CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Big Red volleyball team trailed Harvard 10-2 in fifth set, but staged an epic comeback, using a 13-2 run to steal the five set victory (28-25, 21-25, 25-21, 18-25, 15-12) from the Crimson this evening at the Malkin Center in Cambridge, Mass. With the win, Cornell improves to 8-9 overall and 2-5 in the Ivy League. Under second-year head coach
Trudy Vande Berg, Cornell is 7-5 in matches that go five sets.
The comeback began when
Macey Wilson registered a kill and then partnered with
Kit McCarty for back-to-back blocks to make it a 10-5 contest. Harvard's Paige Kebe temporarily ended the Cornell run with a kill, but a kill from
Carla Sganderlla and a Crimson hitting error forced the home team to take a time out. Out of the break, McCarty registered a kill before pairing up with
Jenna Phelps for another block to pull
Cornell within one (11-10). Maclaine Fields pushed Harvard's lead back to 12-10, but consecutive kills from McCarty and Phelps knotted the game at 12-12. Another Crimson hitting error gave Cornell its first lead of the set before the Big Red emphatically ended the match with kills from Sganderlla and Phelps.
For the match, McCarty led Cornell with 16 kills and a .448 hitting percentage (16-3-29), while Sganderlla finished with a 13-kill, 18-dig double-double. The Big Red middle blocker duo of Wilson (9-3-25) and Phelps (9-2-24) hit a combined .265 with 18 kills. Wilson also finished with seven block assists, while McCarty chipped in six.
Senior setter
Alyssa Phelps registered 49 assists and 11 digs, while sophomore defensive specialist
Shae Bauchens and junior libero
Kiley McPeek finished with 16 and 15 digs, respectively.
Harvard (5-11, 3-4 Ivy) was lead with Grace Roberts Burbank's 17 kills and .375 hitting percentage, while Corinne Bain had a triple-double with 15 kills, 20 assists, and 12 block assists. Christina Cornelius also chipped in 11 block assists as the Crimson registered an impressive 19 team blocks.
The Big Red, which has already matched its Ivy League win total from last season, opens the second half of conference play when it welcomes Columbia to Newman Arena on Saturday, Oct. 22 at 2 p.m.
