MATCH INFORMATION
MATCH #12: Cornell vs. Harvard
MATCH TIME: Friday, Sept. 28, 2018; 7:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Newman Arena (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 38-28
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 3-2; Oct. 28, 2017
2018 RECORDS: Cornell (6-5, 1-0 Ivy); Harvard (5-5, 0-1 Ivy)
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/wvball
LIVE VIDEO: https://es.pn/2DCJjIe
 
MATCH #13: Cornell vs. Dartmouth
MATCH TIME: Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018; 5:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Newman Arena (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 42-18
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 3-0; Oct. 27, 2017
2018 RECORDS: Cornell (6-5, 1-0 Ivy); Dartmouth (5-6, 1-0 Ivy)
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/wvball
LIVE VIDEO: https://es.pn/2xS6kjU
 
THE WEEKEND: After nearly a month on the road, the Big Red volleyball team opens a four-game home stand this weekend when it welcomes Harvard on Friday, Sept. 28 and Dartmouth on Saturday, Sept. 29 to Newman Arena. Cornell improved to 6-5 overall when it defeated Columbia last weekend in its Ivy League opener, while the Big Green (5-6) beat the Crimson (5-5).  Live stats for both matches will be provided at http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/wvball, while video streams will be available on ESPN+ at https://watch.espnplus.com/sports/.
 
THE SERIES VS. HARVARD: Cornell and Harvard first met in 1977, a 2-0 Big Red victory. Cornell went on to win the next 10 contests before the Crimson earned its first win in the series during the 1988 campaign. Harvard won eight consecutive outings from 2012 to 2015 to gain some ground in the series, but the teams have split their two meetings in each of the past two seasons as Cornell maintains a 38-28 leads in the all-time series.
 
SCOUTING THE CRIMSON: Harvard won four consecutive outings before dropping its Ivy League opener last weekend to Dartmouth, 3-2, to fall to 5-5 on the year.
* The Crimson return a pair of All-Ivy honorees from a year ago – Christina Cornelius (first team) and Grace Roberts Burbank (second team).
* Grace Roberts Burbank leads the team in kills per set (2.41), while Maclaine Fields leads the squad in hitting percentage (.314).
* Defensively, Anna Uhr leads the team with 3.48 digs per set.
* Freshmen setters Bella Almanza and Grace Varsames average 6.33 and 3.84 assists per set, respectively.
 
THE SERIES VS. DARTMOUTH: Cornell's series with Dartmouth began in 1981 and the Big Red has dominated from the beginning, winning the first 13 meetings before falling to the Big Green for the first time on Oct. 12, 1996. Cornell owns a 42-18 record in the all-time series after splitting their two meetings in each of the past two seasons.
 
SCOUTING THE BIG GREEN: After losing its first three matches of the season, Dartmouth has won five of its last eight, including its Ivy League opener over Harvard, 3-2, last weekend to improve to 5-6 overall and 1-0 in the conference.
* Freshman Nichole Liddle leads the team and ranks second in the Ivy League with 3.19 kills per set, while classmate Francesca Meldrum ranks second in the conference in hitting percentage (.363).
* Defensively, Zoe Leonard leads the team with 4.00 digs per set.
* Setters Annemarie Horn and Corinne Cox average 5.03 and 4.78 assists per set, respectively.
 
THE HEAD COACH: Trudy Vande Berg, the 2017 Ivy League Coach of the Year, is in her fourth season as The Wendy Schaenen '79 Head Coach Of Volleyball at Cornell (36-46, .439) ... Vande Berg became the 11th head coach in Cornell volleyball history in March 2015 after spending three seasons as the Big Red's top assistant coach ... Prior to her time at Cornell, Vande Berg spent time as an assistant coach at North Florida, Duke, and Iowa State and as a volunteer assistant at Wisconsin. She also served as head coach of the Team Iowa Ice professional club in the Premier Volleyball League, where she guided the team to the championship in her second year at the helm.
 
MOVING UP: The following Big Red are moving up the Cornell rankings …
* Jenna Phelps – 17th in Total Blocks (206); 18th in Block Assists (183); 24th in Service Aces (71); 26th in Block Solos (23).
* Carla Sganderlla – 17th in Kills (633)
* Jada Stackhouse – 27th in Block Assists (121)
* Zoe Chamness – 16th in Assists (670)
* Lauren Donnelly – 19th in Assists (277)
* Katie Randolph – 20th in Assists (263)
 
NCAA TEAM RANKINGS: As a team, Cornell entered the week ranked among the top 100 in the NCAA …
* Team Attacks – 42nd (37.23)
* Opponent Hitting Percentage – 51st (.168)
* Digs Per Set – 68th (16.07)
* Kills per set – 96th (13.11)
 
