WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Big Red volleyball team concluded the first day of the Black Knights Invitational with a commanding straight-set victory over Iona (25-14, 25-20, 26-24) to improve to 2-0 on the season. Cornell opens a season with two consecutive wins for the first time since defeating Niagara and Bucknell on the first day of the 2007 Cornell Invitational. The Big Red is back in action tomorrow when it takes on Army at 1 p.m.
 
The Big Red used a well-balanced attack, with eight players registering at least one kill, but no single player reaching double digits, as the team combined to hit .243 percent (39-13-107). Freshman Carla Sganderlla finished with nine kills and hit .208, while Kit McCarty (8-2-17; .353) and Emily Wemhoff (8-3-25; .200) had eight kills apiece.
 
Defensively, Cornell had eight total blocks as Iona hit just .158 as a team, with freshman Kara Rogers leading the Big Red with four block assists.
 
Setting up behind the blocks, sophomore libero Chelsea Sincox finished with a game-high 21 digs, more than double any other player on the court for either team, while Wemhoff posted 10 digs.
 
Junior setter Alyssa Phelps had a solid game, filling out the stat line with 29 assists, three kills, seven digs, two block assists and one service ace.
 
Iona (2-4) was led by Claire Archibald's 10 kills.
 
Fresh off a fantastic five-set win over William & Mary in the first round of the invitational, Cornell carried the momentum into its match with the Gaels and used a huge 10-1 run to turn a one-point set into a 13-4 advantage. Cornell eventually pushed its lead to 14 points when a service ace from Natalie Danenhaue made it a 20-6 lead and the Big Red rolled to the 25-14 victory.
 
The second set was far more competitive, with the teams exchanging points and racking up five ties to 13-13 before an attack error by Archibald and a well-timed kill from Phelps started an important 6-1 run. In addition to Phelps, Wemhoff, Rogers and McCarty all registered one kill during the run. Iona eventually pulled back within one-point (20-19) but two Gael errors, followed by a service ace from Sincox and a kill from Basler handed the Big Red match point. Iona received one final kill in the set by Karly White, but McCarty and Basler ended the set with a block as Cornell won 25-20.
 
Iona turned the tables on the Big Red in the third set and jumped out to a 5-1 lead before a Gaels' service error, followed by a service ace from Basler, got Cornell on the board. Iona continued to maintain its lead, holding the 17-13 advantage late in the set before three consecutive kills from McCarty got the Big Red back into the contest. Trailing by one (18-17) Sganderlla registered three straight kills of her own to hand Cornell its first lead of the set at 20-18. The Gaels came back to tie the game once again at 20-20, but a ball handling error on Iona, followed by kills from Phelps and Basler put the Big Red up, 23-20. Iona had one last push and tied the game one final time at 24-24, but Cornell closed the match with authority as Phelps registered a service ace to end it just moments after getting the Big Red to match point, as she and Rogers blocked Archibald attack.