VALPARAISO, Ind. – The Big Red volleyball team dropped its opening match at the Crusader Classic, falling to the host Valparaiso, 3-1 (15-25, 20-25, 25-22, 20-25). Cornell (4-4) is back in action tomorrow when it plays Wright State (11 a.m.) and Western Illinois (5:30 p.m.).
 
Senior Carla Sganderlla led the offense with a team-high 12 kills to go along with nine digs. Sophomore setter Zoe Chamness posted her third double-double of the season with 20 assists and 15 digs, while libero Lily Barber paced the Big Red with 20 digs. Junior setter Katie Randolph chipped in 10 assists.
 
Valpo (10-2) was led by Peyton McCarthy's 14 kills, while Rylee Cookerly posted a match-high 22 digs.
 
For the match, the Crusaders barely edged Cornell in hitting percentage (.170-.155), kills (49-42), digs (73-68) and blocks (10.0-8.0), but it was just enough to make a difference.
 
After a back-and-forth start to the first set a 7-2 Crusader run turned a slim 13-10 lead into a 20-12 advantage for the home team. From there, Valpo cruised to the 25-15 win.
 
Valpo carried that momentum into the second set and jumped out to a 4-0 lead before the Big Red knotted the game at 6-6 on a block from Jenna Phelps and Sganderlla. The teams see-sawed through eight ties and four lead changes but with Cornell leading, 20-18, the Crusaders recorded the final seven points of the set to earn the 25-20 victory.  
 
The third set was even more competitive with 14 ties and seven lead changes. But this time the Big Red came out on top, using an impressive 5-0 run to battle from a 16-13 deficit to an 18-16 lead. Valpo would regain the lead once more (19-18) but Cornell had an answer for each Crusader point before a Valpo error and a Sganderlla kill gave the visitors the 25-22 victory.  
 
Unfortunately, Cornell could not capitalize on its third set victory as the Crusaders led wire-to-wire to win the fourth set, 25-20.