HANOVER, N.H. – The Big Red volleyball team defeated Dartmouth, 3-1, this evening in Leede Arena to earn its first season sweep of the Big Green since the 2012 campaign. The win helps the Big Red stay in third place in the Ivy League standings, just one spot ahead of tomorrow night's opponent, Harvard.
Cornell (11-8, 6-3) was led by
Samanta Arenas, who finished the night with 15 kills and posted a team-high .375 hitting percentage. She also tallied seven digs and three block assists. Freshman
Avery Hanan was the only other Big Red in double-digits with 14 kills, while
Jillienne Bennett,
Jada Stackhouse and
Jenna Phelps finished with six kills apiece.
As a team, the Big Red posted a .212 hitting percentage on the night and
Zoe Chamness handed out 41 assists on the team's 51 kills.
Stackhouse was a huge presence at the net with seven blocks (two solo) and Bennett and Phelps tallied three blocks apiece. Behind the big blocks, libero
Lily Barber registered a match-high 25 digs.
Dartmouth (7-12, 3-6) was led by Nicole Liddle and Elise Petit with eight and seven kills, respectively. Cornell held the Big Green to a mere .117 hitting percentage and just 39 overall kills.
The Big Red got out to a quick 5-2 lead in the first set and eventually used a 5-0 run to take a double-digit lead (15-6) after a big block from Stackhouse and Arenas. Dartmouth pulled within six points late in the set but never really threatened as Cornel took the 25-17 victory.
The second set was all Cornell as the visitors jumped out to a 6-1 advantage and led wire-to-wire in a dominating 25-15 win.
Dartmouth answered back in the third set using a late 5-1 from which the Big Red could not recover as the home team won, 25-17.
The Big Green carried the momentum into the fourth set, jumping out to a 6-1 lead. The advantage was short-lived however as Cornell responded with five unanswered to go up, 8-7. Dartmouth pulled back ahead and led the game 12-11 before a block from Phelps and Chamess knotted the set one last time. The Big Green stayed within striking distance until Stackhouse and Arenas took over, accounting for five kills and one joint block to put Cornell up, 22-15. From there Cornell rolled to the 25-17 victory.
