MATCH INFORMATION
MATCH #4: Cornell vs. Binghamton
MATCH TIME: Friday, Sept. 8, 2017; 7:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Newman Arena (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 23-9-2
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 3-2; Oct. 11, 2016
2017 RECORDS: Cornell (1-2, 0-0 Ivy); Binghamton (3-4, 0-0 America East)
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/wvball/
LIVE VIDEO: www.IvyLeague.TV
 
MATCH #5: Cornell vs. St. John's
MATCH TIME: Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017; 11:00 a.m.
MATCH SITE: Newman Arena (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: St. John's leads, 3-0
LAST MEETING: St. John's won, 3-1; Sept. 12, 2015
* 2017 RECORDS: Cornell (1-2, 0-0 Ivy); St. John's (5-2, 0-0 Big East)
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/wvball/
LIVE VIDEO: www.IvyLeague.TV
 
MATCH #6: Cornell vs. Valparaiso
MATCH TIME: Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017; 7:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Newman Arena (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: First Meeting
LAST MEETING: First Meeting
* 2017 RECORDS: Cornell (1-2, 0-0 Ivy); Valparaiso (2-4, 0-0 MVC)
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/wvball/
LIVE VIDEO: www.IvyLeague.TV

* records prior to Friday evening's contest.

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

THE CORNELL INVITATIONAL: The Big Red volleyball team opens up the home portion of the 2017 season this weekend as it hosts the Cornell Invitational. The home opener comes against Binghamton on Friday, Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. The following day, the Big Red will face St. John's at 11 a.m., before closing the tournament against Valparaiso at 7:00 p.m. The Cornell Invitational opens when the St. John's faces Valparaiso on Friday at 5 p.m. Additional games on Saturday will feature Valparaiso vs. Binghamton (1:00 p.m.), and Binghamton vs. St. John's (5:00 p.m.).

THE SERIES VS. BINGHAMTON: Cornell has faced Binghamton 34 times, dominating the series at 23-9-2. The Bearcats had won four in a row from 2007 to 2011, but the Big Red has taken four of the last five, including two in a row … Head coach Trudy Vande Berg is 2-0 all-time vs. Binghamton.

VS. THE AMERICA EAST: Cornell is 42-11-2 all-time vs. the current members of the America East, thanks mostly to a 23-9-2 record vs. in-state rival Binghamton. The Big Red also has a winning record vs. Albany (8-0), Hartford (6-1), New Hampshire (2-0) and Stony Brook (3-1), but has never faced UMBC or UMass-Lowell.

THE SERIES VS. ST. JOHN'S: The Red Storm holds a 3-0 lead in the series with Cornell, winning the first outing in 2006, before earning a 3-0 victory in 2009 and a 3-1 victory in 2015. Each of St. John's first two victories came during the Cornell Invitational … Head coach Trudy Vande Berg is 1-0 all-time vs. St. John's.

VS. THE BIG EAST: Cornell is 7-11 all-time vs. the current members of the Big East. The Big Red holds a winning record against just Butler (1-0), while the series with Providence (1-1),) and Villanova (2-2) are tied. Cornell has a losing record against Georgetown (1-2), Seton Hall (2-4), and St. John's (0-3) but has never faced Creighton, DePaul, Marquette, or Xavier in volleyball.

THE SERIES VS. VALPARAISO:  First Meeting.

VS. THE MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERNCE: Cornell is 0-6 all-time vs. the current members of the Missouri Valley Conference. The Big Red is 0-3 all-time vs. Loyola-Chicago and also has a losing record vs. Bradley (0-1), Indiana State (0-1) and UNI (0-1). Cornell has never faced Drake, Evansville, Illinois State, Missouri State, Southern Illinois, or Valparaiso in volleyball.

THE HEAD COACH: Trudy Vande Berg is in her third season as The Wendy Schaenen '79 Head Coach Of Volleyball at Cornell (19-32, .373) ... 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.

OPENING 2017: Cornell went 1-2 at the season-opening Tropical Smoothie Invitational at James Madison last weekend, falling to the host Dukes (3-0) and Drake (3-0) before collecting a 3-1 victory over Hampton. Kiley McPeek earned all-tournament honors after leading the team in digs (38) and service aces (six) on the weekend. Six different players averaged at least a kill per set over the first three matches, with All-Ivy returner Emily Wemhoff leading with 2.90 kps. Samanta Arenas (2.43 kps, .256 hitting percentage) and Kit McCarty (2.40 kps., .269 hitting percentage) weren't far off, while Kara Rogers (1.70 kps.) and Carla Sganderlla (1.33 kps., 3.83 dps., 0.50 bps.) were also primary offensive targets. Katie Randolph (4.60 assists) and Chelsea Sincox (3.80 assists) shared primary duties, setting up an offense that hit .147 in the three matches. The Big Red played without outside hitter Maddy Sroufe and middle blocker Jenna Phelps, a pair of key returners.

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.

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 … Two summers ago, she did an internship in Istanbul, Turkey and was in the country during the 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.
* 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.

UP NEXT: Cornell wraps up the tournament season with a trip to the Colgate Classic next weekend. The Big Red will take on LaSalle on Friday, Sept. 15 at 4 p.m., before coming back the next day to play Stony Brook (2 p.m.) and the host Raiders (6 p.m.). Cornell has had tremendous success against all three opponents, going a combined 6-1 vs. the Explorers (3-0) and the Seawolves (3-1), and posting an all-time record of 55-29-1 against the Raiders in a series that dates back to 1972, the very first season of varsity volleyball at Cornell.