MATCH INFORMATION
MATCH #20: Cornell at Penn
MATCH TIME: Friday, Nov. 3, 2017; 7:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: The Palestra (Philadelphia, Pa.)
SERIES RECORD: Penn leads, 43-28
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 3-1; Oct. 14, 2017 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2017 RECORDS: Cornell (10-9, 6-4 Ivy); Penn (10-9, 5-5 Ivy).
LIVE STATS: http://statb.us/b/180738
LIVE VIDEO: www.IvyLeague.TV     
 
MATCH #21: Cornell at Princeton
MATCH TIME: Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017; 5:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Dillon Gymnasium (Princeton, N.J.)
SERIES RECORD: Princeton leads, 53-20
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 3-1; Oct. 13, 2017 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
* 2017 RECORDS: Cornell (10-9, 6-4 Ivy); Princeton (14-6, 7-3 Ivy),
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/princeton/wvball/
LIVE VIDEO: www.IvyLeague.TV     
 
* records prior to Friday evenings contests.   
 
THE MATCHUP: The Big Red volleyball team, winners of four of its last five outings, will travel to Penn and Princeton this weekend for its final road games of the regular season. Cornell (10-9, 6-4 Ivy) will take on the Quakers on Friday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m., before facing the Tigers on Saturday, Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. Sitting in a tie for third place with Harvard in the conference standings, Cornell finds itself staring up at second-place Princeton (14-6, 7-3 Ivy), and hovering just above fifth place Penn (10-9, 5-5 Ivy).

THE SERIES VS. PENN: The Big Red and Penn first met in volleyball in 1974, a 2-0 Big Red victory. The Quakers went on to dominate the series for the rest of the 1970s and '80s, accounting for its 43-28 all-time lead, but since 2000 the series has been more even with Penn owning a slim 16-14 advantage. Cornell has currently won three in a row, its longest winning streak in the series since winning three straight during the 1990 and 1991 seasons.

SCOUTING THE QUAKERS: Penn has won two in a row to improve to 10-9 overall and 5-5 in the Ivy League. The Quakers are led by freshman Parker Jones' 3.36 kills per set, while senior Kendall Covington owns a .333 hitting percentage, marks that are good for second and fifth, respectively, in the Ivy League rankings. Sophomore setter Sydney Morton ranks third in the conference with 9.76 assists per game, while sophomore Caroline Furrer ranks seventh overall with 3.27 digs per set.
 
LAST TIME VS. PENN: The Big Red completed its first Ivy League weekend sweep since 2012 when it defeated Penn, 3-1, on Oct. 14 at Newman Arena. After dropping the first set, 22-25, Cornell stormed back to take the final three sets, 25-20, 25-21, 25-21. Samanta Arenas led the Big Red with a career-high 20-kill, 20-dig double-double, while Kara Rogers had another extremely efficient night, registering 14 kills and just two errors on 33 attacks for a .364 hitting percentage. Kit McCarty also finished with 12 kills and just one error on 25 attempts. The middle blocker tandem of sophomores Jada Stackhouse (9-1-13) and Jenna Phelps (5-1-13) combined to hit .462 to go along with six total blocks. As a team, Cornell hit a season-high .315 (65-18-149). Defensively, senior libero Kiley McPeek finished with a match-high 24 digs to wrap-up the weekend with an incredible 7.4 digs per set, while Zoe Chamness (12) and Chelsea Sincox (11) also tallied double-digits. Chamness and Sincox were also solid running the offense with 33 and 22 assists, respectively, as the Big Red assisted on all 65 of its kills. Penn was led by Parker Jones (19 kills) and Hayley Moinar (10 kills), while libero Caroline Furrer and Michelle Pereira registered 14 digs apiece. 
 
THE SERIES VS. PRINCETON: As is true for the series against Penn, the Cornell series with Princeton began in the 1974 season, a 2-0 Big Red victory. The Tigers have dominated the series since, owning a 53-20 record. The Big Red won the first meeting this season, earning its first victory in the series since 2013 and snapping Princeton's seven-match streak against the Big Red.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS: Princeton enters Friday's game vs. Columbia with a record of 14-6 overall (7-3 Ivy). The Tigers rank in the top half of the conference in kills (first), assists (first), hitting percentage (second), digs (second), and opponent hitting percentage (third). The offense is run by sophomore setter Jessie Harris, who ranks second in the Ivy League with 10.22 assists per game. Harris is bolstered by Natasha Skov (3.33) and Maggie O'Connell (3.26), who rank third and fourth, respectively, in the conference standings for kills per set. Nnenna Ibe, ranks third in the Ivy League with a .343 hitting percentage, while Caroline Sklaver is sixth overall with a .324 hitting percentage. Defensively libero Maddie Huber ranks third in the conference with 4.08 digs per set.
 
