Box Score ITHACA, N.Y. – The Big Red volleyball team had a win six years in the making as it knocked off second-place Princeton 3-1 (25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 25-17) in Newman Arena on Friday night.
 
Rachel D'Epagnier had a match-high 17 kills, Kelly Reinke came three short of a career high with 53 assists and Brittany Kalepa led the way with 23 digs. Kelly Marble (14 kills, 13 digs) and Sierra Young (11, 13) each had a double-double, and Breanna Wong added 16 kills as Cornell (8-16, 4-9 Ivy League) knocked off the Tigers (12-11, 9-4) for the first time since Nov. 11, 2006.
 
Prior to Friday night, Princeton's winning streak over Cornell was up to 11 matches.
 
The Big Red seemed ready for a sweep ahead 19-13 in the third set, but the Tigers fought back to force a fourth set. Cornell left nothing to chance in that set, dominating throughout and sealing the win decisively.
 
The Big Red took an early 7-4 lead in the set, but the team was not done from there. It scored 11 of the next 13 points, including long service runs by D'Epagnier and Reinke to go ahead 18-8 and make the end of the set all but a formality. Cornell had double the Tigers' points at 22-11, and though Princeton rallied late, the Big Red had plenty of breathing room and finished things off with a D'Epagnier kill.
 
With a sweep in sight, the Big Red was excellent in the early going of the third set. A lead of 4-1 ballooned to 11-4, and Princeton called a timeout to regroup.
 
The Tigers started a comeback and got as close as two points, but the Big Red went on a four-point run that turned a tenuous 15-13 lead into a what looked like a comfortable 19-13 advantage on a long service run by Young. The Tigers refused to go away, though, calling a timeout and scoring the next six points to tie the set at 19-19. Princeton completed the comeback over the next 10 points, winning the set 25-23 to stay alive.
 
The Tigers came out very strong in the second set, taking a 12-6 lead and causing the Big Red to use a timeout. Princeton's Chelsea Parker had a four-point service run before it was broken up by a kill from Wong. Cornell eventually fought back and tied the set at 17-17 before taking its first lead of the set on the next point.
 
The Big Red extended its lead to 20-18 on kills by Marble and Sierra Young before the Tigers rallied back for a 21-21 tie. But the Big Red closed out the set with four of the next five points on two kills by Breanna Wong, a Princeton error and a service ace by Marble.
 
The first set was fairly even in the early going with Cornell reaching double digits first. Ahead 11-9, the Big Red scored three of the next four points to take a 14-10 lead and force the Tigers to use a timeout. Rachel D'Epagnier had three kills for Cornell in the early going, and Breanna Wong and Kelly Marble had two apiece.
 
The Tigers, though, were far from done in the set and fought back to tie it at 16-16 and eventually 19-19. From there, Cornell scored the next two points and the Tigers used their second timeout of the set. The timeout did not work as Natasha Rowland went on a five-point serving run and the Big Red took the set 25-19. D'Epagnier ended the frame with a match-high six kills and Kelly Reinke had 14 assists.
 
The Big Red will close out its year at 5 p.m. on Saturday when it faces Penn on Senior Night.