MATCH INFORMATION
MATCH #16: Cornell at Yale
MATCH TIME: Friday, Oct. 17, 2014; 7:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Lee Amphitheater (New Haven, Conn.)
SERIES RECORD: Yale leads, 36-25
LAST MEETING: Yale won, 3-0; Nov. 9, 2013
2014 RECORDS: Cornell (3-12, 0-5 Ivy); Yale (8-6, 4-1 Ivy)
LIVE STATS: http://yalebulldogs.com/sports/w-volley/2014-15/boxscores/20141017_4uif.xml
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com/cornell

MATCH #17: Cornell at Brown
MATCH TIME: Saturday, Oct. 15, 2014; 5:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Pizzitola Sports Center (Providence, R.I.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 38-22
LAST MEETING: Brown won, 3-2; Nov. 8, 2013
2014 RECORDS: Cornell (3-12, 0-5 Ivy)*; Brown (6-11, 1-4 Ivy)*
LIVE STATS:  http://brownbears.com/sports/w-volley/2014-15/boxscores/20141018_ebo8.xml
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com/cornell
    * Prior to games on Friday, Oct. 17

THE MATCHUP: The Big Red volleyball team will look to earn its first conference wins of the season when it travels to Yale (8-6, 4-1 Ivy) and Brown (6-11, 1-4 Ivy) on Friday, Oct. 17 and Saturday, Oct. 18, respectively. Out of town fans can watch both games live on the Ivy League Digital Network.

THE SERIES VS. YALE: Cornell and Yale first met in 1976, a 2-0 Bulldog victory. Yale went on to win the next four contests before the Big Red earned its first win in the series during the 1981 campaign. The Bulldogs have won the past 12 meetings, taking the lead in the all-time series, 36-25.
 
LAST TIME VS. THE BULLDOGS: Ivy League champion Yale won its 32nd consecutive home match when it downed the Big Red, 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-14), on Nov. 9, 2013 in New Haven, Conn. Breanna Wong was the only Big Red player to reach double-figure kills (11). She also led the visitors with a .286 hitting percentage (11-3-28) and added eight digs and two solo blocks to a solid all-around effort. Setter Alyssa Phelps finished with 27 assists, while libero Natasha Rowland had a team-high 10 digs. Yale was led by Mollie Rogers with 16 kills and a .429 hitting percentage (16-1-35), while Brittani Steinberg and Maya Midzik finished with nine and eight kills, respectively. Setter Kendall Polan tallied 33 assists and five digs, while libero Maddie Rudnick registered a match-high 20 digs. Rogers posted a double-double as the only other Bulldog to register double-digit digs. The Big Red hit just .113 (31-19-106) on the evening, while Yale connected on .246 percent of its chances (44-16-114). The Bulldogs also had 50 digs to Cornell's 40.
 
THE SERIES VS. BROWN: Cornell's series with Brown began in the 1976 season and the Big Red has dominated from the beginning, winning the first seven meetings before falling to the Bears for the first time in 1984. Cornell owns a 38-22 record in the all-time series, winning 18 of the last 27 meetings. The Bears swept the Big Red last season to earn six victories in the last 12 attempts against Cornell.

LAST TIME VS. THE BEARS: After dropping the first two sets to a scrappy and opportunistic Brown team, the Big Red came back and won two in a row to force a decisive fifth set, but came up just short, falling to the Bears, 3-2 (20-25, 16-25, 25-23, 25-20, 13-15) on Nov. 8, 2013 in Providence, R.I. Rachel D'Epagnier had an outstanding game, registering 18 kills and just four errors on 36 attempts for a .389 hitting percentage, while Breanna Wong  finished with 16 kills. Wong had a double-double, adding 12 digs, as one of four Big Red players to finish in double digits along with Natasha Rowland (20),Alyssa Phelps (12) and Sierra Young (11). Phelps also handed out 42 assists and had eight kills and three errors on 21 attempts (.238). Freshman Macey Wilson was also solid with seven kills and just one error on 16 attempts (.375) to go along with six blocks (two solo). Brown was led by Amanda Nickel's 18 kills and five blocks. Thea Derrough and Mddie Lord finished with 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Setters Sarah Lucenti (28) and Maryl Vanden bos (25) combined for 53 assists, with Lucenti tying Kathryn Conner with a team-high 16 digs. The fifth set was incredibly dramatic, with the Bears holding a slim lead throughout the majority of the set. Trailing 12-11, Cornell used a block from Wong and D'Epagnier, followed by a D'Epagnier kill to go up, 13-12, its first lead in the set since 3-2, forcing Brown to take a timeout. Unfortunately, the Bears managed to regroup and finish strong, using kills by Nickel and Derrough, and a service ace from Lucenti to earn the win. In a match that was closely contested throughout, the Bears managed to pull away late in each of the first two sets to earn the victories. Cornell responded in the third set, however and used some timely kills from Wilson, Kramer and D'Epagnier to build a 19-14 lead. After seeing the lead stretch to five points (21-16) on a kill from D'Epagnier, Brown pulled within one-point four times down the stretch but each time Cornell battled back, eventually winning 25-23 on a kill from Wong. The fourth set was also a back-and-forth battle with 11 ties and six lead changes before Cornell used an 8-2 run to blow open the contest and take a 22-16 lead.. From there, the visitors rolled to the 25-20 victory.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose is in her third season at Cornell (20-44, .313) ... Batie-Smoose became the 10th coach in Cornell volleyball history in April 2012 ... She has a 107-106 (.502) record as a head coach, including a mark of 81-43 (.653) at Savannah College of Art & Design.

