MATCH INFORMATION
MATCH #17: Cornell vs. Harvard
MATCH TIME: Friday, Oct. 12, 2012; 7:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Newman Arena (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 36-18
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 3-1, Nov. 5, 2011
2012 RECORDS: Cornell (5-11, 1-4 Ivy); Harvard (5-11, 2-3 Ivy)
Live Stats: CornellBigRed.com
Live Video: CornellBigRed.com

MATCH #18: Cornell vs. Dartmouth
MATCH TIME: Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012; 5:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Newman Arena (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 36-12
LAST MEETING: Dartmouth won, 3-2, Nov. 4, 2011
2012 RECORDS: Cornell (5-11, 1-4 Ivy); Dartmouth (2-13, 1-4)*
Live Stats: CornellBigRed.com
Live Video: CornellBigRed.com

* Prior to contests played on Friday, Oct. 12

ITHACA, N.Y. – The Big Red remains at home for a pair of games this weekend, taking on Harvard on Friday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. before facing Dartmouth on Saturday, Oct. 13 at 5 p.m. The Big Red has had great success over the years against both the Crimson and the Big Green, including a sweep last season against Harvard and a split with Dartmouth. Live stats and live video (pay-per-view) are available for both games at CornellBigRed.com.

THE SERIES VS. HARVARD: Cornell and Harvard first met in 1977, a 2-0 Big Red victory. Cornell went on to win the next 10 contests before the Crimson earned its first win in the series during the 1988 campaign. The Big Red had won nine straight meetings, dating back to Oct. 9, 2004, before Harvard earned a series sweep in both the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Cornell returned to its winning ways last season, however, sweeping Harvard to lead the Crimson 36-18 in the all-time series.

SCOUTING THE CRIMSON: Harvard got off to a slow start, but has won three of its last five matches to improve to 5-11 on the year and 2-3 in the Ivy League, with victories over Penn and Brown. Taylor Doctor and Kathleen Wallace lead the team with 2.93 and 2.68 kills per set, respectively, while Caroline Walters owns a team-best .371 hitting percentage. Beth Kinsella (5.52 assists per set) and Hannah Schmidt (4.52 aps) split the setting duties and Kristen Casey leads the team in digs with 3.46 per set. 

LAST TIME VS. HARVARD: For the second straight evening, the Big Red volleyball team took an opponent to a fifth set, but this time Cornell came away with the victory as it defeated Harvard, 3-2, on Senior Night in Newman Arena. All four seniors – Risa Ka'awa, Madeleine Przybyl, Jordan Reeder and Meagan Tatum –played integral roles in securing the victory for the Big Red. The Crimson took the first set and the fourth set (25-21, 25-23), but Cornell won the second, the third and the fifth (25-17, 25-22, 15-13) to earn its third Ivy victory of the season. As well as the seniors played, Cornell was led offensively by a pair of underclassmen with Kelly Marble and Janel Forte tallying 19 and 18 kills, respectively. Tatum and Przybyl were the most efficient hitters on the evening with Tatum hitting .417 (16-1-36) and Przybyl connecting on .333 (11-3-24) to help the Big Red to its best hitting percentage of the season at .279 (74-21-190) for the match. Przybyl had a solid game all-around, also finishing with 17 digs and seven block assists. Sophomore setter Kelly Reinke finished the evening with a game-high 35 assists, while Reeder posted a 31-assist, 11-dig double-double. Rounding out the performances from the seniors was Ka'awa, who led the defense with a match-high 35 digs, 14 more than any other player on the court, to help Cornell to 102 team digs. Like the Big Red, Harvard was very efficient offensively, hitting .205 as a team and was led by a trio of hitters in double-digits – Taylor Doctor (16), Teresa Skelly (13) and Sandra Lynn Fryhofer (13). Setters Beth Kinsella and Natalie Doyle finished with 32 and 19 assists, respectively, while libero Christine Wu tallied 21 digs.

THE SERIES VS. DARTMOUTH: Cornell's series with Dartmouth began in 1981 and the Big Red has dominated from the beginning, winning the first 13 meetings before falling to the Big Green for the first time on Oct. 12, 1996. Cornell owns a 36-12 record in the all-time series, winning 19 of the last 25 outings.

SCOUTING THE BIG GREEN: Dartmouth enters Friday evening's contest vs. Columbia on a five-game losing streak, taking a record of 2-13 overall and 1-4 in the Ivy League to New York City. Alex Schoenberger (2.79 kills per set) and Paige Caridi (2.55 kps) lead the offense, with Elisa Scudder posting a team-best .271 hitting percentage. Scudder is also the teams leading blocker, averaging 1.05 blocks per set. Setter Kayden Cook runs the offense with 7.56 assists per set and on defense Holly Harper averages a team-best 3.26 digs per set. 

LAST TIME VS. DARTMOUTH: After using some of its best hitting of the season to storm out to a 2-0 lead, the Big Red cooled off and Dartmouth fought back to take the 3-2 victory on Nov. 4, 2011 at Newman Arena. Cornell hit .208 (18-7-53) and .367 (14-3-30) to win the first two sets, 26-24 and 25-11 before dropping the next three to the visitors: 25-14, 25-16, 15-13. Madeleine Przybyl and Kelly Marble both posted a team-high 13 kills with Przybyl hitting a match-best .367 (13-2-3), while Marble finished at a healthy .217 (13-3-46). Janel Forte chipped in 11 kills, while Meagan Tatum added seven kills and four block assists for the Big Red. Sophomore middle blocker Rachel D'Epagnier also had a good night at the net with six block assists. Setters Jordan Reeder and Kelly Reinke handed out 27 and 16 assists, respectively, with Reeder adding 14 digs as one of four Cornell players with double-digit digs. Libero Risa Ka'awa had a team-high 25 digs, while Przybyl finished with 16 and Natasha Rowland chipped in 12. Dartmouth (14-8, 6-5) was led by Alex Schoenberger's 20 kills and Madeline Baird's 15-kill, 12-dig double-double. Kendall Houston handed out 38 assists, while Alissa Santa Maria added 11. Big Green libero Amber Bryant finished with a match-high 28 digs.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose is in her first season at Cornell (5-11, .313) ... Batie-Smoose became the 10th coach in Cornell volleyball history in April 2012 ... She has a 92-73 (.558) record as a head coach, including a mark of 81-43 (.653) at Savannah College of Art & Design.