LAST TIME VS. PRINCETON: After spending the previous two weekends of Ivy League play on the road, the Big Red returned to Newman Arena and earned a statement win over two-time reigning conference champion Princeton, handing the Tigers their first Ivy loss of the season. The win – Cornell's first in the series since 2013 – snapped Princeton's eight-match Ivy winning streak, and ended its seven-match streak against the Big Red. After a losing a lead late in the first set and falling, 26-24, the Big Red rebounded with three straight victories, 25-21, 25-22, 25-14. The victory was a total team effort with outstanding performances up-and-down the lineup. Junior Kara Rogers had the best night of her career with 15 kills, a blistering .455 hitting percentage (15-0-33), and five block assists from the right side. Sophomore outside Samanta Arenas also finished in double-digits (12), while Kit McCarty was extremely effective with seven kills and only one error on 33 attempts. The Big Red's middle blockers were solid, as Jada Stackhouse had a match-high .471 hitting percentage (9-1-17) to go along with four block assists, while Jenna Phelps finished with seven total blocks (one solo) and five service aces. Defensively, libero Kiley McPeek finished with a career-high 35 digs, a mark good for 13th in Cornell history for digs in a set, and third overall for digs in a four-set match. McPeek was one of four Big Red players to register double-digits, along with Zoe Chamness (13), Chelsea Sincox (12), and Lily Barber (10). Chamness and Sincox both finished with 22 assists. Princeton was led by Natasha Skov's 14 kills. Devon Peterkin also finished with 10 kills, but had 10 errors as well. Maggie O'Connell, one of the top hitters in the conference, finished with just nine kills, while Nnenna Ibe, who leads the Ivy League in hitting percentage, finished at just .100 for the contest (6-4-20).
 
THE HEAD COACH: Trudy Vande Berg is in her third season as The Wendy Schaenen '79 Head Coach Of Volleyball at Cornell (28-39, .418) ... Vande Berg became the 11th head coach in Cornell volleyball history in March 2015 after spending three seasons as the Big Red's top assistant coach ... Prior to her time at Cornell, Vande Berg spent time as an assistant coach at North Florida, Duke, and Iowa State and as a volunteer assistant at Wisconsin. She also served as head coach of the Team Iowa Ice professional club in the Premier Volleyball League, where she guided the team to the championship in her second year at the helm.
 
IN THE HUNT: Cornell enters the weekend ranked third in the Ivy League standings with a record of 6-4 against Ancient Eight opponents. The last time the Big Red sat in the top half of the conference standings this late in the season came during the 2006 campaign, as the Big Red took an 8-2 record into the final two weekend of Ivy League play.
 
TOP 10 DIGS: Kiley McPeek enters the weekend with 360 digs and needs just 43 more to jump into the Big Red's top 10 for digs in a single season.
 
GET OUT THE BROOM: With its consecutive 3-1 wins over Princeton (Oct. 13) and Penn (Oct. 14) the Big Red completed its first Ivy League weekend sweep since 2012. 
* Cornell earned a second weekend sweep when it defeated Dartmouth (Oct. 27) and Harvard (Oct. 27), earning a pair of weekend Ivy sweeps in the same season for the first time since 2008.
 
CLOSE CALLS & FREE VOLLEYBALL: In Cornell's 10 Ivy League matches this season, the Big Red has played 40 sets, 12 of which have been decided by just two points (.300) with nine of the 12 going to extra points. 
 
ACES: Jenna Phelps came one ace shy of breaking the school record for aces in a match (8) when she registered seven vs. Brown on Oct. 6.
* Phelps enters the week leading the Ivy League and ranking third in the nation with 0.56 aces per set.
 
GRINDING OUT A WIN: The Big Red is 8-5 in matches that go more than three sets. Cornell is just 2-3 in three-set matches.
 
MOVING UP: The following Big Red are moving up the Cornell career rankings …
* Emily Wemhoff – 10th in Kills (793); 14th in Points (867.0)
* Kit McCarty – 11th in Kills (747); 16th in Points (837.0); 19th in Block Assists (160)
* Kiley McPeek – 12th in Digs (906)
* Chelsea Sincox – 17th in Assists (476); 19th in Digs (755)
* Zoe Chamness – 19th in Assists (310)
* Lauren Donnelly – 19th in Assists (277)
 
SINGLE-SEASON MARKS: Here's where the 2017 Big Red sit in Cornell's single-season record book …
* Jenna Phelps – 14th in Attack Percentage (.299); 17th in blocks per set (1.17); 23rd in Service Aces (35); 2nd in Service Aces Per Set (0.56)
* Jada Stackhouse – 29th in Attack Percentage (.272)
* Kiley McPeek – 14th in Digs (360); 7th in Digs Per Set (4.93); 27th in Service Aces Per Set (0.37)
 
NCAA TEAM RANKINGS: As a team, Cornell entered the week ranked …
* 2nd – Attacks per Set (40.38)
* 24th – Digs per Set (17.41)
* 46th – Assists per Set (12.92)
* 50th – Kills per Set (13.73)
 
NCAA INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS: Big Red players entered the week ranked …
* 3rd – Aces per Set (Jenna Phelps – 0.56)
* 43rd – Digs per Set (Kiley McPeek – 4.93)
* 87th – Blocks per Set (Jenna Phelps – 1.16)
* 85th – Aces per Set (Kiley McPeek – 0.37)
* 254th – Blocks per Set (Jada Stackhouse – 0.96)
 
