Box Score Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y. – After winning the first two sets by identical scores of 25-21, the Big Red volleyball team dropped three straight to Columbia, losing 3-2 this evening in Newman Arena. The Lions took the final three sets, 25-13, 25-23, 15-10.

Cornell (2-10, 0-1) was led by Madeleine Przybyl's 16-kill, 14-dig double-double, while Kelly Marble (13), Janel Forte (13) and Meagan Tatum (12) all finished with double-figure kills for the Big Red. Senior setter Jordan Reeder tallied 30 assists, as she split time with freshman Kelly Reinke, who registered 25. Reeder also had 10 digs, while Reinke chipped in nine and senior libero led the team with 24 digs on the evening.

Columbia (7-4, 1-0) was lead by Megan Gaughn's 14 kills as the only Lion to reach double-digits. The setting tandem of Colleen Brennan and Kelsey Musselman finished with 37 and 16 assists, respectively, and libero Charlee Dyroff had a match-high 30 digs. Guaghn (15), Brennan (11) and Nicole Goldhaber (11) all collected double-digit digs for the Lions.

The first set was by far the most competitive with 12 ties and four lead changes but the Big Red prevailed thanks to a .229 hitting percentage (17-6-48), while Columbia hit just .120 (13-7-50).

Cornell jumped out to a 7-4 lead but three straight kills by Gaughn knotted the game at 7-7. The teams traded points to 11-11 when three unanswered points gave the Lions their largest lead of the set, 14-11. The teams battled back-and-forth to 19-19 when a kill by Marble and a service ace by Ka'awa gave the Big Red a two-point cushion. A kill by Gaughn pulled the visitors back to within one-point, but Cornell closed the game on a 3-1 run, punctuated by a block assist from Przybyl and Reeder to take the 25-21 victory.

The second set was all Big Red. After an early 1-1 tie, Cornell went up by as many as seven points on three separate occasions (19-12; 20-13; 21-14) and then held off a late push by the Lions, using kills by Tatum and Marble to cap the 25-21 win.

The tide of the match began to turn in the third set as Columbia took advantage of the Big Red's .023 hitting to take a 25-13 victory. After an early back-and-forth battle, the Loins used an 8-0 run to blow open what had been a two-point set, taking an 18-8 lead before rolling to the win.

Like the first set, the fourth was extremely competitive, featuring 10 ties and four lead changes. The teams essentially traded points for the first half of the set before the Lions took advantage of several Cornell miscues to go up, 18-14. The Big Red battled back to knot the game at 20-20, thanks in large part to three kills from Przybyl and one kill each from Tatum and Forte.

Cornell took the lead at 21-20 and again at 22-21, but Columbia used kills from Sierra Worthy and Heather Braunagel, as well as back-to-back blocks, to steal the 25-23 victory.

The Lions rushed out to a 12-5 lead in the decisive fifth set and although the Big Red pulled back within four points (14-10), it was too little, too late as Columbia earned the 15-10 victory.

Cornell opens up its first full Ivy League weekend with games at Yale and Brown. Cornell will face the Bulldogs on Friday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m., before taking on the Bears on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 5 p.m.