MATCH INFORMATION
MATCH #25: Cornell at Princeton
MATCH TIME: Friday, Nov. 11, 2011; 7:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Jadwin Gym (Princeton, N.J.)
SERIES RECORD: Princeton leads, 44-17
LAST MEETING: Princeton won, 3-1, on Oct. 8, 2011
2011 RECORDS: Cornell (5-19, 3-9); Princeton (16-8, 9-3)
LIVE STATS: www. GoPrincetonTigers.com
LIVE VIDEO: www. GoPrincetonTigers.com

MATCH #26: Cornell at Penn
MATCH TIME: Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011; 5:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: The Palestra (Philadelphia, Pa.)
SERIES RECORD: Penn leads, 36-23
LAST MEETING: Penn won, 3-1, on Oct. 7, 2011
2011 RECORDS: Cornell (5-19, 3-9); Penn (8-14, 4-8)*
LIVE STATS: www.PennAthletics.com
LIVE VIDEO: www.PennAthletics.com

* Records prior to Friday, Nov. 11

THE MATCH UP: The Big Red volleyball team will play its final games of the season this weekend as it travels to Princeton and Penn on Friday, Nov. 11 and Saturday, Nov. 12, respectively. The game against the Tigers is scheduled for 7 p.m., while the game against the Quakers is slated for 5 p.m. Fans can follow Friday's game on live stats and live video at www.GoPrincetonTigers.com, while fans can follow Saturday's game on live stats and live video at www.PennAthletics.com.

THE SERIES VS. PRINCETON: Cornell's series with Princeton began in the 1974 season, a 2-0 Big Red victory. The Tigers have dominated the series, owning a 44-17 record against Cornell, and have won the last eight meetings.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS: Princeton sits in second place in the Ivy League standings with a record of 16-8 overall and 9-3 in the conference. The Tigers have a pair of hitters registering more than three kills per set – Lydia Rudnick (3.71) and Cathryn Quinn (3.42) – who rank first and third in the Ivy League, respectively, in that category. Quinn also has a team-best .292 hitting percentage and leads the team with 0.92 blocks per set. Setter Ginny Willis ranks second in the Ivy League with 10.10 assists per set, while libero Hillary Ford, the younger sister of former Cornell quarterback Nate Ford '09, ranks third overall with 5.25 digs per game.

LAST TIME VS. PRINCETON: The Big Red volleyball team won the third set and pushed Princeton to the limit in the fourth in an attempt to force a decisive fifth-set, but came up just short as the Tigers escaped Newman Arena with a 3-1 victory. The visitors took the match, 25-20, 25-14, 23-25, 25-23. Cornell was led by Janel Forte and Madeleine Przybyl led the Big Red with 15 and 13 kills, respectively, while Megan Tatum finished with nine kills and a team-high .194 hitting percentage (9-3-31). Setter Kelly Reinke and Jordan Reeder both finished with a double-double with Reinke tallying 23 assists and 21 digs and Reeder finishing with 20 assists and 15 digs. Libero Risa Ka'awa posted a team-high 27 digs to lead five Cornell players in double-digits, including Reinke, Reeder, Sierra Young (16) and Natasha Rowland (13). Princeton  got most of its offense from two players – Cathryn Quinn (18 kills, .235) and Lydia Rudnick (17 kills, .245) – with no other Tiger registering more than six kills. Setter Ginny Willis finished with 45 assists and Rudnick posted a match-high 29 digs.

THE SERIES VS. PENN: Like the series with Princeton, 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 36-23 all-time lead, but since 2000 the series has been equal with the series tied, 9-9.

SCOUTING THE QUAKERS: Penn has split its past two Ivy League weekends to move its record to 8-14 overall and 4-8 in the Ivy League. The Quakers are led by Lauren Martin's 3.16 kills per set, while Amanda Pacheco has been the squad's most reliable attacker, hitting .273 (223-74-545). Penn uses a trio of setters to get the job done with Kristen Schoonover posting 5.82 assists per set, while Meghan Connolly and Hilary Ash registering 5.51 and 4.65 assists per set, respectively. Defensively, Susan Stuecheli is providing the Quakers with 0.99  blocks per set and libero Dani Shepherd owns a league-best 6.37 digs per set.

