SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Big Red volleyball team came up just short in its final match at the Otto Invitational, falling to host Syracuse, 3-1 (22-25, 12-25, 25-17, 16-25), this evening.
Natasha Rowland finished with a match-high 18 digs to bring her total for the weekend to 58, moving her into eighth place in Cornell history with 1,030 career digs.
Cornell (3-6) had a pair of freshmen –
Maddy Sroufe (11) and
Emily Wemhoff (10) – finish with double-digit kills, while
Macey Wilson (8-2-16) and
Kit McCarty (8-3-30) were extremely efficient, hitting .375 and .167, respectively. Sroufe also posted 11 digs for a double-double, while setter
Alyssa Phelps finished with 34 assists.
Syracuse (7-5) was led by Monika Salkute with 20 kills and just three errors on 39 attempts for a blistering .436 hitting percentage. Salkute filled out the stat line with five digs, four blocks and two service aces. Setter Gosia Wlaszczuk tallied 35 assists and a team-high 14 digs, to lead four Orange with double-digit digs.
The Big Red nearly stole the first set of the match, responding to a 20-14 deficit with back-to-back kills by Wemhoff to get within striking distance at 20-16. Cornell continued to press and with kills from Wemhoff and Wilson, followed by an Orange attack error; it was a 23-20 game. Three points were as close as it got, however, as Syracuse closed the set, 25-22.
In the second set, the Orange used an early 8-1 run to blow open a two-point game and take a commanding 13-5 lead that it would not relinquish en route to a 25-12 decision.
Cornell responded in the third set with an inspired performance that led to a 25-17 victory for the visitors. The two team battled to a 4-4 contest before a kill from Sroufe opened up a 7-2 run that put the Big Red up, 11-6. During the run, Cornell got three kills from Wemhoff and another from Wilson. A kill from Lindsay McCabe ended the Big Red run and Syracuse pulled back within two points (12-10) on a kill by Salkute, but Cornell responded by a kills from Sroufe and Phelps, sandwiched around a service ace from Wilson to a make it a 15-10 game. The Orange called a timeout to try and halt the Big Red momentum, but was unable to as Cornell kept at least a three-point lead the rest of the way.
The fourth set started similarly to the third, but unfortunately for the Big Red, it was the host team that used a decisive 11-2 run to break open a 14-14 tie and take the 25-16 victory.
The Big Red will close its non-conference schedule, and play in its home-opener, with a midweek game vs. Binghamton at Newman Arena on Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. Cornell has won two-straight matches vs. the Bearcats to improve its record to 21-8-2 all-time.
