MATCH INFORMATION
MATCH #19: Cornell vs. Penn
MATCH TIME: Friday, Oct. 31, 2014; 7:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Newman Arena (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Penn leads, 40-24
LAST MEETING: Penn won, 3-1; Oct. 4, 2014
2014 RECORDS: Cornell (4-14, 1-7 Ivy); Penn (6-13, 3-5 Ivy)
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/wvball/ 
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com/cornell/schedule  

MATCH #20: Cornell vs. Princeton
MATCH TIME: Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014; 5:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Newman Arena (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 47-19
LAST MEETING: Princeton won, 3-z10; Oct. 3, 2014
2014 RECORDS: Cornell (4-14, 1-7 Ivy)*; Princeton (10-8, 5-3 Ivy)
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/wvball/  
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com/cornell/schedule  
  *records prior to Friday's contests
 
THE MATCHUP: The Big Red volleyball team will continue its five-game home stand when it plays host to Penn (6-13, 3-5 Ivy) and Princeton (10-8, 5-3 Ivy) at Newman Arena on Friday, Oct. 31 and Saturday, Nov. 1, respectively. The game with the Quakers will begin at 7 p.m., while the game with the Tigers is slated for 5 p.m. Out of town fans can follow along via live stats, or watch the game live on the Ivy League Digital Network.

THE SERIES VS. PENN: The Big Red and Penn first met in 1974, a 2-0 Big Red victory. The Quakers went on to dominate the series for the rest of the 1970s and '80s, accounting for its 41-24 all-time lead, but since 2000 the series has been much more equal with Penn owning a slim 14-10 advantage. The Quakers are currently on a three game winning streak.

LAST TIME VS. THE QUAKERS: For the second night in a row, Cornell senior libero Natasha Rowland moved up a rung on the Big Red's career dig list, jumping into sixth place all-time with 23 digs to lead a stout defense as Cornell fell to Penn, 3-1. The match was tightly contested, with the Big Red coming up just short in a bid to force a fifth set. Rowland's 23 digs led a quartet of Cornell players in double-figures, joined by Alyssa Phelps, with a career-high 18 digs, as well as Chelsea Sincox (14) and Emily Wemhoff (13). Phelps had an all-around impressive night, filling out the stat line with a career high eight kills and just one error on 20 attempts (.350), to go along with 43 assists and three block assists. Wemhoff finished with a double-double, adding 12 kills, while Macey Wilson hit a blistering .417 with 12 kills and just two errors on 24 attempts. Kit McCarty also finished with double-digit kills (11). Penn was led by Alexis Genske (15), Alex Caldwell (12) and Kendall Turner (10), who combined for an impressive .315 hitting (37-8-92). Caldwell finished with a triple-double, adding 22 assists and 16 digs, while Genske posted a double-double by adding 14 digs. The Quakers were on fire during the first two sets, hitting .441 and .275, respectively, to earn back-to-back wins, 25-19 and 25-18.

THE SERIES VS. PRINCETON: As is true for the series against Penn, the Cornell series with Princeton began in the 1974 season, a 2-0 Big Red victory. The Tigers have dominated the series since, owning a 48-19 record against Cornell. The teams split the series a year ago, but the Tigers won the first meeting this year.
 
THE LAST TIME VS. THE TIGERS: Senior Natasha Rowland finished with 11 digs to surpass Jenn Drais (1990-93) and move into seventh place all-time in Cornell history for career digs, but it wasn't enough as the Big Red was swept by Princeton (7-25, 16-25, 20-25) at Dillon Gym. Cornell had just one player finish with double-digit kills, Maddy Sroufe (11), while Macey Wilson had a team high .333 hitting percentage (4-1-9) to go along with two blocks. Setter Alyssa Phelps tallied 23 assists.
Princeton hit a blistering .439 as a team, with a trio of Tigers – Kendall Peterkin (12), Nicole Kincade (11), Cara Mattaliano (11) – reaching double-digits and combining to hit .422 (34-7-64). Peterkin also finished with a team-high 10 digs, while setter Lauren Mill handed out 39 assists.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose is in her third season at Cornell (21-46, .313) ... Batie-Smoose became the 10th coach in Cornell volleyball history in April 2012 ... She has a 108-108 (.500) record as a head coach, including a mark of 81-43 (.653) at Savannah College of Art & Design.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Maddy Sroufe was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week on Sept. 9, and again on Oct. 28.  She is the first Big Red player to earn two Rookie of the Week honors since Katie Marshall was a two-time winner in 2007.

DOUBLE-DIGIT DIG STREAK: Natasha Rowland has posted double-digit digs in 22 consecutive games, the longest streak of her career.

NCAA RANKINGS: Entering the week, Natasha Rowland's 5.56 digs per set was good for sixth in the nation, while the Big Red's 16.00 digs per set was good for 64th overall.
 
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 (.268)
* Emily Wemhoff – eighth in kills per set (2.91)
* Maddy Sroufe – ninth in kills per set (2.82)
* Alyssa Phelps – fourth in assists per set (8.77)
* Macey Wilson – 3rd in blocks per set (1.00)
* Natasha Rowland – first in digs per set (5.56)
 
MOVING ON UP: Senior libero Natasha Rowland sits in fourth place in Cornell history for career digs with 1,216. She enters the week needing just 56 digs to surpass Jen Strazza (1989-92) and move into third place.

SETTING UP: Sophomore Alyssa Phelps currently sits in 10th place in Cornell history for career assists (1,502), needing 196 more to move past Tere Duran (1987-88) and into ninth place.
 
ON THE SMALL SIDE: With just 11 players on the roster, the Big Red is the smallest team in the Ivy League, behind Yale (15), Columbia (16), and Harvard (16).
 
YOUNG GUNS: With 10 underclassmen on its roster of 11 players, the Big Red is by far the youngest team in the Ivy League with 91 percent of its roster being either a freshman or a sophomore. The next youngest team is Columbia at 63 percent, with 10 underclassmen on a roster of 16. No other team is above 57 percent.  
 
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Senior libero Natasha Rowland was named to both the Seton Hall All-Tournament Team and the Otto Invitational All-Tournament Team.
 
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 wraps up its current five-game home stand next weekend when it welcomes Brown and Yale to Newman Arena on Friday, Nov. 7 and Saturday, Nov. 8, respectively. Cornell will celebrate Senior Night – honoring the team's lone senior, Natasha Rowland – prior to the contest with the Bulldogs at 5 p.m.