MATCH INFORMATION
MATCH #16: Cornell vs. Penn
MATCH TIME: Friday, Oct. 22, 2010; 7:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Newman Arena (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Penn leads, 33-23
LAST MEETING: Penn won, 3-2, Nov. 7, 2009 in Ithaca, N.Y.
2010 RECORDS: Cornell (4-12, 2-4 Ivy); Penn (8-9, 4-1 Ivy)
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/wvball/index.htm
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.cornellbigred.com/showcase/

MATCH #17: Cornell vs. Princeton
MATCH TIME: Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010; 5:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Newman Arena (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Princeton leads, 41-17
LAST MEETING: Princeton won, 3-0, Nov. 6, 2009 in Ithaca, N.Y.
2010 RECORDS: Cornell (4-12, 2-4 Ivy); Princeton (10-6, 5-0 Ivy)
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/wvball/index.htm
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.cornellbigred.com/showcase/

THE MATCH-UP: The Big Red volleyball team steps back into Ivy League action when it plays host to the top two teams in the Ivy League, as Penn and Princeton comes 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. Penn is riding a four-game winning streak as it improved to 8-9 overall and 4-1 in the Ivy League with a pair of wins last weekend over Dartmouth and Harvard. Princeton remained in first place in the conference standings as it also swept the Big Green and the Crimson last weekend to run its winning streak to six games and improve to 10-6 on the season (5-0 Ivy League).

LAST WEEKEND:

THE SERIES VS. PENN: Cornell and Penn first met in 1974, a 2-0 Big Red victory. The Quakers went on to dominate the series for the rest of the 1970s and '80s, accounting for its 33-23 all-time lead, but since 1990 the series has been much closer, with Penn holding the slim, 17-12 advantage.

SCOUTING THE QUAKERS: Penn brings a four-game winning streak into Newman Arena with its last loss coming at the hands of Princeton. With its 8-9 record overall and mark of 4-1 in the conference, the Quakers sit just behind the Tigers in the conference standings. The team is led by Julia Swanson and Lauren Martin with 3.18 and 2.65 kills per set, respectively, while Amanda Pacheco (.342) and Susan Stuecheli (.318) have proven to be incredibly consistent, ranking in the top three of the conference in hitting percentage. Swanson is also second on the team with 2.88 digs per set, while defensive specialist Madison Wojciechowski leads the Ivy League and ranks ninth in the nation with 5.67 per set. Setter Megan Tryon also leads the Ivy League with 10.38 assists per set.

LAST TIME VS. PENN: The Big Red nearly handed Penn its first Ivy League loss of the season, but came up just short, falling to the Quakers, 3-2. The Big Red won the first two sets, 25-22 and 25-21, before dropping the next three, 25-23, 25-21 and 15-12. Cornell was led by Deveney Pula with 19 kills, while Kelly Hansen (13), Alessa Cekauskas (12) and Juliana Rogers (11) all posted double-digit kills. Jordan Reeder had a then career-high 55 assists, to go along with 21 digs. Senior libero Megan Mushovic reached yet another milestone in her illustrious career, as her team-high 22 digs pushed her past the 2,000 dig plateau. Risa Ka'awa also chipped in 18 digs. Penn (20-4, 11-0) also had four players with double-digit kills, led by Julia Swanson with 19, while Elizabeth Semmens chipped in 17. Swanson and Semmens also registered 18 and 25 digs, respectively. Megan Tryon tallied a game-high 62 assists.

THE SERIES VS. PRINCETON: Like its series with Penn, Cornell's series with Princeton also began in the 1974 season, a 2-0 Big Red victory. The Tigers have dominated the series, owning a 41-17 record against Cornell, and have won the last six meetings.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS: Princeton sits atop the Ivy League standings and has ridden a six-game winning streak to a record of 10-6 overall and 5-0 mark in the conference. The Tigers are led by Lydia Rudnick, who ranks first in the conference and 20th in the nation with 4.32 kills per set. Setter Michaela Venuti is averaging 8.28 assists per game and defensive specialist Hillary Ford is registering 3.77 digs per set.

LAST TIME VS. PRINCETON: The Big Red fell to Princeton, 3-0, at Newman Arena on Nov. 6, 2009. Cornell was led by Alessa Cekauskas, who was perfect on the evening with nine kills and no errors on 26 attempts for a .346 hitting percentage. Deveney Pula and Jessica Misse chipped in seven kills apiece. Setters Jordan Reeder and Lucy Zheng both saw time in the match with Reeder registering 22 assists while Zheng added 12. Senior libero Megan Mushovic registered 21 digs on the evening. Princeton (8-13, 6-4 Ivy) had a pair of players register double-digit kills with Sheena Donohue leading the way with 18, while Polly Korbel tallied 11. Michaela Venuti handed out 36 assists and Hillary Ford had a team-high 13 digs.

IVY RANKINGS: As of the rankings on Monday, Oct. 18, several Cornell players ranked among the top 10 in the Ivy League in several statistical categories, including:
* Kelly Hansen – Kills Per Set – 8th – 2.67
* Jordan Reeder – Assists Per Set – 5th – 8.36
* Jordan Reeder – Service Aces Per Set – 8th – 0.23
* Madeleine Przybyl – Blocks Per Set – 6th – 0.93
* Alice Cope – Blocks Per Set – 7th – 0.86
* Risa Ka'awa – Digs Per Set – 7th – 4.21

MAY I ASSIST YOU?: Jordan Reeder is closing in on the Cornell top 10 for career assists, needing just 14 more to surpass Sara Thomson (1,143 assists; 1992-94).

