MATCH INFORMATION
MATCH #19: Cornell at Brown
MATCH TIME: Friday, Oct. 26, 2012; 7:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Pizzitola Sports Center (Providence, R.I.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 38-19
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 3-1, Sept. 29, 2012 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2012 RECORDS: Cornell (6-13, 2-6 Ivy); Brown (5-13, 1-7 Ivy)
Live Stats: http://livestats.prestosports.com/brown/ 
Live Video: http://www.americaonesports.com/partner_members.asp?id=1
 
MATCH #19: Cornell at Yale
MATCH TIME: Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012; 5:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Lee Amphitheater (New Haven, Conn.)
SERIES RECORD: Yale leads, 33-25
LAST MEETING: Yale won, 3-0, Sept. 28, 2012 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2012 RECORDS: Cornell (6-13, 2-6 Ivy); Yale (12-5, 8-0 Ivy)*
Live Stats: http://livestats.prestosports.com/yale/
Live Video: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/yale.portal#

ITHACA, N.Y. – The Big Red volleyball team opens a four-game road swing this weekend when it travels to Brown and Yale. Cornell will face the Bears on Friday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m., before taking on the Ivy League leading Bulldogs on Saturday, Oct. 27 at 5 p.m.

THE SERIES VS. BROWN: Cornell's series with Brown began in the 1976 season and the Big Red has dominated from the beginning, winning the first seven meetings before falling to the Bears for the first time in 1984. Cornell owns a 38-19 record in the all-time series, winning 18 of the last 24 meetings, including six of the last nine contests.

LAST TIME VS. THE BEARS: With an arena full of alumnae and friends celebrating 40 Years of Cornell Volleyball, the Big Red did not disappoint as it defeated Brown, 3-1, on Sept. 29 in Ithaca. Cornell won the first two sets, 25-13 and 25-20, before narrowly falling in the third, 27-25, and then storming back to win the decisive fourth set, 25-20. Kelly Marble had her best game of the season, leading Cornell with 20 kills and just four errors on 44 attempts for a .341 hitting percentage. She also posted 12 digs, two service aces and one block. Freshman Breanna Wong tallied 15 kills and just four errors on 33 attempts for a .333 hitting percentage and Rachel D'Epagnier finished with a team-high .400 hitting percentage (10-2-20). D'Epagnier also tallied five blocks and three service aces. Setter Kelly Reinke had 47 assists and a team-high 15 digs, as well as four block assists, and Natasha Rowland and Ainsley Lovejoy finished with 12 and 10 digs, respectively. As a team, Cornell had one of its best hitting nights of the season, finishing with a .277 hitting percentage (60-19-148), while holding Brown to just .167 (46-23-138). Brown was led by Amanda Nickel and Katrina Post with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Setters Alexandra Rieckhoff and Rachele Killian split time with Rieckhoff posting 24 assists and 14 digs, while Killian had 14 assists and 10 digs. Libero Kathryn Connor finished with a game-high 17 digs.

THE SERIES VS. YALE: Cornell and Yale first met in 1976, a 2-0 Bulldog victory. Yale went on to win the next four contests before the Big Red earned its first win in the series during the 1981 campaign. The Bulldogs have won the past nine meetings, improving its lead in the all-time series to 33-25.

LAST TIME VS. THE BULLDOGS: The Big Red volleyball team fell to defending Ivy League champion Yale, 3-0, on Sept. 28 in Newman Arena. The Bulldogs took the straight-set victory, winning 25-21, 25-14, 25-14. Cornell was led by Breanna Wong and Kelly Marble with eight kills apiece. Marble also added seven digs, two block assists and a service ace. Middle blocker Rachel D'Epagnier finished with five kills and a team-best .214 hitting percentage (5-2-14) to go along with five blocks (one solo, four assisted). Setter Kelly Reinke posted 22 assists and eight digs, while libero Sierra Young had a team-high 10 digs. Yale was led by Kendall Polan's triple-double. The reigning Ivy League Player of the Week registered 14 kills and just two errors on 24 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage, while posting 21 assists and 17 digs. Kelly Johnson split the setting duties with Polan and finished with 23 helpers, while libero Maddie Rudnick registered 17 digs. The Bulldogs, which lead the Ivy League in hitting percentage, hit an impressive .330 for the match.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose is in her first season at Cornell (6-13, .316) ... Batie-Smoose became the 10th coach in Cornell volleyball history in April 2012 ... She has a 93-75 (.554) record as a head coach, including a mark of 81-43 (.653) at Savannah College of Art & Design.

WINNING WAYS: With six games left on the schedule, the Big Red has already posted one more win than it had last season (5) and is just one victory away from giving the senior class its best record in a Cornell uniform.

YOU'VE BEEN SERVED: The Big Red ranks first in the Ivy League and 26th in the nation in service aces with 1.52 per set. Kelly Marble also leads the conference and ranks 42nd in the country with 0.40 per set. In all, Cornell has three players ranked in the top 10 of the Ivy League with Marble joined by Kelly Reinke (2nd – .035) and Rachel D'Epagnier (5th – 0.31).

IN THE RANKINGS: In addition to the team's outstanding serving, several Big Red players are ranked among the top 10 in several other categories in the Ivy League.
*Rachel D'Epagnier – eighth in hitting percentage (.316)
*Kelly Marble – fourth in kills per set (3.00)
*Breanna Wong – sixth in kills per set (2.91)
*Kelly Reinke – second in assists per set (8.96)
*Rachel D'Epagnier – second in blocks per set (1.13)

FRESHMAN FIRST: For most of the season, freshman Breanna Wong has led the Big Red in kills per set. She recently slipped to second place with 2.91 kills per set, but if she manages to finish 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.

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 remains on the road next weekend for a pair of games at Dartmouth and Harvard on Friday, Nov. 2 and Saturday, Nov. 3, respectively. Cornell will face the Big Green at 7 p.m., and the Crimson at 5 p.m.