MATCH INFORMATION
MATCH #22: Cornell at Dartmouth
MATCH TIME: Friday, Nov. 5, 2012; 7:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Leede Arena (Hanover, N.H.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 37-12
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 3-2, Oct. 13, 2012 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2012 RECORDS: Cornell (6-15, 2-8 Ivy); Dartmouth (2-18, 1-9 Ivy)
Live Stats: DartmouthSports.com
Live Video: DartmouthSports.com

MATCH #23: Cornell at Harvard
MATCH TIME: Saturday, Nov. 6, 2012; 5:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Malkin Athletic Center (Cambridge, Mass.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 36-19
LAST MEETING: Harvard won, 3-1, Oct. 12, 2012 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2012 RECORDS: Cornell (6-15, 2-8 Ivy); Harvard (8-13, 5-5 Ivy)*
Live Stats: http://www.gocrimson.com/livestats/landing
Live Video: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/harvard.portal#

ITHACA, N.Y. – The Big Red volleyball team will play its final road games of the year this weekend when it travels to Harvard and Dartmouth. The Big Red and Big Green will play at 7 p.m. on Friday night while the Crimson will welcome the Big Red to Cambridge at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

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 37-12 record in the all-time series, winning 20 of the last 26 outings, including the meeting earlier this season.

LAST TIME VS. THE BIG GREEN: After winning the first two sets, 25-22 and 25-14, the Big Red volleyball team dropped the next two, 23-25 and 13-25, as Dartmouth forced a fifth set. The visitors couldn't come all the way back, however, and Cornell won, 15-10, to earn the 3-2 decision on Oct. 13 in Newman Arena. Cornell  was led by a trio of hitters in double figures. Breanna Wong posted a team-high 14 kills, while Kelly Marble and Sierra Young finished with 13 and 10 kills, respectively. Marble also posted 11 digs, one of four Big Red players in double digits. The Big Red's middle blockers – Rachel D'Epagnier and Ana Vanjak – put up solid numbers, combining for 13 kills and just two errors on 36 attempts, while registering seven blocks (two solo, five assisted) apiece. D'Epagnier also added three service aces. Setter Lucy Zheng had a 40-assisst, 10-dig double-double, while libero Brittany Kalepa finished with a game-high 28 digs. Natasha Rowland also posted 12 digs. Dartmouth was led by Elisa Scudder's 13 kills and .353 hitting percentage, while Allison Brady and Alex Schoenberger tallied 10 kills apiece. Schoenberger also had 13 digs and two block solos. Kayden Cook handed out 35 assists and Paige Caridi had a team-high 25 digs.

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 with a sweep of the Crimson last season, however, Harvard won the matchup earlier this year to cut Cornell's lead in the all-time series to 36-19.

LAST TIME VS. THE CRIMSON: Cornell used some scrappy defense and extended rallies to push Harvard, but the Big Red came up just short, losing to the Crimson, 3-1, on Oct. 12 in Newman Arena. Harvard took the first two sets, 25-19 and 25-23, before Cornell earned its lone victory in the third set (27-25), but could not complete the comeback, falling in the final set, 25-20. The Big Red was led by its outside hitters, Kelly Marble and Breanna Wong, who finished with 18 and 12 kills, respectively, while middle hitter Rachel D'Epagnier was the Big Red's most consistent player with eight kills and just three errors on 17 attempts (.294). D'Epagnier also had three blocks (two solo), while Marble was one of three Cornell players to register 11 digs, joined by Natasha Rowland and libero Brittany Kalepa. Setter Lucy Zheng posted a game-high 42 assists and was opportunistic with six kills on 11 attempts. Harvard was led by Taylor Docter's 14 kills, while Caroline Walters posted an impressive .467 hitting percentage with eight kills and just one error on 15 attempts. Setters Hannah Schmidt and Beth Kinsella finished with 19 assists apiece, while libero Kristen Casey tallied 14 digs. As a team, the Crimson posted a .200 hitting percentage and held the Big Red to just .138, thanks in part to its 12.5 total team blocks.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose is in her first season at Cornell (6-15, .285) ... Batie-Smoose became the 10th coach in Cornell volleyball history in April 2012 ... She has a 93-77 (.547) record as a head coach, including a mark of 81-43 (.653) at Savannah College of Art & Design.

WINNING WAYS: With four 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.

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.

D'EPAGNIER RISING: Junior Rachel D'Epagnier has quietly put together an impressive season so far for the Big Red. With four matches remaining, she ranks seventh in Cornell history for hitting percentage in a single-season (.324) and she is 20th overall for block assists in a season with 73. 

ON THE BLOCK: Junior Rachel D'Epagnier is steadily moving up the Cornell all-time list for career blocks. She currently ranks 17th overall in block assists with 160 and is 19th overall in both block solos (26) and total blocks (186).

YOU'VE BEEN SERVED: The Big Red ranks first in the Ivy League and 32nd in the nation in service aces with 1.46 per set. Kelly Marble also leads the conference and ranks 66th in the country with 0.36 per set. In all, Cornell has four players ranked in the top 10 of the Ivy League with Marble joined by Kelly Reinke (2nd – .034), Rachel D'Epagnier (6th – 0.29) and Sierra Young (9th – 0.25).

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 (.324)
*Kelly Marble – fourth in kills per set (2.96)
*Breanna Wong – 10th in kills per set (2.77)
*Kelly Reinke – second in assists per set (9.02)
*Rachel D'Epagnier – third in blocks per set (1.11)

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 2.77 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.

UP NEXT: The Big Red wraps up its season next weekend as it welcomes Princeton and Penn to Newman Arena on Friday, Nov. 9 and Saturday, Nov. 10, respectively. The game with the Tigers will begin at 7 p.m., and the game against the Quakers will start at 5 p.m. Prior to the Penn game, Cornell will honor its two seniors – Ana Vanjak and Lucy Zheng.