MATCH INFORMATION
MATCH #16: Cornell vs. Dartmouth
MATCH TIME: Friday, Oct. 16, 2015; 7:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Newman Arena (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 40-14
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 3-1, on Nov. 14, 2014
2015 RECORDS: Cornell (4-11, 0-5 Ivy); Dartmouth (7-7, 4-1 Ivy)
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/wvball/
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com/cornell/schedule 
 
MATCH #17: Cornell vs. Harvard
MATCH TIME: Saturday, Oct. 17, 2015; 5:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Newman Arena (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 36-24
LAST MEETING: Harvard won, 3-1, on Nov. 15, 2014
* 2015 RECORDS: Cornell (4-11, 0-5 Ivy); Harvard (8-7, 4-1 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 look to snap a seven-match skid and earn its first conference wins of the season when it welcomes co-Ivy League leaders Dartmouth (7-7, 4-1 Ivy)  and Harvard (8-7, 4-1 Ivy) to Newman Arena on Friday, Oct. 16 and Saturday, Oct. 17, respectively. The games will each feature a special promotion and admission is free to both contests. On Friday, Cornell will hold its annual Dig Pink game vs. the Big Green at 7 p.m. The following night, the Big Red will host its annual Middle School & High School Night vs. the Crimson at 5 p.m. Out of town fans can watch live on the Ivy League Digital Network.
 
THE SERIES VS. DARTMOUTH: Cornell's series with Dartmouth began in 1981 and the Big Red has dominated from the beginning, winning the first 13 meetings before falling to the Big Green for the first time on Oct. 12, 1996. Cornell owns a 40-14 record in the all-time series, winning 21 of the last 29 outings.
 
LAST TIME VS. THE BIG GREEN: Cornell secured its first Ivy League road victory of the season as the volleyball team rallied for a 3-1 victory over Dartmouth on Nov. 14 at Leede Arena. After dropping the first set 25-17, Cornell responded by sweeping the Big Green the rest of the way using a balanced offense and causing havoc on defense. Natasha Rowland had 38 digs, tied for the fifth-most in a single match in school history, to go along with three aces. Alyssa Phelps notched 34 assists to go with her four kills and seven digs. Maddy Sroufe had a match-high 12 kills, while Jasmine Robinson notched eight kills on just 20 swings. Emily Wemhoff also had eight kills, Macey Wilson had seven to go along with six blocks and Kit McCarty notched six. Paige Caridi notched 12 kills and 17 digs and Emily Astarita had 10. Kayden Cook had 33 assists for the Big Green, who dropped to 13-11 (4-9 Ivy). The Big Red held the Big Green at bay in the final three sets after allowing the home team to hit .346 to open the match. Dartmouth hit just .022 (32-29-134) over the final three as Cornell rallied for the victory

SCOUTING DARTMOUTH: The Big Green has won three straight matches to even its record at 7-7 overall and to move to the top of the Ivy League standings with a mark of 4-1 in conference play. Dartmouth has some impressive hitters with Kaira Lujan (second – .347) and Allison Brady (eighth – .300) ranking in the top 10 of the conference in hitting percentage, while Emily Astarita (first – 4.04) and Paige Cardi (sixth – 3.09) rank in the top 10 in kills per set. The team's setters, Kayden Cook (7.83) and Stacey Benton (7.58), also rank fifth and sixth, respectively in assists per set, while libero Zoe Leonard ranks seventh in the conference in digs (3.55) and second in service aces (0.39) per set.
 
THE SERIES VS. HARVARD: Cornell and Harvard first met in 1977, a 2-0 Big Red victory. Cornell went on to win the next 10 contests before the Crimson earned its first win in the series during the 1988 campaign. The Big Red had won nine straight meetings, dating back to Oct. 9, 2004, before Harvard earned a series sweep in both the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Cornell returned to its winning ways with a sweep of the Crimson in 2011, however, Harvard has gotten its revenge by winning the last six outings. Still, the Big Red holds the commanding 36-24 lead in the all-time series.
 
LAST TIME VS. THE CRIMSON: The Big Red took the first set off Ivy League leader Harvard, but the Crimson stormed back to win the final three en route to a 3-1 decision in the regular season finale for both teams on Nov. 15, 2015. Game scores were 25-20, 15-25, 25-27, 17-25. Middle blockers Jasmine Robinson and Macey Wilson were outstanding, as they combined for 17 kills and just three errors on 33 attempts (.424), as Robinson finished with a career-high 10 kills. Wilson also added five blocks, including two solo. Freshmen Maddy Sroufe and Emily Wemhoff registered nine and eight kills, respectively, with Wemhoff adding 16 digs. Libero Natasha Rowland had a match-high 23 digs to finish her Cornell career with 1,342, good for third all-time in Big Red history. Setter Alyssa Phelps handed out 36 assists and registered two block assists, two service aces, and five kills with just one error on 15 attempts (.267). Harvard was led by Grace Weghorst's 16-kill, 12-dig double-double, while Caroline Walters finished with 15 kills and just one error on 21 attempts for a .667 hitting percentage. As a team, the Crimson hit .321 with just one Harvard player hitting below .100.  Hannah Schmidt and Connie Bain had 27 and 23 assists, respectively, with Bain tallying 11 digs. Libero Sindhu Vegesena finished with 17 digs.
 
