ITHACA, N.Y. – The Big Red volleyball team earned a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Harvard this evening in Newman Arena to improve to 7-5 on the year and 2-0 in the Ivy League. The teams split the first two sets with Cornell winning the first, 25-20, before the Crimson earned its lone win, 25-21. The Big Red took the third set, 25-19, and won the fourth decisively, 25-17.
 
"Every set was really tight until about 13 or 14 points," said Trudy Vande Berg, The Wendy Schaenen '79 Head Coach Of Volleyball. "There were lots of ties and lead changes, but I was just so proud of how we stayed calm and kept pushing until they began to break down in certain things."
 
Carla Sganderlla finished with 22 kills and was joined by Avery Hanan with 12 as the only Big Red in double-digits.
 
"Carla did a great job of dissecting the Harvard defense," said Vande Berg.
 
Jenna Phelps was extremely efficient, with six kills and no errors on 15 attempts (.400) to go along with nine block assists. As a team, Cornell posted 16 total blocks, with Jillienne Bennett (one solo), Jada Stackhouse, Avery (one solo), and Kara Rogers posting four blocks apiece.
 
"I think our blocking scheme really limited their middles," said Vande Berg. "We did a great job of being disciplined, even in the long rallies, making sure our block was right there waiting on them. I think in the third and fourth set we also started to serve really tough and that got Harvard out of system, which picked up our blocks. We had 16 blocks as a team and Jenna had nine! She was incredible tonight."
 
Behind the blocks, Lily Barber posted a match-high 15 digs, while Zoe Chamness finished with 10.  Chamness also tallied 29 assists, while Katie Randolph finished with 14.
 
Harvard (5-6, 0-2 Ivy) hit just .075 percent as a team. Mindie Mabry had a team-high 10 kills, while Christina Cornelius and Sope Adeleye finished with eight apiece. The Crimson's top offensive player, Grace Roberts Burbank, was held to a negative hitting percentage (-.111) with just four kills.
 
"Kara has always had a lot of success blocking Burbank, and she had four blocks tonight on her, so that was a key match-up for us," said Vande Berg.
 
Cornell is back in action tomorrow night when it welcomes Dartmouth to Newman Arena for a contest at 5 p.m. The game will be Special Olympics Night as the program welcomes Special Olympics Athletes from the Southern Tier Region.