BLOCK PARTY: Kelly Hansen currently sits in 15th place in Cornell history for block assists with 180. She needs just nine more to move up to 14th place, surpassing Robin Moore (1997-2000) and 14 more to move into the top 10.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE DENIZEN: Jordan Reeder has posted an assist-dig double-double in 9-of-16 matches this season. She was the only Big Red player to record a double-double on the year, before Deveney Pula (23 kills, 18 digs) and Rachel D'Epagnier (11 kills, 11 block assists) registered their first of the season vs. Columbia on Oct. 2.

COMING ON STRONG: After recording less than seven kills per match through the first five matches of the season, freshman Janel Forte has come on strong, reaching double-digit kills in six of the last 11 matches.

DOUBLE-DIGIT DIGS: Junior libero Risa Ka'awa has posted double-digit digs in 12-of-16 matches this season.

HITTING HIGHS: The Big Red recorded a team hitting percentage of .233 against Brown on Oct. 16, the highest hitting percentage so far this season. It is only the second time since the start of the 2009 season that Cornell has hit that well against an Ivy League team (.266 vs. Columbia on Oct. 3).

BLOCKING BROWN: Cornell registered 14 total blocks against Brown on Oct. 16, which matched a season-high for the squad. The Big Red had previously recorded 14 team blocks against Colgate.

100 DIGS: Cornell recorded 101 digs against Columbia on Oct. 2, reaching the century mark in a match for the first time since registering 103 digs vs. Yale on Nov. 3, 2007. One week later, Cornell tallied 101 digs vs. Dartmouth, giving the Big Red 100+ digs in back-to-back matches for the first time since 2007.

SECOND TIME'S THE CHARM: For the second straight season, the Big Red has fallen to Columbia in New York City, only to come back and defeat the Lions the following weekend on its home court at Newman Arena.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Freshman Rachel D'Epagnier became Cornell's first Ivy League Rookie of the Week in volleyball since Katie Marshall was honored on Nov. 14, 2007. The freshmen middle blocker earned the honor after posting an 11-kill, 11-block double-double in the Big Red's 3-2 victory over Columbia on Oct. 2. In that match she also led Cornell with a .450 hitting percentage (11-2-20).

BLOCKS A LOT: Rachel D'Epagnier led the Big Red with 11 block assists against Columbia on Oct. 2. The 11 block assists rank ninth in Big Red history for block assists in a single match and are the most registered by a Cornell player since Kelly Hansen tallied 11 at Penn on Nov. 11, 2008.

BIG HITTER: Deveney Pula tallied a career-high 23 kills vs. Columbia on Oct. 2, the most kills registered by a Big Red player since Katie Marshall tallied 23 vs. Brown on Oct. 20, 2007.

BEATING THE BIG EAST: Cornell's 3-2 victory over UConn at the Colgate Invitational marked the Big Red's first win over a Big East school since it defeated Syracuse, 3-0, on Oct. 24, 2006 at Newman Arena. Since that time, Cornell had gone 0-4 against the Big East, with three loses against the Orange and one against the Huskies.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: The Big Red saw four different players named to three different all-tournament teams earlier this season. Kelly Hansen and Jordan Reeder were selected to the Cornell Invitational all-tournament team, while Risa Ka'awa and Madeleine Przybyl were named to the Best Western Falcon Invitational all-tournament team and the Colgate Invitational all-tournament team, respectively.

MARATHON MATCHES: When the Big Red faced Lamar in the final round of the Cornell Invitational on Sept. 4, the game proved to have the longest fifth set (by points) in Cornell history. The match, which went to 23-21 in the final set, eclipsed the previous record by four points. Prior to the Lamar match, the longest fifth set took place at Harvard on Nov. 10, 2007, when Cornell defeated the Crimson, 19-17.

SEASON OPENERS: With its victory over Siena in the opening round of the Cornell Invitational, the Big Red improved to 26-12-1 all-time in season openers. Since 1995, the Big Red is an impressive 14-3 in the first match of the season.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: Senior Erin McCarthy and junior Meagan Tatum have been named captains for the 2010 season

FRESH FACES: The Big Red adds six freshmen to the team this season - Rachel D'Epagnier, Janel Forte, Brittany Fox, Ainsley Lovejoy, Kelly Marble and Sierra Young. All six are taller than 5-11, with two of those six standing 6-1 or taller. The incoming class also draws from six different states, with the group representing Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

HI! MY NAME IS … : There is a new face on the Cornell sideline, as Kate Seabaugh, a former standout player at UConn, joins Coach Sarah Bernson's staff as an assistant coach. She joins the staff while working towards a Master of Engineering degree with a concentration in Financial Engineering at Cornell. Prior to Cornell, Seabaugh was a starter for UConn, where she was an outside hitter, but completed her undergraduate honors finance degree in three years, cutting her playing career short. She helped the Huskies advance to the Big East tournament in each of her three seasons and totaled 621 kills and 625 digs in 90 matches played.

UP NEXT: The Big Red remains in Ithaca as it welcomes Harvard and Dartmouth to Newman Arena on Friday, Oct. 29 and Saturday, Oct. 30, respectively. Cornell will face the Crimson at 7 p.m., while the game with the Big Gren is slated to begin at 5 p.m.