season.

Cornell (4-12) struggled on offense, hitting just .061 for the match. Erin McCarthy posted a team-high six kills, while Madeleine Przybyl registered kills on five-of-six attempts with no errors (.833). Kelly Hansen and Janel Forte also registered five kills apiece. Setter Jordan Reeder tallied 24 assists, while Taylor Nieman finished with 11 digs.

The Orange was led by Lindsay McCabe's nine kills with no errors on 13 attempts for a .692 hitting percentage to go along with a team-high six block assists. Noemie Lefebvre and Hayley Todd also registered eight kills, with Lefebvre adding a match-high 18 digs. Ashley Williams had 16 digs, while the setting tandem of Laura Homann and Amanda Killman registered 16 and 12 assists, respectively.

While Syracuse dominated the first and third sets from start to finish, the Big Red nearly stole the second set, seeing 10 ties and three lead changes. In that second set, the teams traded points to 6-6 before a pair of Orange errors gave Cornell an 8-6 lead. The Big Red then used a 5-2 scoring run to go up, 13-8. Syracuse managed to fight its way back into the set and eventually knotted the game at 15-15, but Cornell wasn't done, as it managed to regain a two-point lead at 19-17. The Big Red held that slim margin until 21-19, but four straight Cornell attack errors put the visitors up, 23-21. Syracuse closed the set with one kill apiece from Todd and Erin Little, sandwiched around an Orange service error, to account for the 25-23 final.

The Big Red remains in Ithaca, but returns to Ivy League play as it welcomes Penn and Princeton to Newman Arena on Friday, Oct. 22 and Saturday, Oct. 23, respectively. Cornell will face the Quakers at 7 p.m., while the game with the Tigers is slated to begin at 5 p.m.