DIG PINK: The Big Red's game vs. Columbia on Saturday, Oct. 20 will serve as the team's Dig Pink game. The program will be selling t-shirts to raise money for cancer research.

WINNING WAYS: With nine games left on the schedule, the Big Red has already posted as many wins as it had last season (5) and is just two victories away from giving the senior class its best record in a Cornell uniform.

FRESHMAN FIRST: Freshman Breanna Wong currently leads the Big Red with 2.89 kills per game. If she finishes the season with the most kills on the team she will be just the fourth Cornell freshman since 1987 to achieve that feat, joining Debbie Quibell (2000), Liz Bishop (2006) and Deveney Pula (2009).

DIG IT!: Sierra Young's 31 digs vs. Binghamton on Oct. 9 was a personal best and also ranks 17th all-time in Cornell history for individual digs in a match.

YOU'VE BEEN SERVED: At the start of the week, the Big Red ranked first in the Ivy League in service aces with 1.62 per set. Kelly Marble also led the conference with 0.48 per set. In all, Cornell had three players ranked in the top 10 of the Ivy League with Marble joined by Kelly Reinke (3rd – .035) and Rachel D'Epagnier (7th – 0.30)

IN THE RANKINGS: In addition to the team's outstanding serving, several Big Red players were ranked among the top 10 in several other categories at the beginning of the week.
*Rachel D'Epagnier – eighth in hitting percentage (.326)
*Breanna Wong – seventh in kills per set (2.89)
*Kelly Marble – ninth in kills per set (2.79)
*Kelly Reinke – second in assists per set (9.29)
*Rachel D'Epagnier – fourth in blocks per set (1.12)

DID YOU KNOW??:
* Sierra Young is part of Cornell's Sustainable Design group, which is working to create affordable housing in the form of a 30-house cooperative in Nicaragua.
* Breanna Wong has two different size feet. Her left foot is a women's size 9, while her right foot is a 10.5.
* Ana Vanjak is fluent in five languages (Croatian, German, English, Spanish, Latin) and working on a sixth (French).
* Brittany Kalepa was part of the Kamehameha School's Children's Choir, which recorded music for Disney's Lilo & Stitch.
* Rachel D'Epagnier runs Cornell's chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and took a sports mission to Costa Rica this past summer to teach volleyball.
* Senior setter Lucy Zheng has published two research articles and is working on a third.

FIRST WIN: Head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose earned her first win with the Big Red in a 3-2 triumph over Bucknell on Sept. 7 at Fordham's Rose Hill Classic. There was plenty to like in the victory, including the team's tenacious attack. The Big Red rallied from an 0-2 deficit for the second time in the span of six hours to force a fifth set, but this time was able to close out the win after dropping a 3-2 contest in the morning session to the host Rams.

ALL-TOURNEY TEAM:
* Rachel D'Epagnier was named to the Omni Hotel Colorado Volleyball Classic All-Tournament Team. Over the course of the weekend, the junior middle blocker averaged 1.67 kills per set, while hitting a team-best .375. She also added 11 total blocks (four solo, seven assisted).
* Kelly Reinke was named to Fordham's Rose Hill All-Tournament Team. Through four games, the sophomore setter averaged 8.06 assists per set to go along with 2.28 digs per set. She also collected seven service aces and eight block assists.
* Rachel D'Epagnier was named “Best Blocker” at the Temple Invitational, while Kelly Marble earned “Best Server” honors.

SEASON OPENERS: Cornell is 27-13-1 all-time in season openers. Since 1995, the Big Red is an impressive 14-4 in the first match of the season.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: Brittany Fox '14, Kelly Marble '14 and Kelly Reinke '15 have been named captains for the 2012 season.

FRESH FACES: The Big Red adds four freshmen to the team this season - Brittany-Ann Kalepa (Honolulu, Hawaii), Shannon O'Brien (Naperville, Ill.), Brittany Ward (Friendswood, Texas) and Breanna Wong (Highlands Ranch, Colo.). The group consists of two defensive specialists, a middle/outside hitter, and a rightside/outside hitter. The incoming class also draws from four different states, with the group representing Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois and Texas.

KIDS IN THE HALL: Jaimee Reynolds '02, who played both volleyball and women's lacrosse at Cornell, has been selected for induction into the Cornell University Athletic Hall of Fame at the 36th annual ceremonies to be held Friday, Nov. 2 on the Cornell campus. The first four-time All-American in women's lacrosse and the third in any women's sport at Cornell, Reynolds was one of three finalists for national player of the year as a senior. Reynolds also lettered four times in volleyball and her 1,023 assists at setter in 2001 ranks among the top 10 marks in school history. She was the NCAA New York Woman of the Year and one of 10 finalists for NCAA Woman of the Year in 2002 and was a Honda Award finalist that same season.

UP NEXT: The Big Red opens the second round of Ivy League action when it welcomes Columbia to Newman Arena for its Dig Pink match on Saturday, Oct. 20 at 2 p.m.  The Lions won the first meeting, 3-0, on Sept. 22 in New York City.