NCAA INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS: The following Big Red players entered the week ranked …
* Lily Barber – 105th – Digs per Set (4.43)
* Jenna Phelps – 130th – Hitting Percentage (.335)
* Jenna Phelps – 186th – Blocks per Set (1.03)
* Jada Stackhouse – 245th – Blocks per Set (0.98)
 
IVY RANKINGS: Cornell is ranked in the top half of the Ivy League rankings in …
* Hitting Percentage (fourth – .200)
* Opponent Hitting Percentage (second – .168)
* Assists per set (fourth – 12.20)
* Kills per set (fourth – 13.11)
* Blocks per set (fourth – 2.01)
* Digs per set (fourth – 16.07)
 
INDIVIDUAL IVY RANKINGS: Cornell has players ranked in …
* Hitting Percentage – Jenna Phelps (third – .335); Jada Stackhouse (12th – .281); Carla Sganderlla (16th – .231); Jillienne Bennett (20th – .220)
* Kills per set – Carla Sganderlla (fifth – 3.27); Avery Hanan (16th – 2.55)
* Assists per set – Zoe Chamness (eighth – 6.23)
* Service Aces per set – Lily Barber (14th – 0.27); Natalie Danenhauer (17th – 0.26)
* Blocks per set – Jenna Phelps (fifth – 1.03)
* Digs per set – Lily Barber (sixth – 4.43)
 
PRESEASON POLL:  Cornell was picked to finish fourth overall with 79 points in the 2018 Ivy League Volleyball Preseason Media Poll.
* The Big Red came in behind third-place Harvard (97 points). Cornell and the Crimson tied for third in the conference standings in 2017, the highest finish for Cornell since 2006.
* Princeton (135 points) was picked to win its fourth-straight Ivy League title, edging second-place Yale by just 15 points.
* Rounding out the poll were Penn with 68 points, Columbia with 49 points, Dartmouth with 48 points and Brown with 20 points.
 
SEASON OPENERS: Cornell is 28-16-1 all-time in season openers. Since 1995, the Big Red is an impressive 15-7 after defeating Buffalo in the first match of the 2018 season.
 
THE CORNELL INVITATIONAL: For the second year in a row, the Big Red finished second to St. John's in the Cornell Invitational. Both years, the two teams posted identical records of 2-1, with the Red Strom winning the title by virtue of set win percentage.
 
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMS:
* Lily Barber was named to both the Cornell Invitational and the Crusader Classic All-Tournament Teams.
* Carla Sganderlla was also named to the Cornell Invitational All-Tournament Team along with Barber.
* Jenna Phelps was named to the Flo Hyman Collegiate Cup All-Tournament Team.
 
TICKLE THE ALL-IVY: Trudy Vande Berg was voted the 2017 Ivy League Coach of the Year by her peers after leading the Big Red to its best season in more than a decade. In addition to Vande Berg, Kiley McPeek (first-team), Jenna Phelps (second-team), and Kit McCarty (honorable mention) were also named to the All-Ivy team.
 
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: Madison Baptiste, Kelly Behrbaum, Jillienne Bennett, Avery Hanan, Blake Hollis, and Casey Justus have joined the Big Red for the upcoming 2018 season. The six student-athletes all hail from different states, and the group consists of two pin hitters, two middle blockers, one right side hitter, and one outside hitter.
 
HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE: Ten new members, including volleyball great Joanna Weiss, have been selected for induction into the Cornell University Athletics Hall of Fame at the 41st annual ceremonies to be held Saturday, Sept. 22 on the Cornell campus. Weiss was a two-time first-team All-Ivy League selection and is one of just two Big Red athletes to be named to the AVCA All-Northeast Region team, earning honorable mention honors as a senior. The school's career leader in hitting percentage (.384), she ranks in the top 10 in blocks per set (second, 1.29), block assists (sixth, 262) and blocks (ninth, 297) and among the top 20 in kills, kills per set, solo blocks, points and points per set.
 
RECAPPING 2017: Vande Berg was voted the 2017 Ivy League Coach of the Year by her peers after leading the Big Red to its best season in more than a decade. Cornell finished the year with a 12-11 record overall and a mark of 8-6 in the Ivy League, tied with Harvard for third place in the conference standings. The eight Ivy League wins were the most for Cornell since the 2006 season, which was also the last time the Big Red finished in third place in the conference. The team posted a 9-1 record in Newman Arena, the most home wins in a season since 2006, and the best winning percentage since the 2005 squad was a perfect 12-0 in Ithaca. Under Vande Berg's guidance, Cornell lead the Ivy League in digs per set and ranked in the top half of the conference in opponent hitting percentage (second), assists (second), kills (second), blocks (third) and service aces (third).
 
UP NEXT: The Big Red wraps up its four-game home-stand when it welcomes Brown and Yale to Newman Arena next weekend. Cornell will take on the Bears on Friday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. and the Bulldogs on Saturday, Oct. 6 at 5 p.m.