Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y. – The Big Red volleyball team dropped a heartbreaker to Harvard this evening, falling 3-2 at Newman Arena. Cornell won the second and fourth sets (25-22, 25-23) to force the decisive fifth set, which it lost, 15-11. Harvard won both the first and third sets in convincing fashion, winning 25-14 and 25-15.

Cornell (4-15, 2-7) was led by a trio of hitters in double figures – Kelly Hansen (14), Madeleine Przybyl (10) and Erin McCarthy (10). Both Hansen and Przybyl were incredibly consistent, hitting .367 and .364, respectively, while McCarthy posted a double-double with 13 digs. Jordan Reeder also posted a double-double, recording 43 assists and matching libero Taylor Nieman with a team-high 18 digs.

Harvard (7-14, 4-5) was led by Anne Ingersoll's 17 kills, while Sandra Fryhofer posted 11 kills and a game-high .421 hitting percentage. Four Crimson players posted double-digit digs, led by libero Christine Wu's game-high 21, while setter Beth Kinsella handed out 48 assists and finished with 18 digs.

In the first set, the Crimson jumped out to a 6-0 lead and never looked back, maintaining at least a four-point advantage throughout en route to a 25-14 victory.

The Big Red bounced back in the second set, battling point-for-point with the Crimson to 6-6 and then used a 6-2 run to go up, 12-8. During the scoring run, Cornell got a pair of kills by McCarthy a kill from Hansen and a service ace from Reeder. The Big Red continued to roll to a 24-18 lead before a kill from Taylor Docter swung some momentum back to the visitors. The Crimson held off four Cornell set points before a kill from McCarthy gave Cornell the 25-22 victory.

The third set started out as a back-and-forth battle, but ended as a one-sided affair when Harvard used five unanswered points to stretch its one-point lead into a 17-11 advantage. The Big Red never got back within five points as Harvard eventually rolled to the 25-15 final.

Cornell turned a two-point deficit in the fourth set into a two-point advantage when a Crimson attack error and a Przybyl service ace gave the home team the 9-7 lead. After that, Harvard called a time out, but it didn't slow down the Big Red, which stretched its lead to three points, 10-7, off a kill by McCarthy. The teams traded points, with Cornell maintaining its slim lead until Harvard managed to knot the set at 18-18. A Crimson service error, followed by a service ace from Reeder swung the two-point lead back to the Big Red and Cornell managed to scrap its way to the 25-23 victory.

Early in the final set, Harvard fought its way to a slim one-point lead before a kill by Ingersoll started a 4-0 scoring run to put the visitors up, 10-5. A service error by the Crimson gave Cornell the side-out and a kill by Deveney Pula made it a 10-7 game. A pair of errors by the Big Red and a kill from Doctor gave the visitors a 13-7 lead, but the Big Red wasn't ready to go down without a fight. A kill from McCarthy turned the momentum towards the home team and a pair of kills from Pula, sandwiched around an attack error from Docter made it a 13-11 game. On the very next play, an attack by Docter appeared to sail wide and was called out by the up-judge before realizing that a line judge was calling a touch by a Big Red player. After a short conference, the point was reversed and awarded to the Crimson, who got a kill from Fryhofer on the next play to take the match with a 15-11 win.

Cornell is back in action tomorrow evening, Saturday, Oct. 30, as it welcomes Dartmouth to Newman Arena at 5 p.m.