Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Cornell vs. George Washington Box Score
Cornell vs. North Carolina A&T State Box Score

RICHMOND, VA. – The Big Red volleyball team split a pair of matches today, falling to George Washington, 3-0, before defeating North Carolina A&T State, 3-0, at the final day of the VCU/Third Degree Sportswear Invitational at the Verizon Wireless Center in Richmond, Va.

Cornell (2-5) closed the Invitational with a bang, defeating NC A&T in straight sets, 25-9, 25-11, 25-8. The Big Red hit an outstanding .422 for the match, while holding the Aggies to just .026 overall. Ana Vanjak led Cornell with 10 kills and a .444 hitting performance (10-2-18), while Ainsley Lovejoy added seven kills with no errors on 17 attempts, hitting .412. Rachel D'Epagnier was also impressive with six kills and no errors on eight attempts (.750).

Freshman Kelly Reinke and senior Jordan Reeder shared the setting duties with 15 and 14 assists respectively, while freshman defensive specialist Natasha Rowland led the team with 11 digs. Reeder also added three service aces.

NC A&T (0-9) was led by Jenea Daniels' seven kills. Setter Chelsea Fox handed out 15 assists and Devonte' Reese had a team-high four digs.

In the first match of the day, the Big Red fell to an undefeated George Washington, 25-16, 25-16, 25-13. The Cornell offense could not seem to get going, hitting just .156 for the match, with a high of .282 in the third and closest set. Janel Forte led the Big Red with eight kills and no errors on 25 attempts for a .320 hitting percentage, while Meagan Tatum chipped in seven kills and hit .312 overall (7-2-16). No other Cornell player managed more than four kills in the three-set match.

The Big Red did post 17 blocks to the Colonials' seven, with Tatum leading the way with five, while Madeleine Przybyl and Alice Cope added four blocks each.

Reader and Reinke tallied 14 and 12 assists, respectively, while senior libero Risa Ka'awa finished with 14 digs.

George Washington (8-0) hit a solid .289 for the match and was led by Lauren Whyte and MacKenzie Knox with 15 and 12 kills, respectively. Knox hit .450 for the match (12-3-20) and Jessica Armstong hit .429 (7-1-14). Setter Katie Crosby finished with 42 assists and 13 digs, as one of three Colonials, joining Candace Silva-Martin (14) and Hillary DeCarl (10), with double-digit digs.

Cornell is back in action next weekend as it will travel to the University at Buffalo's Blue and White Classic where it will face Dayton on Friday, Sept. 16 at 4:30 p.m. The next morning the Big Red will take on the host Bulls at 10:00 a.m., before wrapping up the tournament against Syracuse at 5 p.m.