ITHACA, N.Y. – The Big Red volleyball team earned its second consecutive win with a decisive 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-18) decision against Penn this evening in Newman Arena.  The victory is Cornell's first sweep of the Quakers since the 2006 season.
 
Cornell (5-14, 2-7 Ivy) had its best hitting performance of the season, connecting on .274 of its attempts as a team. Freshman Emily Wemhoff led the team with 14 kills (14-3-38) and connected on .282 percent, while sophomore Macey Wilson hit a blistering .467 with eight kills and just one error on 15 attempts. Wilson was also big at the net with four block assists. Freshmen Maddy Sroufe was the only other Big red player to reach double-figure kills (11) and was extremely efficient, hitting .348 (11-3-23). Freshman Kit McCarty was also impressive with seven kills and just one error on 20 attempts (.300). Defensively, libero Natasha Rowland finished with 11 digs, while defensive specialist Chelea Sincox chipped in nine. Setter Alyssa Phelps handed out 30 assists and added 11 digs. Phelps, Sincox, Wehmoff, Rowland and Jasmine Robinson all registered two service aces apiece.
 
Penn (6-14, 3-6) was led by Kendall Turner's eight kills as no Quaker reached double-digits. The visitors hit just .111 as a team, with Turner (8-2-16) and Kendall Convington (6-1-14) proving to be the only Quakers' to hit above .125 for the game.  Libero Emmy Friedler was the only Penn player to reach double-digit digs (13), while Ronnie Bither and Alex Caldwell handed out 14 and 10 assists, respectively.
 
The Big Red wasted no time setting the tone for the match, jumping out to a 10-3 lead in the first set behind some tough serving from Wemhoff and Rowland, who each registered a pair of aces. Alexis Genske sandwiched two kills around a kill from Covington to make it an 11-6 contest, but a kill from Sroufe, followed by consecutive service aces from Phelps returned the eight-point lead to the home team (14-6). The Quakers closed the gap to four points (14-10), but that was as close as it got, as the Big Red used a 6-1 run to take control and roll to the 25-16 victory.
 
The second set was the most closely contested of the night, with eight ties and three lead changes en-route to a 17-17 contest. A kill from McCarty, followed by an attack error from Genske gave Cornell a two-point cushion and forced the Quakers to take a timeout. A huge block by Wilson and Wemhoff greeted the visitors out of the break and Wilson had a hand in four of the Big Red's final five points with two kills and two block assists down the stretch of the 25-18 decision.
 
The third set started with some confusion, as the Quaker coaching staff did not get its line-up in on time, earning a yellow card. The team then received a red card for not being on the court, giving Cornell the uncontested 1-0 lead before the first serve. That was as good as it got for the home team in the opening moments, as the Quakers responded with an 8-2 run to take a substantial lead. Cornell answered back with a 7-2 run of its own, getting four kills from Wemhoff, a kill from Sroufe, a service ace from Sincox and a combined block from Wilson and McCarty to tie the set at 10-10. The teams battled back and forth to its final tie at 13-13 when a kill from Phelps gave Cornell a lead it would not relinquish. Holding a slim, 16-15 lead, a kill from McCarty, followed by consecutive kills from Wemhoff, and a service ace from Robinson put the home team up, 20-16. Cornell held the Quakers at arm's length and three straight kills from Wehmoff, Sroufe and Wilson punctuated the 25-18 victory.   
 
Cornell is back in action tomorrow evening, Saturday, Nov. 1, when it plays host to Princeton at Newman Arena at 5 p.m.