MATCH INFORMATION
MATCH #19: Cornell vs. Brown
MATCH TIME: Friday, Nov. 7, 2014; 7:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Newman Arena (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 38-23
LAST MEETING: Brown won, 3-2; Oct. 18, 2014
2014 RECORDS: Cornell (5-15, 2-8 Ivy); Brown (9-13, 4-6 Ivy)
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/wvball/
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com/cornell/schedule

MATCH #20: Cornell vs. Yale
MATCH TIME: Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014; 5:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Newman Arena (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Yale leads, 37-25
LAST MEETING: Yale won, 3-0; Oct. 17, 2014
2014 RECORDS: Cornell (5-15, 2-8 Ivy)*; Yale (12-7, 8-2 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 play its final home games of the season when it welcomes Brown (9-13, 4-6 Ivy) and Yale (12-7, 8-2 Ivy) to Newman Arena on Friday, Nov. 7 and Saturday, Nov. 8, respectively. The game with the Bears will begin at 7 p.m., while the game with the Bulldogs is slated for 5 p.m. Cornell will also honor the team's lone senior – Natasha Rowland – with its Senior Night ceremony. Out of town fans can follow along via live stats, or watch the game live on the Ivy League Digital Network.

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 38-23 record in the all-time series, winning 18 of the last 28 meetings. The Bears have won three straight to earn seven victories in the last 13 attempts against Cornell.

LAST TIME VS. THE BEARS: In a match that featured 39 ties and 20 lead changes over five sets, Brown squeaked out a 3-2 victory over the Big Red on Oct. 18 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 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, while Chelsea Sincox and Kiley McPeek finished with 18 and 11 digs, respectively. Sophomore setter Alyssa Phelps posted a 43-assist, 16-dig double-double. Brown 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 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 13 meetings, taking the lead in the all-time series, 37-25.
 
THE LAST TIME VS. THE BULLDOGS: Reigning Ivy League champion Yale defeated the Big Red in straight sets, 25-16, 25-17, 25-14, on Oct. 17 at Lee Amphitheater. Natasha Rowland's defense was the highlight of the night for the Big Red as the senior libero posted 21 digs, nearly half of Cornell's team total (43). The offense was led by Emily Wemhoff's eight kills, while Macey Wilson hit a team-high .143 and added five block assists. Setter Alyssa Phelps handed out 18 assists and registered three digs and three block assists. Yale got a solid performance from Kelly Johnson, who registered a game-high nine kills and just one error on 20 attempts for a match-best .400 hitting percentage. Mollie Rogers and Kaitlyn Gibbons both finished with seven kills and registered 12 and seven digs, respectively. Rogers was one of three Bulldogs with double-digit digs, along with Kelsey Crawford and Maddie Rudnick with 10 apiece.  Crawford also tallied 25 assists.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose is in her third season at Cornell (22-47, .319) ... Batie-Smoose became the 10th coach in Cornell volleyball history in April 2012 ... She has a 109-109 (.500) record as a head coach, including a mark of 81-43 (.653) at Savannah College of Art & Design.
 
SENIOR DAY SALUTE: Senior captain Natasha Rowland will play her final home game on Saturday vs. Yale. An integral part of the Big Red defense since her arrival on East Hill, she has served as the team's primary libero for the past two seasons. Rowland enters the weekend ranking first in Ivy League and seventh in nation with 5.5 digs per set, with a streak of 24 consecutive games in which she has registered double-digit digs. Her 396 digs so far this season ranks 10th in Cornell history and her 1245 career digs is good for fourth-place all-time. Rowland has posted at least 30 digs five times in her career, with all five performances ranking in Cornell's top 20 for digs in a single match. An All-Ivy selection a year ago, she finished the 2013 campaign with 506 digs to rank third all-time on Cornell's single season dig list.

DOUBLE-DIGIT DIG STREAK: Natasha Rowland has posted double-digit digs in 24 consecutive games, the longest streak of her career.

NCAA RANKINGS: Entering the week, Natasha Rowland's 5.50 digs per set was good for seventh in the nation, while the Big Red's 16.04 digs per set was good for 68th overall.
 
IN THE RANKINGS: Several Cornell players are raked in the top 10 of various Ivy League statistical categories, including:
* Macey Wilson – seventh in hitting percentage (.282)
* Emily Wemhoff – eighth in kills per set (2.99)
* Maddy Sroufe – 10th in kills per set (2.82)
* Alyssa Phelps – fourth in assists per set (8.76)
* Macey Wilson – 3rd in blocks per set (1.01)
* Natasha Rowland – first in digs per set (5.50)
 
MOVING ON UP: Senior libero Natasha Rowland sits in fourth place in Cornell history for career digs with 1,245. She enters the week needing just 27 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 144 more to move past Tere Duran (1987-88) and into ninth place.
 
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.

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 members 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 the 2014 season when it travels to Dartmouth and Harvard Friday, Nov. 14 and Saturday, Nov. 15, respectively.