IVY RANKINGS: The Big Red ranks in the top half of the Ivy League in …
* Digs – 1st (17.41)
* Assists – 2nd (12.92)
* Kills – 2nd (13.73)
* Blocks – 3rd (2.15)
* Service Aces – 4th (1.33)
* Opponent Hitting Percentage – 2nd (.189)
 
INDIVIDUAL IVY RANKINGS: Big Red players rank in the Ivy League in …
* Hitting Percentage – Jenna Phelps (8th – .299)
* Kills per Set – Emily Wemhoff (6th – 2.89); Samanta Arenas (8th – 2.81)
* Assists per Set – Zoe Chamness (7th – 5.96); Chelsea Sincox (9th – 5.03)
* Service Aces per Set – Jenna Phelps (1st – 0.56); Kiley McPeek (4th – 0.37)
* Blocks per Set – Jenna Phelps (3rd – 1.16)
* Digs per Set – Kiley McPeek (1st – 4.93); Samanta Arenas (9th – 3.00)
* Points per Set – Samanta Arenas (8th – 3.13); Emily Wemhoff (9th – 3.09)
 
DIGS A LOT: Kiley McPeek leads the conference with 4.93 digs per set. That mark is the highest by a Cornell player since Natasha Rowland averaged 5.67 digs during the 2014 season.
 
PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
* Kiley McPeek was named the Ivy League Player of the Week after helping Cornell to its first Ivy League weekend sweep since 2012, as the Big Red downed Princeton and Penn.
* It was the first Ivy weekly award of McPeek's career and she becomes just the second libero to take home the honor since Penn's Dani Shepard won it multiple times during the 2012 campaign.
* McPeek averaged 7.38 digs per set during the weekend and had 53 service receptions without a single error.
* She registered 35 digs against the Tigers, the most digs in the Ivy League this season, surpassing her own mark of 31 vs. Binghamton. It was also the 14th most digs in the NCAA this season for a four-set match.
* The mark is good for 13th place in Cornell history for digs in a match, and third overall for digs in a four-set match.
* After leading the Big Red to a thrilling 3-1 victory over Columbia on Sept. 23, senior Emily Wemhoff was named the Ivy League Player of the Week.
* The honor was the first of Wemhoff's career and the first for the Big Red this season.
* Wemhoff recorded a career-high 23 kills as the only Cornell player to reach double-digits. 
* The 23 kills are the most in the Ivy League so far this season and also rank 17th in the Cornell history for kills in a four-set match.
* Wemhoff finished the match with a .405 hitting percentage (23-6-42), the best single-game performance of her career, to go along with four digs, two assists and one block.
 
THE SWITCH: Two of Cornell's biggest contributors this season – Kiley McPeek and Chelsa Sincox – are playing positions that are significantly different than when they arrived on East Hill. McPeek joined the Big Red as an outside hitter and moved into the Libero role midway through the 2016 season. Sincox has spent the past three seasons as one of the team's top defensive specialists, before becoming one of the team's primary setters in the 2017 campaign.
 
DID YOU KNOW?:
* Kiley McPeek has 10 relatives that are Cornell alumni. Her father, Jeff '82, played sprint football for the Big Red, while her great uncle Richard Boerner was a member of the Cornell heavyweight varsity eight that won the IRA national championship in 1958 … During the summer of 2016, she did an internship in Istanbul, Turkey and was in the country during an attempted coup d'état.
* Kit McCarty is one of eight children – she has four brothers and three sisters.
* Zoe Lequeux is a French citizen.
* Carla Sganderlla can speak Portuguese ... Her brother graduated from Cornell.
* Kara Rogers lived in Germany for a year … Her sister is a member of the Yale swimming team.
* Maddy Sroufe's younger sister plays volleyball at VCU.
 
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM:
* Through the first two tournaments of the season, Kiley McPeek picked up a pair of all-tournament selections (JMU's Tropical Smoothie Invitational; Big Red Invitational).
* Emily Wemhoff was named to the Big Red Invitational All-Tournament team. 
* Kit McCarty and Kara Rogers were named to the Colgate Invitational All-Tournament Team.
 
BIG RED INVITATIONAL: Cornell came out of the Big Red Invitational with two wins for the first time since 2007, and just missed out on earning its first tournament title since 2005, as St. John's took the crown by tiebreaker (set winning percentage). 
 
RECAPPING 2016: Coming off its best performance since 2008, Cornell finished the 2016 season with a 12-12 record overall, posting six more victories than it did the year prior, the best single-season turnaround since the 2003 team went 21-4 following a 14-12 performance in 2002. With its record of 6-8 in the Ivy League, the Big Red finished fifth in the conference standings for its highest finish since the 2008 team placed third.
 
UP NEXT: The Big Red will play its final games of the regular season when it plays host to Yale and Brown on Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. and Nov. 11 at 5 p.m., respectively. Cornell will honor the program's five seniors – Kit McCarty, Kiley McPeek, Chelsea Sincox, Maddy Stroufe and Emily Wemhoff – during its Senior Night ceremony prior to the contest with the Bears.