LAST TIME VS. PENN: Despite storming out to a 25-22 victory in the first set against visitor Penn, the Big Red volleyball team fell to the Quakers, 3-1, in Neman Arena. Penn won the final three sets, 25-17, 25-23, 25-17. Cornell  was led by Madeleine Przybyl and Meagan Tatum with 11 and 10 kills, respectively, with Przybyl hitting a team-best .241 (11-4-29). Freshman setter Kelly Reinke handed out 22 assists and senior setter Jordan Reeder posted a double-double with 12 assists and a team-high 24 digs. The Big Red's defense was especially strong with Sierra Young (22), Risa Ka'awa (21) and Reinke (13) all posting double-digit digs as well. Penn recovered from a .042 team hitting percentage in the first set to finish the match at .130 as it took the 3-1 victory. A trio of Quakers – Amanda Pacheco (13), Emma White (12) and Susan Stuecheli (11) – all posted double figure kills. Stucheli (11-2-27) and Pacheco (13-2-34) also finished with impressive hitting percentages of .333 and .324, respectively. Setters Hilary Ash and Meghan Connolly both finished with 18 assists apiece, while Kristen Etterbeck had a team-high 24 assists. Libero Dani Shepherd tallied 20 digs with White (14) and Connolly (11) rounding out the Quakers with double-digit digs.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Madeleine Przybyl was named the Ivy League Player of the Week on Nov. 8 after a stellar weekend in which she was instrumental in helping the Big Red to its five-set victory against Harvard. She is the first Cornell player to be named Player of the Week since Jordan Reeder took home the honor on Oct. 21, 2009. Against the Crimson, Przybyl posted a solid game all-around with 11 kills, 17 digs and seven block assists to lead Cornell. The previous night in a tough five-set loss to Dartmouth, she tied for the team high with 13 kills hitting a match-best .367 with 16 digs and two block assists. In addition to her outstanding hitting percentage on the weekend (.352) and nine total blocks, Przybyl also had 30 service receptions over the two matches with just one error.

MOVING ON UP: Several Big Red players are steadily making their way up the Cornell career record lists. Senior setter Jordan Reeder ranks seventh all-time in career assists (1957) and 15th overall in career digs (822). She would need 203 more assists to move into sixth place and 34 more digs to move into 15th place. Senior Risa Ka'awa is sixth all-time in career digs (1088) and needs just 31 more to move into fifth place, while senior Madeleine Przybyl is 16th overall in career block assists (170) and needs 19 more to move into 15th place.

IN THE BLOCKING RANKS: Cornell is ranked fourth in the Ivy League in blocks (2.04 per set) with sophomore Rachel D'Epagnier ranking second in the conference with 1.14 blocks per set.

DIG 'EM: The Big Red ranks third in the Ivy in digs per game with 18.50 per set, with Risa Ka'awa ranking fifth in the conference with 5.00 digs per set.

PRZYBYL POWERING UP: Senior middle blocker Madeleine Przybyl has been on a tear lately, registering double-digit kills in 10 of the Big Red's last 14 matches after registering more than 10 kills just once through the first 10 matches of the season. Through those first 10 matches, Przybyl averaged 1.8 kills per set while hitting just .129 (55-33-171). Over the past 14 matches, she has recorded a team-best 2.80 kills per set and is also the most consistent hitter on the team with a .258 hitting percentage (157-57-387).

ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM: The Big Red showed some great balance through the first three weekends of the season with three different players earning all-tournament team honors. Sophomore outside hitter Janel Forte was named to the Cornell Invitational All-Tournament team after leading the Big Red over the course of four matches with a .250 hitting percentage and 2.54 kills per set. The following weekend, senior rightside hitter Meagan Tatum was named to the VCU Invitational All-Tournament team. Tatum posted 2.75 kills per set and finished with 1.0 blocks per set. In the final tournament of the season, senior setter Jordan Reeder earned All-Tournament team honors at the Blue and White Classic with 8.55 assists per set.

SEASON OPENERS: Cornell is 27-12-1 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: Seniors Risa Ka'awa, Madeleine Przybyl and Meagan Tatum have been named captains for the 2011 season

FRESH FACES: The Big Red adds four freshmen to the team this season - Sarah Hunt (Arlington Heights, Ill.), Sarah Okey (Clarksville, Md.), Kelly Reinke (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) and Natasha Rowland (Palm Harbor, Fla.). The group is well-balanced, consisting of a middle blocker, an outside hitter, a setter and a libero. The incoming class also draws from three different states, with the group representing Florida, Illinois and Maryland.

HI! MY NAME IS … : There is a new face on the Cornell sideline, as Patrick Lynch joins Coach Sarah Bernson's staff as an assistant coach. He joins the staff while pursuing an MBA in Cornell's Johnson School of Management. Lynch had a four-year career with the University of Illinois men's volleyball club team. During his time with the Fighting Illini, he also spent three seasons as a volunteer assistant for the nationally ranked women's varsity program. After graduating in 2004 with a bachelor of science degree in kinesiology, Lynch became an Infantry Officer with the 1st Marine Division where he led over 300 combat missions in Iraq and was awarded the Navy Commendation and Navy Achievement Medals for actions in combat. Lynch went on to become a Training Officer and eventually an Operations Officer at the Camp Fuji Training Center in Shizouka, Japan.