MATCH INFORMATION
MATCH #13: Cornell at Binghamton
MATCH TIME: Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013; 7:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: West Gymnasium (Binghamton, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell Leads, 20-8-2
LAST MEETING: Cornell, 3-2; Oct. 9, 2012 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2013 RECORDS: Cornell (5-9); Binghamton (4-14)
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/binghamton/wvball/
Live Video: http://www.bubearcats.tv

ITHACA, N.Y. – The Big Red volleyball team will close out its non-conference schedule when it travels down to Binghamton to take on the Bearcats on Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. Cornell will look to end a three-game skid before returning to Newman Arena this weekend for a pair of Ivy League contests against Yale and Brown.

THE SERIES VS. BINGHAMTON: Cornell has faced Binghamton 30 times, dominating the series at 20-8-2. However, Binghamton has won the last four of the last five meetings, with the Big Red earning a hard-fought 3-2 victory last season. 

LAST TIME VS. THE BEARCATS: The Big Red team snapped a four-game losing streak against instate rival Binghamton as it closed out its non-conference schedule with a thrilling 3-2 victory on Oct. 9, 2012 in Newman Arena. The teams traded sets with Cornell winning the second and fourth, and then went to extra points in the fifth set to earn the victory; 16-25, 25-18, 20-25, 25-22, 18-16. In total, the match featured 38 ties and 10 lead changes, five of which came in the decisive fifth set. Cornell was led by Kelly Marble with 18 kills, one of four Big Red players to reach double-digits. She was joined by Breanna Wong (14), Janel Forte (12) and Sarah Okey(12.) Forte also posted a team-best .348 hitting percentage (12-4-23), with Okey right behind at .323 (12-2-31). Setter Lucy Zheng finished with a career-high 51 assists and libero Sierra Young also had a personal-best 31 digs. Binghamton was led by Kristin Hovie's 16 kills, while Grace Vickers and Iva Partaleva added 12 kills apiece. Alex Roland posted a .412 hitting percentage for the match with eight kills and just one error on 17 attempts. Setter Amanda Dettmann had a 43-assist, 14-dig double-double and libero Xiomara Ortiz finished with a game-high 32 digs. As a team, the Big Red recovered from a slow start, in which it hit just .061 in the first set, to finish the match with a .206 hitting percentage (62-25-180).

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose is in her second season at Cornell (14-25, .359) ... Batie-Smoose became the 10th coach in Cornell volleyball history in April 2012 ... She has a 101-87 (.537) record as a head coach, including a mark of 81-43 (.653) at Savannah College of Art & Design.

FAST START: The Big Red's 2-1 start to the Ivy League season was its best since the 2008 team opened the year 3-0 before falling to Princeton.

DIG IT: Junior libero Natasha Rowland entered the weekend first in the Ivy League and ranked 25th in the nation in digs per set (5.02) … She posted a career-high 36 digs vs. Columbia on Sept. 28, a mark that is seventh best all-time in Cornell history for digs in a match. Altogether, Rowland has posted four of the top 20 performances in Cornell history, ranking 14th with her 34 digs vs. Rutgers, 16th with her 33 digs vs. LIU Brooklyn and 18th with her 32 digs against Princeton (Oct. 22).

100 WINS: Coach Melissa Batie-Smoose notched the 100th victory of her coaching career in the Ivy League opener against Columbia.

ON THE BLOCK: Senior Rachel D'Epagnier is steadily moving up the Cornell all-time list for career blocks. She currently ranks seventh overall in block assists (230) and needs just 10 more to pass Elizabeth Bishop (sixth – 239). She is eighth overall in total blocks (280), needing 18 more to pass Joanne Weiss (seventh – 297) and is 11th in block solos (50), needing just four more to move into a 10th place tie with Janelle Kenny (10th – 54).

IN THE RANKINGS: Several Cornell players are raked in the top 10 of various Ivy League statistical categories, including:
*Macey Wilson – 10th in hitting percentage (.294)
*Breanna Wong – fifth in kills per set (2.95)
*Alyssa Phelps – first in assists per set (8.85)
*Sierra Young – sixth in service aces per set (0.32)
*Rachel D'Epagnier – third in blocks per set (1.08)
*Macey Wilson – fifth in blocks per set (1.00)
*Natasha Rowland - first in digs per set (5.02)
*Breanna Wong - ninth in points per set (3.10)

THE BIG BLOCKER: Sept. 7 was a big day for freshman Macey Wilson. The middle blocker had back-to-back games in which she posted a career-high nine block assists. With her nine blocks vs. Iona, she placed ninth in Cornell history for blocks in a four-set match, while her nine stops against Bucknell is good for 15th place in Big Red history for blocks in a five-set match.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: For the first time in her young career, Breanna Wong has been named the Ivy League Player of the Week. It is the first conference weekly award earned by Wong, who becomes the Big Red's first Player of the Week selection since Rachel D'Epagnier earned the honor in the final week of the 2012 season. Wong lead the Big Red with 3.64 kills per set while hitting .301 in the Blackbird Invitational. She was particularly impressive in Cornell's victory over Fairfield, posting a team-high 12 kills (4.0 per set) and hitting .450.

ALL-TOURANMENT TEAM:
* Rachel D'Epagnier and Breanna Wong were both named to the Cornell Invitational All-Tournament Team.
*Brenna Wong was named to the Blackbird Invitational All-Tournament Team after leading the Big Red to a 1-2 record on the weekend including a sweep and a heart-breaking loss.
*Rachel D'Epagnier and Breanna Wong were both named to the Panther Invitational All-Tournament Team.

UP NEXT: The Big Red will play host to Yale and Brown this weekend at Newman Arena. The game against the Bulldogs will be Cornell's annual Dig Pink contest on Friday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. Fans are encouraged to wear pink. The contest vs. the Bears will be on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 5 p.m.