DOUBLE-DIGIT DIG STREAK: Natasha Rowland has posted double-digit digs in 19 consecutive games, the longest streak of her career.

NCAA RANKINGS: Entering the week, Natasha Rowland's 5.43 digs per set was good for eighth in the nation, while the Big Red's 15.53 digs per set was good for 91st overall.
 
IN THE RANKINGS: Several Cornell players are raked in the top 10 of various Ivy League statistical categories, including:
* Emily Wemhoff – eighth in kills per set (2.87)
* Maddy Sroufe – ninth in kills per set (2.85)
* Alyssa Phelps – fourth in assists per set (8.83)
* Maddy Sroufe – 10th in service aces per set (0.26)
* Natasha Rowland – first in digs per set (5.43)
 
MOVING ON UP: Senior libero Natasha Rowland sits in fifth place in Cornell history for career digs with 1,137. She enters the week needing just 30 digs to surpass Liz Bishop (2003-06) and move into fourth place.

SETTING UP: Sophomore Alyssa Phelps currently sits in 10th place in Cornell history for career assists (1,391), needing 306 more to move past Tere Duran (1987-88) and into ninth place.
 
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Senior libero Natasha Rowland was named to both the Seton Hall All-Tournament Team and the Otto Invitational All-Tournament Team.
 
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Maddy Sroufe was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week on Sept. 9, following an outstanding performance at the Seton Hall Tournament, where Sroufe led Cornell in both kills per set (3.13) and hitting percentage (.159). She also added 27 digs (1.8 per set) and 10 service aces. Sroufe improved as the weekend went on, registering seven kills vs. Seton Hall, 11 vs. UNLV, 14 in a win over Siena, and 15 vs. Rutgers. She also tallied 17 digs against the Scarlet Knights for her first career double-double.  

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: The Big Red added seven new members to the 2014 roster – Amelia Brackett, Gabrielle Ennis, Kit McCarty, Kiley McPeek, Chelsea Sincox, Maddy Sroufe, and Emily Wemhoff. The group of seven hails from six states and consists of three outside hitters, two right-side hitters, one middle hitter and one defensive specialist.
 
HALL OF FAME: Debbie Quibell '04 was named one of 11 new member selected for induction into the Cornell University Athletic Hall of Fame at the 37th annual ceremonies to be held Friday, Nov. 7 on the Cornell campus. Quibell was a three-time All-Ivy League selection and two-time first-team honoree who graduated as the school's all-time leader in kills (1,212). She also was first in kills per set (3.52) and digs per set (3.25), second in digs (1,118) and points per set (4.12) and third in aces (127) and total points (1418.5). She was a first-team All-Ivy League pick as a sophomore and junior after capturing second-team All-Ivy accolades as a freshman. Quibell was a two-time Academic All-Ivy League selection and was a second-team CoSIDA Academic All-District pick as a senior. The four-year starter helped guide the team to a 72-34 record, including a 21-4 mark her senior year. During her junior year, the team finished as runner-up at the Ivy League Tournament and placed tied for second in the regular season in her final season in 2003 with an 11-3 record.

UP NEXT: The Big Red returns home and welcomes Columbia to Newman Arena for its annual Dig Pink game to support breast cancer awareness. The game is slated for Saturday, Nov. 25 at 2 p.m.