ITHACA, N.Y. – One evening removed from an epic comeback against Brown, the Big Red volleyball team found itself facing another 2-0 deficit (25-17, 25-20) to perennial Ivy power Yale. Cornell won the third set (25-13), but fell just short in the fourth (25-20) to drop a 3-1 decision to the Bulldogs. The loss was the first in the Ivy League for the Big Red, but with Yale's win and Princeton's loss this evening all three teams find themselves on top of the conference standings with a record of 4-1.
"We're both very physical teams and we like to bang the ball," said
Trudy Vande Berg, the Wendy Schaenen '79 Head Coach Of Volleyball. "We just gave them too many points in tight situations that killed our momentum. We didn't pass great, and serving – I think they were in system way too much. We have to get better at coming out an executing the game plan from point one."
Both teams hit nearly .200, with Yale coming in at .199 to the Big Red's .190. Cornell finished with more kills (56-48), while the Bulldogs tallied more blocks (13-10) and service aces (9-2) in front of a large Cornell Fall Employee Celebration crowd.
"I'm sure it was a fantastic match to watch," said Vande Berg. "There was a lot of big hits and lots of blocks. It was a very exciting match and hopefully the fans keep coming back. I think the game was well played. I think it just came down to pressure situations and who executed, and Yale did that tonight."
Jillienne Bennett led the Big Red with 14 kills, while
Jenna Phelps and
Madison Baptiste finished with 12 apiece. Phelps also hit a match-high .688 (12-1-16) and tallied seven block assists.
Libero
Lily Barber had a team-high 19 digs, while Baptist registered a career-high 16 digs for her second collegiate double-double. Setter
Zoe Chamness registered 39 assists and 11 digs.
Yale (10-4) deployed a balanced offense that saw five players finish with at least seven kills. Chiara Spain had nine kills with no errors on 16 attempts, while setter Frances Arnautou handed out 39 assists to go along with a team-best .667 hitting percentage with seven kills and one error on nine chances.
Libero Kate Swanson finished with a match-high 21 digs.
The Big Red concludes the first half of Ivy League play when it travels to Princeton and Penn next weekend. Cornell will take on the Tigers on Friday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. and the Quakers on Saturday, Oct. 13 at 5 p.m.
