Box Score
ITHACA, N.Y. -- After suffering its first loss of the season in the afternoon, the Big Red volleyball team played its best match of the tournament, but fell just short against Cornell Invitational champion Lamar in a 3-2 loss on Saturday evening. The Big Red slipped to 1-2 with the loss, while the Cardinals improved to 3-3 and went a perfect 3-0 in the four-team round-robin event with a 25-22, 15-25, 20-25, 25-22, 23-21 marathon victory.
Kelly Hansen led three Cornellians in double figure kills with 13, while both Alessa Cekauskas and Madeleine Przybyl each chipped in with 10. Kelly Marble (nine kills) and Rachel D'Epagnier (eight kills) also supported the balanced offensive attack. Cornell out-hit Lamar .151-.095 for the match and also led in kills (58-48), service aces (9-7), digs (87-75) and blocks (12-10), but didn't have enough to claim the tournament crown.
Risa Ka'awa had a match-best 27 digs, while Jordan Reeder notched 18 digs and 20 assists. Przybyl had a career-high nine blocks to go along with her 10 kills, while Taylor Nieman (16 digs) and Lucy Zheng (22 assists) also put up big numbers for the Big Red.
Tournament MVP Jayme Bazile led the Cardinals with 15 kills and five blocks, while Cynthia McCollum notched 11 kills. Kaleigh Wright posted 22 digs to lead the visitors, while Kaylee Piatt posted a match-best 34 assists.
The Big Red staved off eight match points in game five's final run, including rebounding from a 14-11 deficit to knot the match at 14-14, starting a back-and-forth set of sideouts that included four straight service errors by Lamar. The Cardinals earned the tournament win with a pair of blocks to end the contest.
Cornell will travel to the Bowling Green Invitational next weekend where it will face the host Falcons on Friday, Sept. 10 at 7:00 p.m., before coming back the next day to play Oakland and IPFW at 2:00 and 4:30 p.m., respectively.
Cornell Invitational All-Tournament Team
MVP – Jayme Bazile (Lamar)
Megan Schwartz (Lamar)
Kelly Hansen (Cornell)
Jordan Reeder (Cornell)
Elizabeth Ives (Siena)
Lindsay Malloy (St. Francis)
