Box Score ITHACA, N.Y – 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, this evening 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 (3-9, 0-3 Ivy) 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.

After trading points in the early moments of the first set, the Big Red used some timely hitting and took advantage of several Brown miscues to build a comfortable 16-12 lead. Three straight kills by Marble and some outstanding serving by D'Epagnier then sparked a 9-1 run to end the game.

The second set was a back-and-forth contest with the teams essentially trading points until Marble racked up four kills in a 4-1 Cornell run as the Big Red built a 20-16 lead. A kill by Shannon Frost made it a two-point game (20-18), but that was as close as it would get as a kill by Marble and back-to-back kills by Wong ended the Brown threat and Cornell took the 25-20 victory.

The third set was a game of comebacks with the Big Red erasing an early four-point Brown advantage (10-6) to knot the game at 13-13 on a kill by Marble. A service ace by D'Epagnier on the next play gave the home team a one-point advantage and the teams traded points to 17-17. The Big Red lead late in the game, up 20-18, but consecutive kills by Thea Derrough tied the game at 20-20. The score would be tied four more times down the stretch, including at 25-25, but the Bears rallied to win, 27-25. 

After trading points to 8-8 in the fourth set, an ace by D'Epagnier and a kill from Ana Vanjak put Cornell up, 10-8. The Big Red carried the lead until back-to-back Brown kills and a Big Red attack error tied the set at 14-14. The set was tied again at 17-17, 18-18 and 19-19, but consecutive kills by Marble opened up Cornell's 6-1 run to end the match.

The first full road Ivy weekend is next on tap with the Big Red travelling to Penn (Oct. 5) and Princeton (Oct. 6).