MATCH INFORMATION
MATCH #4: Cornell vs. LIU Brooklyn
MATCH TIME: Friday, Sept. 13, 2013; 4:30 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Steinberg Wellness Center (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: LIU Brooklyn leads, 3-2
LAST MEETING: LIU Brooklyn, 3-1; Oct. 5, 2008
2013 RECORDS: Cornell (1-2); LIU Brooklyn (2-4)*
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/liubrooklyn/wvball/
LIVE VIDEO: http://necfrontrow.com/schools.php?title=LIU

MATCH #5: Cornell vs. Fairfield
MATCH TIME: Saturday, Sept. 14, 2013; 12:30 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Steinberg Wellness Center (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 2-1
LAST MEETING: Cornell, 3-0; Sept. 19, 2003
2013 RECORDS: Cornell (1-2); Fairfield (2-5)*
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/liubrooklyn/wvball/
LIVE VIDEO: http://necfrontrow.com/schools.php?title=LIU

MATCH #6: Cornell vs. Colgate
MATCH TIME: Saturday, Sept. 14, 2013; 4:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Steinberg Wellness Center (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 54-27-1
LAST MEETING: Cornell, 3-2; Sept. 25, 2012
2013 RECORDS: Cornell (1-2); Colgate (4-2)*
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/liubrooklyn/wvball/
LIVE VIDEO: http://necfrontrow.com/schools.php?title=LIU

* Records prior to Sept. 13

THE LIU BROOKLYN BLACKBIRD INVITATIONAL: The Big Red volleyball team travels to Brooklyn this weekend to take on LIU Brooklyn, Fairfield and Colgate at the Blackbird Invitational. Cornell faces the host team on Sept. 13 at 4:30 p.m., before playing back-to-back contests the following day against Fairfield at 12:30 p.m., and Colgate at 4 p.m. The series with both LIU and the Stags are short ones, with the Blackbirds holding a 3-2 record all-time against the Big Red, while Cornell owns the 2-1 advantage against Fairfield. The Colgate rivalry, on the other hand, is the longest on-going rivalry in Cornell volleyball history. The Big Red holds a 54-27-1 advantage in the all-time series, which dates back to 1972, the very first season of varsity volleyball at Cornell.

THE SERIES VS. LIU  BROOKLYN: The Blackbirds hold the 3-2 advantage in the all-time series, with the teams' last meeting coming in 2008. Cornell won the first two meetings in 2001 and 2003 before LIU Brooklyn won its first match in the series during the 2005 NCAA Tournament.

VS. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE: Cornell is 31-10 against the current members of the Northeast Conference. The Big Red has a winning record against Central Connecticut (4-1), Fairleigh Dickinson (11-2), St. Francis (NY) (2-0), and St. Francis (PA) (10-1). Cornell has a losing record against LIU Brooklyn (2-3) and Robert Morris (2-3) and never faced Bryant or Sacred Heart ... Coach Batie-Smoose is 1-0 against the Northeast Conference.

THE SERIES VS. FAIRFIELD: Cornell has faced the Stags just three times in women's volleyball, winning the first meeting in 1995 and the last meeting in 2003. Fairfield earned its lone victory in 1997.

VS. THE MAAC: Cornell is 36-7 against the current members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Big Red holds a winning record against Canisius (7-1), Fairfield (2-1), Iona (2-1), Manhattan (1-0), Marist (1-0), Niagara (12-0), Rider (4-1) and Siena (5-1) and a .500 record Saint Peter's (2-2). Cornell has never faced Loyola in volleyball ... Coach Batie-Smoose is 1-0 against the MAAC.

THE SERIES VS. COLGATE: The Big Red has a history of success against the Raiders, holding a 54-27-1 advantage in the all-time series, which dates back to 1972, the very first season of varsity volleyball in Cornell history. Last season, Cornell snapped the Raiders' five-match winning streak, earning its first victory since the 2005 season.

VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE: The Big Red is 87-39-1 against the current members of the Patriot League, thanks mostly to a 54-27-1 record over Colgate. Cornell also has a winning record against Army (6-1), Bucknell (12-2), Holy Cross (4-0), Lafayette (4-1) and Lehigh (5-2). The Big Red's series with Navy is tied at 2-2, while American is the only team in the Patriot League with a winning record against Cornell (4-0) ... Coach Batie-Smoose is 2-1 against the Patriot League.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose is in her second season at Cornell (10-18, .357) ... Batie-Smoose became the 10th coach in Cornell volleyball history in April 2012 ... She has a 97-80 (.548) record as a head coach, including a mark of 81-43 (.653) at Savannah College of Art & Design.

ALL-TOURANMENT TEAM:
* Rachel D'Epagnier and Breanna Wong were both named to the Cornell Invitational All-Tournament Team.

STRONG DEBUT: A pair of freshmen had strong debuts for the Big Red at the 2013 Cornell Invitational, as Alyssa Phelps and Macey Wilson both saw action in all 12 sets. Phelps finished with 101 assists (8.42 per set) and registered 20 digs and three blocks. Wilson posted a .282 hitting percentage with 16 kills (1.33 per set) and just five errors on 39 attempts to go along with a team-high 18 blocks.

ON THE BLOCK: Senior Rachel D'Epagnier is steadily moving up the Cornell all-time list for career blocks. She currently ranks 12th overall in both block assists (191) and total blocks (225) and is 16th in block solos (34).

SEASON OPENERS: Cornell is 27-14-1 all-time in season openers. Since 1995, the Big Red is an impressive 14-5 in the first match of the season.

UP NEXT: The Big Red wraps up its tournament schedule when it plays Pitt on Sept. 20 at 10 a.m. Later that day, Cornell will take on Morehead State at 4 p.m., before battling Rutgers the following morning at 10 a.m.