PHILADELPHIA – Cornell sophomore Kit McCarty registered a career-high 16 kills, but it wasn't enough as the Big Red volleyball team lost a hard-fought 3-1 decision this evening to Penn at the Palestra. The match was tightly contested throughout, with Cornell pushing the Quakers to extra points in two of three sets, winning the first set, 26-24, and the last, 28-26. The Big Red won the second set of the match, 25-20, while Penn won the third set, 25-19.
 
McCarty was the only Big Red player in double-digits with both Macey Wilson and Carla Sganderlla finishing with nine kills apiece. Setter Alyssa Phelps posted 33 assists and used some well-timed attacks to finish with four kills and no errors on 10 attempts. She also posted 12 digs as one of two Cornell players to reach double-figures, joining Chelsea Sincox who tallied a team-high 17 digs. Freshmen Shae Bauchens and Natalie Danenhauer also finished with eight digs apiece, with Danenhauer also racking up five service aces.
 
Penn (9-7, 3-1 Ivy) was led by Alexis Genske's 16 kill, 12 dig performance. Alex Caldwell also finished with 10 kills and just one error on 23 attempts for a solid .391 hitting percentage, helping the Quakers to finish at .221 as a team. Four Penn players finished with double-digit digs, include Michelle Pereira with a match-high 20, while Ronnie Bither handed out 38 assists and tallied 17 digs.
 
Cornell found itself trailing 19-12 in the first set, but used eight unanswered points to take its first lead since holding a 2-1 advantage in the early moments of the contest. The run began with a Quaker hitting error, which turned the serve over the Natalie Danenhauer, who served the next eight Big Red points, including two aces. During the run, Cornell also got a kill from Phelps and a block assist from Wilson and Sganderlla. An amazing pancake dig by Bauchens set up an opportunistic backrow kill by Danenhauer to tie the game at 19-19 and a Danenhauer ace put Cornell up, 20-19. The Big Red pushed its lead to 23-20, but three unanswered points by the Quakers knotted the game at 23-23 and forced Coach Vande Berg to call a timeout. A crushing kill by Maddie Sroufe handed the lead back to the visitors but a pair of kills by Genske, sandwiched around an ace by Pereira, gave Penn the 26-24 victory.
 
Cornell jumped out to a 5-2 lead early in the second after opening the set with back-to-back aces by Danenhauer. A kill by Sroufe on an overpass made it a 9-6 lead but once again Penn fought back with four consecutive points to take its first lead of the set at, 10-9. A Quaker service error, followed by a kill from McCarty returned the lead to Cornell (11-10). The teams battled through four more ties, and twice Cornell battle back from three points down, before scoring the final five points of the match to take the 25-20 victory. The decisive run started and ended with block assists by Alex Basler and McCarty, and included a service ace from Phelps and a kill by McCarty.
 
Penn jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the third set, but the Big Red fought back to get back within one-point when Sincox's serve hit the top of the net and dropped in for the easy ace to make it a 7-6 Quaker lead.  Cornell couldn't find the equalizer, however and Penn pushed its lead to 13-8. A pair of Genske attack errors, followed by a service ace by Kiley McPeek, and a big cross court kill by Emily Wemhoff knotted the game at 13-13.­ Penn earned the next point on a Big Red attack error and the home team eventually pushed its advantage to five points (20-15) before rolling to the 25-19 victory.
 
It was all Cornell to open the fourth set, as the visitors jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but the Quakers used an impressive run of its own to take its first lead at 7-6. The Big Red took a time out but Penn continued its run, eventually pushing its lead to 9-6 before a kill by Sganderlla ended the 9-1 run by the home team. The teams battled to 16-11 before four unanswered points by Cornell made it a one-point game. During the run, the Big Red got a kill from Wemhoff, two kills from McCarty and a kill by Sganderlla. A kill by Covington put Penn back up by two points, 17-15, but once again McCarty came through for the Big Red as she and Sganderlla registered two kills each in putting the visitors back on top, 20-18. Penn pulled back within one-point four times down the stretch, including 24-23, before winning back-to-back points to go up, 25-24. A kill by Wilson tied it at 25-25 and the teams would tie again at 26-26 before a pair of Cornell attack errors handed Penn the 28-26 victory.
 
Cornell (4-10, 0-4 Ivy) is back in action tomorrow evening when it takes on Princeton at Jadwin Gym at 5 p.m.