ITHACA, N.Y. – The Big Red volleyball team got out to a 2-0 lead with impressive wins of 25-22 and 25-14, but Harvard stormed back to win the final three sets, 25-23, 26-24 and 15-13, to escape Newman Arena this evening with the 3-2 decision.
 
Cornell (4-13, 0-7 Ivy) had three players reach double-digit kills, led by Maddy Sroufe with 17. Kit McCarty was outstanding with 13 kills and just one error on 30 attempts for a team-high .400 hitting percentage, while Carla Sganderlla chipped in 14 kills. Setters Alyssa Phelps and Lauren Donnelly registered 27 and 19 assists, respectively. Phelps also added 12 digs, seven kills and three block assists. Libero Natalie Danenhauer finished with a team-high 19 digs and three service aces. Also finishing with double-digit digs was Phelps, Kiley McPeek (17), Chelsea Sincox (14), and Donnelly (13).
 
The Big Red posted 92 team digs behind 12 team blocks, with Alex Basler finishing with six block assists, while Sganderlla and Wilson finished with four block assists apiece. Wilson also added one block solo.
 
Harvard (9-8, 5-2 Ivy) was led by Kathleen Wallace's 18 kills. Paige Kebe (12) and Corinne Baine (10) also reached double figures. Bain handed out 33 assists and finished with 20 digs, while Hannah Schmidt finished with 23 assists and 17 digs. Libero Sindhu Vegesena was outstanding with a match-high 31 digs, as the Crimson finished with 100 team digs.
 
The visitors scored the first three points of the first set and eventually extended their lead to 13-9 before head coach Trudy Vande Berg called a timeout. Coming out of the break a service ace by McPeek opened up an 8-3 run that handed the Big Red its first lead of the match (17-16). Harvard got a kill from Holte to tie the game at 17-17 and the squads traded the next four points before consecutive kills by Sroufe and Phelps gave Cornell a two-point advantage (21-19).  The Crimson responded with a kill from Ellery Jones, but a combined block from Wilson and Sroufe, followed by a kill from McCarty put Cornell up, 23-20. From there the teams traded points until an emphatic kill by Basler gave the Big Red the 25-23 victory.
 
Cornell completely dominated the second set, using an early 8-2 run to go up, 11-5. During the run, the Big Red received a pair of kills from Phelps, who also combined with Wilson for a block. Sroufe, Sgandrella and Basler also added one kill each during the run. Harvard never got back within four points, as Cornell eventually pushed its lead to double-digits (22-11) after back-to-back kills form Sgandrella. From there, the Big Red rolled to the win, 25-14.
 
The next three sets were all decided by two points each, with the fourth going past regulation with the Crimson winning, 26-24.
 
In the third set, Cornell trailed, 20-15, before starting a furious rally with two kills from Sroufe and a service ace from Phelps, to get to 22-18. Harvard scored the next two points, but the Big Red battled back, fighting off five Crimson set points to pull within one, 24-23, before a kill from Bain handed the win to the visitors.
 
It was Cornell that opened up a four-point lead late in the fourth set (19-15), only to see Harvard rattle off four unanswered points to knot the game at 19-19. Back-to-back kills from Wilson and Basler seemed to swing the lead and the momentum back to the Big Red, but the Crimson managed to claw back to tie the set at 23-23 on kills by Holte and Wallace. A kill from Sroufe gave Cornell set point, but Harvard scored the final three points to steal the set, 26-24.
 
In the decisive fifth set, the visitors were on fire and jumped out to a 7-3 lead on the strength of six kills and one service. A kill from Sgandrella gave Cornell some life and the teams traded points to 10-5. That's when the Big Red showed some offensive spark of its own with four consecutive kills – two from McCarty and one each from Phelps and Sroufe – pulling the home team within one-point (10-9). Moments later, Cornell took its first lead of the set at 12-11 after back-to-back kills from McCarty and Wilson. The Crimson battled back once more and ended the set on a 4-1 run to take the 15-13 win.
 
Cornell begins the second half of Ivy League play next weekend when it travels to New York City to take on Columbia at Levien Gym on Saturday, Oct. 24 at 2 p.m.