MATCH INFORMATION
MATCH #10: Cornell at Columbia
MATCH TIME: Saturday, Sept. 25, 2010; 2:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Levien Gym (New York, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 45-5
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 3-0, Oct. 3, 2009
2010 RECORDS: Cornell (2-7, 0-0 Ivy); Columbia (7-2, 0-0 Ivy)
LIVE STATS: www.GoColumbiaLions.com
LIVE VIDEO: None

THE MATCH-UP: The Big Red volleyball team opens up Ivy League play this weekend as it travels down to New York City to take on Columbia on Saturday, Sept. 25 at 2:00 p.m. The game will be the conference opener for both teams. Cornell (2-7) is looking to halt a two-match skid, while the Lions are on a seven-match winning streak, improving to 7-2 last weekend as it won three matches to take the title at its home invitational. 


THE SERIES VS. COLUMBIA: Cornell has dominated the series with Columbia, owning a 45-5 record vs. the Lions all-time. Last season, the Big Red had a 15-game winning streak vs. the Lions snapped in the teams' first meeting, before coming back to defeat Columbia, 3-0, in the rematch one week later.

SCOUTING THE LIONS: After opening the season with back-to-back losses at the St. John's Tournament, Columbia has rattled off seven straight victories to improve to 7-2 on the year. Last weekend, the Lions defeated Fordham, Bucknell and Fairleigh Dikinson to win the Columbia Invitational. Megan Gaughn, the reigning Ivy League Player of the Week, leads the squad with 3.53 kills per set and ranks second overall with 2.81 digs per set. She also has a team-high 10 service aces on the season. Colleen Brennan and Kelsey Musselman have split the setting duties, averaging 7.23 and 5.16 assists per set, respectively. Defensively, Katherine Keller is posting 3.70 digs per set, while the duo of Savannah Fletcher (23) and Madeline Rumer (21) lead the team in total blocks.

LAST TIME VS. COLUMBIA: The Big Red avenged its loss against Columbia from the week prior when Cornell came back to defeat the Lions in straight sets, 25-18, 25-15, 25-18, on Oct. 3, 2009 in Newman Arena. Deveney Pula led the team with 10 kills and just four errors on 27 attempts for a .222 kill percentage, while Alessa Cekauskas posted nine kills and just three errors on 24 attempts (.250). Jordan Reeder ran the offense with 34 assists, while Megan Mushovic led the team with 12 digs. Juliana Rodgers also had a solid game with seven kills and five total blocks. Columbia (9-5, 1-1) was led by Megan Gaughn's 10 kills, while Kelsey Mussleman handed out 23 assists. Libero Ellie Thomas posted a game-high 19 digs.

IN THE RANKINGS: In the latest NCAA rankings, Risa Ka'awa ranks 47th in the nation with 4.94 digs per set.

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 has 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 returns home for the first time in nearly a month when it welcomes Columbia to Newman Arena for the return trip of the teams' home-and-home season series. The match is slated for Saturday, Oct. 2 at 2 p.m.