ITHACA, N.Y. – The Big Red volleyball team opened the home portion of its schedule with a 3-1 victory over Binghamton to even its record at 4-4 in the opening round of the Cornell Invitational this evening in Newman Arena. The Big Red won the first two sets, 25-23, 25-15, before dropping the third, 18-25. In the decisive fourth set, Cornell used a late surge to outscore the Bearcats down the stretch en route to the 25-23 victory.
 
Cornell was led by Macey Wilson, who registered 15 kills and also hit a team-best .370 (15-5-27), to goa along with five total blocks (one solo, four assists). Junior Alyssa Phelps also had a solid outing as she posted 16 assists, 12 kills, hit .276, registered six digs, and had two block assists. Freshman setter Lauren Donnelly split time with Phelps and finished with 23 assists and seven digs, while libero Chelsea Sincox had a match-high 27 digs.
 
Binghamton (3-9) was led by Megan Burgess's 10 kills, while Bianca Anderson hit a blistering .636 (8-1-11). Setter Saragh Ngo finished with 35 assists and 14 digs, while libero Bailey Walker had a team-high 17 digs.
 
The first set was a back-and-forth affair with nine ties and four lead changes before the Bearcats used a 5-2 run to turn an 18-18 tie into a 23-20 advantage. The Big Red got a little luck with a BU service error before Donnelly answered with a service ace to make it a one-point game (23-22). Wilson had a hand in Cornell's final three points, first teaming with Phelps to block by Erin Shultz, and then putting down back-to back Bearcat overpasses to account for the 25-23 final.
 
The second set continued in much the same way, with the teams trading points to an 11-9 Cornell advantage. A solo block by McCarty fired up an impressive home crowd, and the Big Red followed it with a block by Alex Basler and a kill by Carla Sganderlla to go up, 14-10. A pair of Cornell attack errors made it a two-point game, but that's when Basler took over the match, starting with a kill and then an impressive streak of four tough serves, including one ace, that led to kills from Wemhoff and Wilson, to give Cornell the 19-12 advantage. From there, the Big Red rolled to the 25-15 victory.
 
Binghamton turned the tables in the third set and used a 10-1 run to blow open a 7-6 game and roll to the 25-18 win.
 
The fourth set was another nail biter with Cornell getting out to an early 5-1 lead, only to see the visitors fight back to tie the set at 9-9. The Bearcats capitalized on four straight Cornell  hitting errors to go up, 15-11, but kills from Emily Wemhoff,  Maddy Sroufe and Phelps, as well as a service ace from Kiley McPeek knotted the game once again at 15-15. There were seven more ties down the stretch, with the final coming at 23-23 before a BU error was followed by a big kill from Sroufe to seal the 25-23 win for the Big Red.
 
Cornell is back in action tomorrow on the second day of the Cornell Invitational. The Big Red faces Seton Hall at 1 p.m., before closing the tournament against Loyola University Chicago at 7 p.m. The second day will also feature Binghamton vs. Loyola-Chicago at 11 a.m., and Seton Hall vs. Binghamton at 5 p.m.