ITHACA, N.Y. -- Senior Carla Sganderlla had a match-high 22 kills in her return to the court and Cornell rallied in the fifth set for a 3-2 victory over previously unbeaten Buffalo on Friday evening at Newman Arena on day one of the Cornell Invitational. The Big Red (1-0) opened the season with the 19-25, 25-21, 25-20, 20-25, 15-13 victory, while the Bulls slipped to 3-1 on the year.
 
The Big Red trailed 8-5 at the break in the fifth and went down 9-5 before rallying. Cornell caught up at 10-10 and then evened it up at 11-11, 12-12 and 13-13 before a Sganderlla kill and a hitting error handed the home team its first win of the season.
 
Lily Barber had 26 digs and Samanta Arenas had 20 to go along with her 14 kills for the Big Red. Both freshman Jillienne Bennett (11) and Jada Stackhouse (10) had double-digit kills as the Big Red overcame first game jitters to improve to 28-16-1 all-time in season openers. The Big Red dominated in kills (68-39), hitting percentage (.188-.141) and digs (74-61), but the Bulls remained in the match thanks to 15 blocks at the net. Megan Wernette led the visitors with nine kills and nine blocks, while Polina Prokudina added 10 kills, nine digs and four blocks.
 
With three matches already under its belt, Buffalo jumped out to a 20-12 lead in the first set and rolled to the 25-19 victory, but Cornell found its rhythm and stormed back to take the next two sets, 25-21 and 25-20.  The fourth set was close early-on, but the Bulls scored five unanswered points to turn a deficit into a 7-5 lead and the visitors never trailed again en route to the 25-20 victory.
 
The Big Red Invitational continues tomorrow when Cornell faces Siena at 10 a.m., before St. John's takes on Buffalo (1:00 p.m.), and Binghamton plays the Saints (5:00 p.m.). The tournament concludes with the Big Red facing St. John's at 7:00 p.m.