ITHACA, N.Y. – A stout Harvard defense and a balanced attack led the Crimson volleyball team to a 3-0 victory (25-17, 25-22, 25-17) over Cornell this evening in Newman Arena. The Big Red will look to get back on track tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 11, when it welcomes Dartmouth at 5 p.m.
Following the game, the Big Red will host a Youth Clinic Night, giving children, ages 5-12, an opportunity to work with the Cornell players and coaching staff. Cornell (3-11, 0-4 Ivy) was led by
Emily Wemhoff with eight kills, while
Macey Wilson,
Kit McCarty and
Maddy Sroufe finished with six kills apiece. Wilson also added three blocks (one solo). Setter
Alyssa Phelps tallied 27 assists, seven digs and three kills with no errors on 12 attempts (.250). Libero
Natasha Rowland matched a personal-best by registering double-digits in her 18th constructive match, finishing with a match-high 15.
Harvard (9-4, 2-2 Ivy) hit .232 as a team as every Crimson player finished with a positive hitting percentage. Leading the charge was Corinne Bain with 11 kills and just two errors on 23 attempts (.391) to go along with 15 digs, 12 assists and three block assists. The Crimson had eight total team blocks, with Caroline Holte registering six block assists. Sindhu Vegesena was the only other Harvard player with double-digit digs, finishing with 11.
Harvard came out on fire early in the match, using an 11-2 run to go up by double-digits, 16-5, in the first set. During the run, eight Crimson points came from kills, including three from Paige Kebe and three from Bain. From there, the visitors rolled to the 25-17 victory.
The second set was the most tightly contested of the three with 11 ties and seven lead changes. The largest lead by either team was three points when Harvard went up, 11-8, on a kill by Bain. Cornell answered with a kill by Sroufe and back-to-back Crimson errors knotted the contest at 11. The teams continued to trade points until the visitors again took a three point lead (19-16), but again, the Big Red responded, eventually tying the set at 20-20 on a huge kill by McCarty. A kill from
Jasmine Robinson on the next play handed the 21-20 advantage to Cornell , but four unanswered points swung the match back to Harvard, who finished on a 5-1 run to earn the 25-22 decision.
The teams continued to battle back-and-fourth early in the final set before a kill from Jennifer Shults opened up a small 4-1 run that gave the visitors some breathing room at 16-11. Cornell cut into the Harvard lead, making it a three-point game at 16-13, but could not come all the way back as the Crimson escaped with the 25-17 victory.
