MATCH INFORMATION
MATCH #5: Cornell vs. UConn
MATCH TIME: Friday, Sept. 12, 2014; 7:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Davis Gym (Lewisburg, Pa.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 5-2
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 3-2; Sept. 17, 2010
2014 RECORDS: Cornell (1-3); UConn (3-3)
LIVE STATS:  www.BucknellBison.com
LIVE VIDEO: None

MATCH #6: Cornell at Bucknell
MATCH TIME: Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014; 5:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Davis Gym (Lewisburg, Pa.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 12-2
LAST MEETING: Bucknell won, 3-2; Sept. 7, 2013
2014 RECORDS: Cornell (1-3)*; Bucknell (1-5)*
LIVE STATS:  www.BucknellBison.com
LIVE VIDEO: None

* Records prior to Sept. 12

THE BUCKNELL INVITATIONAL: The Big Red volleyball team will travel to the Bucknell Tournament this weekend to face UConn on Friday, Sept. 12 at 7 p.m., before taking on the host Bison the following evening at 5 p.m. Cornell is a combined 17-4 against the two squads, thanks to a 12-2 record vs. Bucknell and a 5-2 mark against the Huskies.

THE SERIES VS. BUCKNELL: Cornell first played the Bison in volleyball during the 1984 season, a 2-0 victory for the Big Red, which went on to win nine consecutive matches before Bucknell earned a 3-2 victory during the 1996 season. The teams have met four times since (2004, 2007, 2012, 2013) with Cornell winning three consecutive contests before falling last season to the Bison to slip to 12-2 in the all-time series.

VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE: The Big Red is 87-40-1 against the current members of the Patriot League, thanks mostly to a 54-28-1 record over Colgate. Cornell also has a winning record against Army (6-1), Bucknell (12-2), Holy Cross (4-0), Lafayette (4-1) and Lehigh (5-2). The Big Red's series with Navy is tied at 2-2, while American is the only team in the Patriot League with a winning record against Cornell (4-0) … The Big Red has never played the two newest members of the league – Boston University of Lehigh ... Coach Batie-Smoose is 2-2 against the Patriot League.
 
THE SERIES VS. UCONN: The Big Red won four consecutive meetings to open the series with UConn before the Huskies picked up their first victory during the 1989 season. UConn would make it two in a row with a victory 2008, but Cornell won the last meeting, 3-2, at the 2010 Colgate Invitational to improve to 5-2 in the all-time series.   

VS. THE AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE:  Cornell is 9-7 all-time vs. the current members of the AAC, thanks mostly to a 5-2 record against UConn. The Big Red also has a winning mark vs. Tulsa, while the series is tied with both Temple (2-2) and SMU (1-1). Cornell holds a losing record vs. East Carolina (0-1) but has never faced Cincinnati, Houston, Tulane, UCF of USF in volleyball … Head Coach Batie-Smoose is 0-1 vs. the AAC.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose is in her third season at Cornell (18-35, .340) ... Batie-Smoose became the 10th coach in Cornell volleyball history in April 2012 ... She has a 105-97 (.520) 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, 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.  
 
NCAA RANKINGS: Entering the week, Maddy Sroufe's 0.67 aces per set ranks 12th in the nation, while Natasha Rowland's 5.40 digs per set is good for 14th overall.
 
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Senior libero Natasha Rowland was named to the Seton Hall All-Tournament Team after a solid four-match performance that saw her register 81 digs (5.4 per set).

MOVING ON UP: With her 25-dig performance vs. Rutgers, senior libero Natasha Rowland moved into the top 10 in Cornell history for career digs with 930. She enters the weekend needing just 23 digs to surpass Leesa Gotko (1995-98) and move into ninth place.

SETTING UP: With her 138 assists last weekend, sophomore Alyssa Phelps moved into 12th place in Cornell history for career assists (1061). She needs just 83 more assists to move past Sara Thomas (1992-94) and into 11th place.
 
ON THE BLOCK: Entering the week, sophomore Macey Wilson ranks first in the conference and 58th in the nation in blocks per set (1.29). A year ago, Wilson finished her rookie season ranked second on the team and second in the Ivy League with 1.05 blocks per set and her 82 block assists ranked 16th overall in Big Red history for a single-season.
 
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: Cornell will play in its final tournament of the season when it travels up I-81 to take part in the Syracuse's Otto Invitational, where the Big Red will face a trio of instate rivals – Colgate (Saturday, Sept. 20 at 7:30 p.m.), Albany (Sunday, Sept. 21 at 10 a.m.), and the Orange (Sunday, Sept. 21 at 6:30 p.m.).