ITHACA, N.Y. -- Freshman Carla Sganderlla registered a career- and team season-high 20 kills, but it wasn't enough as Yale narrowly escaped Newman Arena with a 3-2 victory. The entire match was a back-and-forth affair, with both teams answering each other's best efforts. After Cornell scratched out the three-point win (25-22) in a first set that saw six ties and two lead changes, Yale managed to take the lead in the match with a pair of 25-23 decisions. The third set was a particularly exciting one with 14 ties and six lead changes. The Big Red needed extra points in a 27-25 victory to force a fifth set, but the Bulldogs jumped out to a quick start in the final set and never looked back en route to the 15-8 win.     

Cornell (5-14, 1-8 Ivy) hit .176 for the game, with Sganderlla (.200), Alex Basler (7-1-24; .250), Kara Rogers (4-0-7; .571) and Emily Wemhoff (9-2-28; .250) all hitting above .200 percent. 

Setter Alyssa Phelps finished with a team season-high 50 assists, while libero Natalie Danenhauer posted a team season-high 28 digs. Defensive specialist Chelsea Sincox also finished with 23 digs, giving Cornell a pair of 20-dig players for the first time since the first match of the season (William & Mary on Sept. 5).

Sganderlla posted her second consecutive double-double, chipping in 18 digs, while Kiley McPeek also finished with 10. 

Yale (11-7, 6-3) was led by Brittani Steinberg's 18 kills and Jesse Ebner's efficient 11-1-21 performance to finish with a match-high .476 hitting percentage. Kaitlyn Gibbons also finished with 10 kills, hitting .300 on the evening (10-1-30). 

Despite Ebner and Gibbons performance, the Bulldogs hit just .168 as a team. 

Defensively, the visitors had three players finish with 20+ digs - Kate Swanson (25), Kelly Johnson (20), and Karlee Fuller (20). 

Johnson also posted 43 assists.

The Big Red is back in action tomorrow evening when it welcomes Brown to Newman Arena at 5 p.m.