MATCH INFORMATION
MATCH #12: Cornell at Princeton
MATCH TIME: Friday, Oct. 3, 2014; 7:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Dillon Gym (Princeton, N.J.)
SERIES RECORD: Princeton leads, 47-19
LAST MEETING: Princeton won, 3-0; Nov. 2, 2013
2014 RECORDS: Cornell (3-8, 0-1 Ivy); Princeton (6-5, 1-0 Ivy)
LIVE STATS: www.GoPrincetonTigers.com
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com/cornell

MATCH #13: Cornell at Penn
MATCH TIME: Saturday, Oct. 4, 2014; 7:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: The Palestra (Philadelphia, Pa.)
SERIES RECORD: Penn leads, 40-24
LAST MEETING: Penn won, 3-2; Nov. 11, 2013
2014 RECORDS: Cornell (3-8, 0-1 Ivy)*; Penn (3-9, 0-1 Ivy)*
LIVE STATS: www.PennAthletics.com 
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com/cornell
    * Prior to games on Friday, Oct. 3

THE IVY LEAGUE OPENER: The Big Red volleyball team will look to snap a three-match skid and earn its first conference wins of the season when it travels to Princeton (6-5, 1-0 Ivy) and Penn (3-9, 0-1 Ivy) on Friday, Oct. 3 and Saturday, Oct. 4, respectively. Both games are slated to being at 7 p.m., and can be viewed on the Ivy League Digital Network.

THE SERIES VS. PRINCETON: Cornell's series with Princeton began in the 1974 season, a 2-0 Big Red victory. The Tigers have dominated the series since, owning a 47-19 record against Cornell. The teams split the series a year ago.
 
LAST TIME VS. THE TIGERS: The Big Red fell in straight sets at Princeton, 27-25, 25-21, 25-13, on Nov. 2, 2013. Senior middle hitter Rachel D'Epagnier  hit better than .500, registering seven kills and just one error on 11 attempts (.545), while setter Alyssa Phelps filled out the stat line with 30 assists, four digs, four block assists and three kills on six attempts with no errors (.500). Junior libero Natasha Rowland finished with a match-high eight digs. Offense was the highlight, with Princeton hitting .355 on the night, while the Big Red finished at .289. Cornell managed to finish with 7.0 team blocks, compared to the Tigers 4.0, and both teams tallied just 29 kills apiece. Princeton was led by Cara Mattaliano's 19 kills while Kendal Peterkin was the only other Tiger in double-figures with 12. Peterkin also hit a match-high .579 with her 12 kills coming on 19 attempts with just one error. Setter Lauren Miller registered 42 assists and Sarah Daschbach had a team-high seven digs. 
 
THE SERIES VS. PENN:  As is true for the series against Princeton, 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 40-24 all-time lead, but since 2000 the series has been much more equal with Penn owning a slim 13-10 advantage, including a series sweep a season ago.

LAST TIME VS. PENN: Sophomore Breanna Wong had the best performance of her Cornell career, coming just short of posting the first triple-double in Cornell history, but it wasn't enough as the Big Red dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker to Penn at the Palestra on Nov. 1, 2013. Cornell won the second and fourth sets to force a decisive game five, but the Quakers rallied for the victory (25-21, 20-25, 25-22, 21-25, 15-4). Wong finished the night with career-highs in kills (22), digs (20) and blocks (seven assists). Even more impressive, her 22 kills came on 45 attempts with just three errors for a blistering .422 hitting percentage. Senior middle blocker Rachel D'Epagnier tallied 11 kills, four blocks (one solo) and hit .214 on the evening. Setter Alyssa Phelps tallied 49 assists and 11 digs and was also extremely efficient on the attack with five kills and no errors on 10 attempts (.500). Defensively, junior libero Natasha Rowland had a match-high 29 digs. As a team, Cornell hit .271, as every player finished with a positive hitting percentage, and registered 13 total blocks, thanks to Wong and freshman Macey Wilson, who tallied eight block assists. Penn had four players reach double-figures – Kristen Etterbeek (16), Alexis Genske (15), Jasmine DeSilva (13), and Kendall Turner (11). Alex Caldwell (35 assists, 20 digs), Etterbeek (13 digs) and Genske (10 digs) all posted double-doubles, while Dani Shepherd led the Quakers with 23 digs. Ronnie Bither split the setting duties with Caldwell and finished with 24 assists.

THE HEAD COACH: Cornell head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose is in her third season at Cornell (20-40, .333) ... Batie-Smoose became the 10th coach in Cornell volleyball history in April 2012 ... She has a 107-102 (.512) record as a head coach, including a mark of 81-43 (.653) at Savannah College of Art & Design.
 
DOUBLE-DIGIT DIG STREAK: Natasha Rowland has posted double-digit digs in 15 consecutive games, the second longest streak of her career (18; Sept. 7, 2013 to Nov. 1, 2013)

NCAA RANKINGS: Entering the week, Natasha Rowland's 5.48 digs per set was good for 11th in the nation, while the Big Red's 15.48 digs per set was good for 90th overall.
 
IN THE RANKINGS: Several Cornell players are raked in the top 10 of various Ivy League statistical categories, including:
* Emily Wemhoff – fourth in kills per set (3.03)
* Maddy Sroufe –  seventh in kills per set (2.97)
* Alyssa Phelps – fourth in assists per set (8.85)
* Maddy Sroufe – sixth in service aces per set (0.35)
* Macey Wilson – third in blocks per set (1.00)
* Natasha Rowland – first in digs per set (5.47)
 
MOVING ON UP: Senior libero Natasha Rowland sits in eighth place in Cornell history for career digs with 1,068. She enters the week needing just 10 digs to surpass Jenn Drais (1990-93) and move into seventh place.

SETTING UP: Sophomore Alyssa Phelps currently sits in 11th place in Cornell history for career assists (1,277), needing just 74 more to move past Ann Korioth (1988-90) and into 10th place.
 
ON THE BLOCK: Sophomore Macey Wilson ranks third in the conference in blocks per set (1.00). 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.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Senior libero Natasha Rowland was named to both the Seton Hall All-Tournament Team and the Otto Invitational All-Tournament Team.
 
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.  

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 first Ivy League home weekend is next on tap with the Big Red welcoming Harvard (Oct. 10) and Dartmouth (Oct. 11). The Crimson earned a pair of victories in 2013, but Cornell still leads the series, 36-22. The Big Red used a series split to improve to 39-12 all-time vs. the Big Green.