SCOUTING HARVARD: After dropping its Ivy League opener to Dartmouth, the Crimson have rattled off four straight victories to improve to 8-7 overall and to move to the top of the conference standings along with the Big Green. The Harvard offense is led by Christina Cornelius' .341 hitting percentage, while Kathleen Wallace is averaging 3.00 kills per set, one of four Crimson with more than 2.00 kills per set.  Cornelius (1.51) and Carline Holte (1.10) also rank first and second, respectively, in the Ivy League in blocks per set. Setters Corinne Bain and Hannah Schmidt are averaging 5.64 and 4.51 assists per set, respectively, and Bain ranks fifth in the conference in service aces per set (0.34). The team also has two players – Sindhu Vegesena (4.27) and Corinne Bain (3.34) – that rank in the top 10 in the conference in digs per set.
 
DIG PINK: Again this season, the Big Red will join forces with the Side-Out Foundation as part of its Breast Cancer Awareness Rally. Cornell invites fans to wear pink to the match vs. the Big Green to help support the cause. Those wishing to contribute can donate the day of the event or online at: https://www.side-out.org/cb/campaigns/campaign/10583. Proceeds are distributed among research teams focused on target therapies and molecular profiling as well as "living with cancer" organizations nationwide. The program will also sell pink t-shirts and ribbons before the match
 
THE HEAD COACH: Trudy Vande Berg is in her first season as The Wendy Schaenen '79 Head Coach Of Volleyball at Cornell (4-11, .267) ... Vande Berg became the 11th head coach in Cornell volleyball history in March 2015 after spending three seasons as the Big Red's top assistant coach ... Prior to her time at Cornell, Vande Berg spent time as an assistant coach at North Florida, Duke, and Iowa State and as a volunteer assistant at Wisconsin. She also served as head coach of the Team Iowa Ice professional club in the Premier Volleyball League, where she guided the team to the championship in her second year at the helm. Ice is the only team to have medaled in each of the three years of the league's existence.
 
NCAA RANKINGS: Entering the week, Natalie Danenhauer (0.46) and Alex Basler (0.36) ranked 26th and 105th, respectively, in aces per game. As a team, Cornell's 1.54 aces per set ranks 50th in the nation and first in the Ivy League.
 
IN THE RANKINGS: Several Cornell players are raked in the top 10 of various Ivy League statistical categories, including:
* Macey Wilson – ninth in hitting percentage (.291)
* Alyssa Phelps – seventh in assists per set (6.81)
* Natalie Danenhauer – first in service aces per set (0.46)
* Alex Basler – third in service aces per set (0.36)
* Chelsea Sincox – fifth in digs per set (3.91)
    
DID YOU KNOW:
* Brittany Kalepa was a member of the Kamehameha Schools Children's Chorus, which sang in the movie Lilo and Stitch.
* This past summer, Houston native Chelsea Sincox served as a tour guide at Space Center Houston, gateway to NASA Johnson Space Center and Houston's only Smithsonian Affiliate museum.  
* Kiley McPeek has 10 relatives that are Cornell alumni. Her father, Jeff '82, played sprint football for the Big Red, while her great uncle Richard Boerner was a member of the Cornell heavyweight varsity eight that won the IRA national championship in 1958. 
* Kit McCarty is one of eight children – she has four brothers and three sisters.
* Zoe Lequeux is a French citizen.
* Carla Sganderlla can speak Portuguese.
* Kara Rogers lived in Germany for a year.

SETTING UP: Junior Alyssa Phelps currently sits in seventh place in Cornell history for career assists (2,081), needing 79 more to move past Adrienne Greve (1992-95) and into sixth place.
 
BIG BLOCKER: Junior Macey Wilson ranks 16th in Cornell history for career solo blocks (35), needing just four more to move past Heather Young in 15th place. She is also 11th in block assists (197), and 13th in total blocks (232), needing four and three, respectively, to move up a notch.
 
BOOMING BASLER: Since the start of Ivy League play, freshman Alex Basler has posted eight kills in 3-of-5 matches and has recorded just five hitting errors, going a collective 36-5-80 for an impressive .387 hitting percentage – the highest on the team during that stretch.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: The Big Red freshmen class of Alex Basler, Shae Bauchens,Natalie Danenhauer, Lauren Donnelly, Gabby Goodall, Zoe Lequeux, Kara Rogers, and Carla Sganderlla was ranked among the top 90 in the nation, earning a high honorable mention distinction from PrepVolleyball.com.
 
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM:  Junior Macey Wilson was named to the Jack Kaiser Volleyball Classic All-Tournament team, while junior Alyssa Phelps and freshman Carla Sganderlla were both named to the Black Knights Invitational All-Tournament Team. Phelps was also named to the Cornell Invitational All-Tournament team.
 
 SEASON OPENERS: With its win over William & Mary on Sept. 5, Cornell improved to 28-14-1 all-time in season openers. Since 1995, the Big Red is an impressive 15-5 in the first match of the season.
 
OPENING UP 2-0: Cornell picked up wins over William & Mary and Iona on its first day of the season to get off to a 2-0 start for the first time since defeating Niagara and Bucknell in the opening round of the 2007 Cornell Invitational.
 
UP NEXT: The Big Red begins the second half of Ivy League play when it travels to Columbia on Saturday, Oct. 24 for a contest at 2 p.m.