ITHACA, N.Y. – The Big Red volleyball team started strong, taking a set off Ivy League leading Dartmouth, but the Big Green rallied to earn the 3-1 victory this evening on Dig Pink Night at Newman Arena. The match was closely contested throughout with Cornell winning the first set (25-22), falling, 21-25, 16-25, 20-25.
 
Cornell (4-12, 0-6 Ivy) was led by Carla Sganderlla with 11 kills, while Macey Wilson hit a team-best .562 on the evening with 10 kills and just one assist on 16 errors as the only other Big Red to reach double-digits. Setter Alyssa Phelps registered 32 assists and libero Natalie Danenhauer had a team-high 14 digs. Freshman Alex Basler also had a solid evening five kills and just one error on 16 attempts to go along with a match-high five block assists.
 
Dartmouth (8-7, 5-1 Ivy) also had just two hitters reach double-figures, as Emily Astarita and Kaira Lugan finished with 18 and 11 kills, respectively. The Big Green hit an impressive .270 as a team, with Astarita (.432) and Lugan (.286) joining Morgan Dressel, who finished with an outstanding .615 hitting percentage with eight kills and no errors on just 13 attempts. Dartmouth also had two players reach double-digit digs with libero Zoe Leonard registering a match-high 16 digs, while Paige Cardi chipped in 11.
 
In the first set the teams battled through 12 ties and seven lead changes before a huge kill by Wilson, followed by a service ace from Sganderlla, who hit the back line of the Dartmouth court, put the home team up 21-19. The Big Green received a kill from Astarita coming out of a time out, but a Dartmouth service error was answered by an ace from Danenhauer, one of her three on the evening, put Cornell up, 23-20. Dartmouth pulled back within one-point (23-22) but an attack error by Cardi, followed by an emphatic kill from Maddy Sroufe gave the Big Red the 25-22 victory.
 
Like the first set, the second set was extremely close with 14 ties and eight lead changes, but unlike the first set, it was riddled with errors by both team. The squads combined for nine service errors and 12 hitting errors as they battled to an 18-18 tie. A service ace by Jordan Cornwell sparked a 4-0 Dartmouth run that proved to be the difference as the visitors earned the 25-21 victory.
 
Cornell jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the third set thanks to kills from Sroufe, Basler and Phelps, but the Big Green earned the next four points, with consecutive service aces from Leonard, to go up, 6-5. A kill from Basler tied the set at 6-6, but five unanswered points gave Dartmouth a lead it would not relinquish en route to the 25-16 victory.
 
In the final set the teams exchanged points to 5-5 when a kill form Cardi put the visitors up for good. Dartmouth slowly extended its lead to 20-13 and despite a late push by Cornell to claw its way back into the contest, the Big Green earned the win, 25-20.
 
Cornell is back in action tomorrow night when it hosts Harvard on Middle School & High School Night at 5 p.m. Admission to the game is free and the team will sign autographs following the contest.