ITHACA, N.Y – The Big Red volleyball team outplayed Penn in every facet of the game to sweep the Quakers, 25-16, 25-19, 25-18, this evening in Newman Arena. With the win, Cornell improves to 12-8 overall and 8-3 in the Ivy League.
 
Samanta Arenas and Madison Baptiste led the Big Red with 13 and 12 kills, respectively. Baptiste hit .318 on the evening (12-5-220), while Arenas finished at .235 overall (13-5-34) and rounded out the stat line with a team-high nine digs and two service aces. Jenna Phelps was also efficient with seven kills and only two errors on 18 attempts (.278) to go along with four block assists and two aces. Senior Zoe Lequeux made her first career start and finished with three total blocks (one solo).
 
Setter Zoe Chamness posted 32 assists and led a Big Red offense that hit a solid .273 on the evening and finished with 42 kills. She was also a perfect 4-of-4 at the net.
 
Cornell served tough all night and matched a season-high with 10 service aces, thanks in large part to Natalie Danenhauer (3). 
 
In total, the Big Red finished the game with more kills (42-27), digs (38-34), service aces (10-2) and blocks (6.0-4.0), and hit for a higher percentage (.274-.183).
 
Penn (5-17, 2-9) was led by Raven Saluaimon's six kills.
 
The Big Red dominated the first set, holding the Quakers to a .050 hitting percentage, thanks in large part to tough serving from Danenhauer and Arenas. Three early aces and three kills form Arenas put the home team up, 11-5. Cornell pushed its advantage to eight points (18-10) following a Penn service error and eventually took a double-digit lead when a solo block from Lequeux made it a 24-14 game. A resounding kill from Baptiste handed Cornell the 25-16 victory.
 
Penn battled back in the second set, as it hit a match-high .259, but with the score tied at 15-15 back-to-back kills from Phelps and Arenas gave Cornell a lead it would not relinquish. The Big Red closed the set strong, using a 6-2 run that was punctuated with a service ace set point from Shae Bauchens at 25-19.
 
The third set was all Cornell as the home team jumped out to a 9-4 lead following an ace from Phelps and a pair of kills from Baptiste. The Big Red eventually stretched its lead to nine points (18-9) on a block from Phelps and Lequeux and Penn never got back within five points as Cornell rolled to the 25-18 victory.  
 
The Big Red is back in action tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 2 when it welcomes Princeton to Newman Arena for a 5 p.m. contest. The match will be the final home contest for Cornell seniors Shae Bauchens, Natalie Danenhauer, Lauren Donnelly, Zoe Lequeux, Kara Rogers, Carla Sganderlla. As a class, they have been instrumental in restoring Cornell volleyball to the upper-echelon of the Ivy League. As sophomores, they led the program to one of the best single-season turnarounds in program history;  as juniors, they led the Big Red to its highest Ivy League finish since 2008; and this season they have Cornell on pace for the most Ivy League wins since the 2006 campaign