QUEENS, N.Y. – The Big Red volleyball team ended the 2015 Jack Kaiser Volleyball Classic with a bang, earning a hard-fought 3-2 win over George Mason to improve to 3-4 on the season. Cornell won the first set, 25-21, before the Patriots stormed back to win the next two (25-20, 25-22). The Big Red forced a fifth set with a 25-18 victory in the fourth, before rolling to the 15-9 win in the decisive fifth set.
 
For her efforts, junior middle blocker Macey Wilson was named to the All-Tournament Team. Over the course of the weekend, she hit an outstanding .431 with 33 kills and just eight errors on 58 attempts, to go along with 10 block assists and one block solo.
 
Wilson was outstanding vs. the Patriots, hitting .364 and registering 12 kills (12-4-22). She also had two block assists and one solo block. Sophomore outside hitter Emily Wemhoff registered a team-high 15 kills to go along with six digs, while sophomore right side hitter Kit McCarty tallied 12 kills, hit a solid .321 (12-3-28) and finished with three block assists and one block solo. Freshman middle Alex Basler rounded out the quartet of Big Red players to tally double-digit kills with  10. She also hit a team-best .368 percent (10-3-19), and registered three block assists.
 
Sophomore libero Chelsea Sincox posted a match-high 26 digs, while Shea Bauchens and Alyssa Phelps finished with nine and eight, respectively. Phelps also handed out 25 assists, while freshman setter Lauren Donnelly accounted for 23.
 
George Mason (5-6) was led by Tiffany Clarke with a match-high 16 kills.
 
The Big Red won the first set, 25-21, thanks in large part to McCarty's five kills (5-0-6) and two blocks.  The teams battled back and forth to a 10-10 tie before Cornell used a 5-1 run to build a lead it would not relinquish. The run started with a service ace from Basler and featured a big double block by McCarty and Wilson.
 
Cornell hit .419 in the crucial fourth set and had just one attack error as a team en-route to the 25-18 victory. Basler, Wilson and Sganderlla registered three kills apiece, going a combined 9-of-15 with no errors. The set featured seven ties but Cornell used a decisive 8-2 run to turn a 13-13 game into a 21-15 advantage. The run featured four kills by four different Big Red players – Sganderlla, Phelps, Wilson, Wemhoff – as well as a block and a service ace from Phelps. Cornell kept up the pressure down the stretch with kills by Wemhoff, Basler and Wilson, as well as a service ace by Basler, to earn the win.
 
The Big Red carried the momentum into the final set, with kills by McCarty and Sganderlla, and a combined block from Wilson and McCarty, staking Cornell to a 4-1 lead. The Patriots fought back to knot the set at 5-5 but consecutive kills from Wilson and Wemhoff put Cornell up for good. George Mason made it a one-point set twice down the stretch (7-6; 8-7) but three straight kills from sparked Cornell's  7-2 run to the 15-9 victory.
 
The Big Red is back in action next weekend as the Cornell Invitational returns for Homecoming Weekend. Cornell's home opener will be Friday, Sept. 18 vs. Binghamton evening at 7 p.m. The following day, Cornell takes on Seton Hall and Loyola Chicago. The Big Red has a dominating 21-8-2 record all-time vs. the Bearcats, while the series is tied at 2-2 with the Pirates. Cornell has never faced the Ramblers in volleyball.  
 
Final Tournament Standings
1st - San Francisco (4-0)
2nd - St. John's (3-1)
3rd - Cornell (1-3, won six sets)
4th - George Mason (1-3, won five sets)
5th - Central Connecticut (1-3, won four sets)
 
All-Tournament Team
Katarina Pilepic - USF
Oluoma Okaro - USF
Karin Palgutova - SJU
Deniz Mutlugil - SJU
Macey Wilson - COR
Montana Green – GMU
 
Most Valuable Player
Kimberly Gutierrez - USF