PROVIDENCE, N.Y. – In a match that featured 39 ties and 20 lead changes over five sets, the Brown volleyball team squeaked out a 3-2 victory this evening over the Big Red at the Pizzitola Center in Providence, R.I. Four of the five sets were decided by two points, with Brown winning the first set, 25-23, before Cornell stormed back to win sets two (25-23) and three (27-25). The Bears won the fourth set, 25-11, to force a decisive fifth set, which it won, 16-14.
 
Cornell (3-14, 0-7 Ivy) had a trio of players reach double-figure kills, led by Emily Wemhoff's 17-kill performance. Macey Wilson was outstanding, with 14 kills and just one error on 26 attempts for a match-high .500 hitting percentage.  Wilson also added six block assists in front of four Big Red players with double-digit digs. Libero Natasha Rowland finished with a team-high 24 digs, moving into fourth place in Cornell history with 1,182 career digs. Freshman Chelsea Sincox had a career-high 18 digs, while Kiley McPeek finished with 11. Sophomore setter Alyssa Phelps posted a 43-assists, 16-dig double-double.
 
Brown (8-11, 3-4 Ivy) was led by Maddie Lord with 18 kills – one of four Bears in double-figures. Setters Sarah Lucenti (34 assists, 12 digs) and Maryl Vanden bos (26 assists, 13 digs) each posted double-doubles, while Kathryn Conner had a match-high 28 digs.  
 
The Big Red enjoyed a six-point lead (18-12) late in the first set, but the home team stormed back and used an 11-3 run to go up, 23-21. From there, the teams traded points to the 25-23 final, with Wilson registering Cornell's final two points with kills.  
 
Cornell earned its first win of the match in an exciting second set that featured nine ties and four lead changes before the Big Red used a decisive 4-1 run that featured three kills from Wilson to take a 20-17 lead. After a Cornell attack error made it a two-point game (20-18), Sroufe and Jasmine Robinson used kills to push the Big Red's lead to 23-19. Once again the Bears came back, this time closing the gap to one-point at 23-22, but kills from Wemhoff and Kit McCarty handed the visitors the 25-23 decision.
 
In the third set, the Big Red quickly got out to a 3-1 lead, thanks to a service ace from Wemhoff and a kill from Sroufe, but the home team battled back to eventually knot the game at 4-4 on a kill from Brittany Link. Back-to-back kills from McCarty and Sroufe restored the lead to the Big Red, but moments later the set was tied again at 6-6. The game continued as a back and forth battle with a total of 13 ties, including a final tie of 25-25, before a Brown service error and a kill from Wemhoff gave Cornell the 27-25 victory.  
 
Brown stormed out to an 8-2 lead in the fourth set and never looked back, rolling to the 25-11 victory.
 
The Big Red responded in the decisive fifth set, matching the home team point-for-point to a 5-5 tie before back-to-back Brown blocks and a Cornell block error put Brown up, 8-5. Cornell took advantage of a pair of Bears' errors and got a kill from Sroufe to knot the game at 8-8. The teams battled through four more ties down the stretch when a combined block from Wemhoff and Wilson made it a 14-14 contest, but a big Brown block and a kill from Link gave the home team the 16-14 triumph.
 
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.