ITHACA, N.Y. – After nearly a two-hour delay due to a facility malfunction, the Big Red volleyball team did a little extra damage to the Malkin Athletic Center when it defeated Harvard, 3-1, this evening. Game scores were 25-19, 23-25, 25-19, 25-15. With the win, Cornell earns its first season sweep over Harvard since 2011 and improves to 11-8 overall and 7-3 in the Ivy League.
 
Cornell hit .272 as a team and registered 52 kills with setter Zoe Chamness posting 41 assists on the evening. Samanta Arenas tallied a match-high 14 kills and finished with 12 digs for a double-double, while Avery Hanan registered 12 kills as the only other Big Red in double-digits. The middle blocker duo of Jenna Phelps and Jada Stackhouse were nearly perfect as they combined for 15 kills and a .483 hitting percentage. Phelps had a match-high .500 hitting percentage (8-0-16) and Stackhouse finished at .462 (7-1-13). Stackhouse also added a team-high six blocks (two solo).
 
Libero Lily Barber had a match-high 20 digs, reaching the 20-dig mark for the eighth time this season and the second night in a row.
 
Harvard (10-9, 5-5 Ivy) was led by Christina Cornelius' 11 kills. No other Crimson player reached double-digits as the team amassed only 44 kills. The home team hit just .120 on the evening with only three player hitting above .100 for the match.
 
The Big Red got out to a quick start in the first set thanks to some tough serving by Arenas, but Harvard fought back to knot the contest at 4-4. The teams traded points to 7-7 when three consecutive Big Red blocks, all of which involved Stackhouse, followed by a service ace from Phelps gave the visitors an 11-7 advantage. That small run proved to be the difference as the Crimson never got back within two points and the Big Red won, 25-19.
 
Harvard evened the match in the second set by holding off a late Big Red rally that nearly saw Cornell come back from a 22-18 deficit, but the Crimson just managed to hold on for the 25-23 victory.
 
The Big Red's strong play at the end of the second set carried over into the third as Cornell got out to a 4-0 lead and eventually pushed its advantage to as many as nine points before coasting to the 25-19 win.    
 
The fourth set was all Cornell as the visitors scored the first six points and never looked back, leading wire-to-wire in a 25-15 rout to win the match, 3-1.
 
The Big Red returns home for the final time this season and will honor its seniors – Shae Bauchens, Natalie Danenhauer, Lauren Donnelly, Zoe Lequeux, Kara Rogers, Carla Sganderlla – when it welcomes Penn and Princeton to Newman Arena next weekend. Cornell will face the Quakers at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 2, before taking on the Tigers at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 3.