MATCH INFORMATION
MATCH #24: Princeton at Cornell
MATCH TIME: Friday, Nov. 12, 2012; 7:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Newman Arena (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Princeton leads, 46-17
LAST MEETING: Princeton won, 3-1, Oct. 6, 2012 (Princeton, N.J.)
2012 RECORDS: Princeton (12-10, 9-3 Ivy); Cornell (7-16, 3-9 Ivy)
Live Stats: http://sidearmstats.com/cornell/wvball/scoreboard.aspx
Live Video: http://www.CornellBigRed.com/showcase
MATCH #25: Penn at Cornell
MATCH TIME: Saturday, Nov. 13, 2012; 5:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Newman Arena (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Penn leads, 38-23
LAST MEETING: Penn won, 3-0, Oct. 5, 2012 (Philadelphia, Pa.)
2012 RECORDS: Penn (13-10, 8-4 Ivy); Cornell (7-16, 3-9 Ivy)*
Live Stats: http://sidearmstats.com/cornell/wvball/scoreboard.aspx
Live Video: http://www.CornellBigRed.com/showcase
* Records prior to games on Friday, Nov. 9
ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell volleyball team will close out the 2012 season at home and will take the opportunity to thank its seniors when the Big Red play host to Princeton and Penn this weekend at Newman Arena. Cornell, which has already surpassed its win total from any of the last three seasons, will test itself against two of the league's top three teams as a barometer of where it is and where it needs to go as it heads to its first offseason under head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose.
THE SERIES VS. PRINCETON: Cornell's series with Princeton began in the 1974 season, a 2-0 Big Red victory. The Tigers have dominated the series since, owning a 46-17 record against Cornell, and have won the last 10 meetings, including a 3-0 sweep of the Big Red earlier this season in New Jersey.
LAST TIME VS. PRINCETON: The Big Red gave league-leading Princeton all they could handle, but fell to the Tigers 3-1 in Dillon Gym on Oct. 6. Princeton won the first and fourth sets by the identical score of 25-14, but barely clipped Cornell, 27-25 in the second set before the visitors won the third, 25-20. Kelly Marble had a team-high 15 kills, while Breanna Wong finished with nine kills. Senior setter Lucy Zheng got her second start of the season and finished with 38 assists. Princeton was led by Lydia Rudnick and Kendall Peterkin with 19 and 14 kills, respectively. Setter Ginny Wills handed out 35 assists and Rudnick also posted a team-best nine digs.
THE SERIES VS. PENN: Like the series with Princeton, Cornell and Penn first met in 1974, a 2-0 Big Red victory. The Quakers went on to dominate the series for the rest of the 1970s and '80s, accounting for its 38-23 all-time lead, but since 2000 the series has been much more equal with Penn owning a slim 11-9 advantage.
LAST TIME VS. PENN: The Big Red dropped a 3-0 heartbreaker to Penn on Oct. 5 at the Palestra, falling 25-21, 27-25, 25-23. The match featured 25 ties and 10 lead changes through three sets, but Cornell came up just short. In her first action since early in the 2010 season, senior setter Lucy Zheng finished the night with a 31-assist, 16-dig double-double. She also tallied three kills, three block assists and one service ace. Defensively, Sierra Young registered a team-high 20 digs for the Big Red, while Rachel D'Epagnier finished with six blocks (two solo, four assisted). Penn was led by Emma White's 12 kills, while Susan Stuecheli and Kristen Etterbeck finished with nine kills apiece. The trio combined for 30 kills and just seven total errors, helping the Quakers finish with a .149 hitting percentage for the match.
THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose is in her first season at Cornell (7-16, .304) ... Batie-Smoose became the 10th coach in Cornell volleyball history in April 2012 ... She has a 94-78 (.547) record as a head coach, including a mark of 81-43 (.653) at Savannah College of Art & Design.
THANK YOU SENIORS!: Cornell will honor its two seniors prior to Saturday's contest against Penn, as the Big Red volleyball family will celebrate Ana Vanjak and Lucy Zheng. Vanjak battled injuries throughout her career before making her final year her best. She has posted 41 kills on .243 hitting and 0.91 blocks per set. Zheng rejoined the Big Red prior to the 2012 season after playing as a freshman and sophomore and has averaged a career-high 7.94 assists per set.
WINNING WAYS: With two games left on the schedule, the Big Red has already posted two more wins than it had last season (5). THe Big Red has matched the most wins in a season for the senior class in a Cornell uniform.
KIDS IN THE HALL: Jaimee Reynolds '02, who played both volleyball and women's lacrosse at Cornell, was inducted into the Cornell University Athletic Hall of Fame at the 36th annual ceremonies last weekend. 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 two matches remaining, she ranks in the top 20 in Cornell history for hitting percentage in a single-season (.340) and block assists in a season with 80. She sits 77th nationally in hitting percentage and is 100th in blocks per set.
ON THE BLOCK: Junior Rachel D'Epagnier is steadily moving up the Cornell all-time list for career blocks. She currently ranks in the top 20 block assists with 167, block solos (27) and total blocks (194).
YOU'VE BEEN SERVED: The Big Red ranks first in the Ivy League and 20th in the nation in service aces with 1.55 per set. Kelly Marble also leads the conference and ranks 40th in the country with 0.38 per set. In all, Cornell has four players ranked in the top five of the Ivy League with Marble joined by Kelly Reinke (2nd – 0.31), Rachel D'Epagnier (fourth – 0.30) and Sierra Young (fifth – 0.29).
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 – fifth in hitting percentage (.340)
*Rachel D'Epagnier – third in blocks per set (1.12)
*Rachel D'Epagnier - 10th in points per set (3.11)
*Kelly Marble – fifth in kills per set (3.00)
*Kelly Marble - fourth in points per set (3.56)
*Kelly Reinke – second in assists per set (9.08)
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 2.74 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 season is complete, with the group getting together in the spring for its non-traditional season before getting back to it in AUgust of 2013 for the new campaign.
