HOUSTON – The Cornell volleyball team picked up a 3-0 win over Lamar in the first match of Houston's Flo Hyman Collegiate Cup. The Big Red won in straight sets – 25-19, 25-12, 25-22. With the win, Cornel improves to 3-1 on the season.
 
Cornell hit a blistering .329 for the match with five different players registering at least five kills. Freshman Madison Baptiste led the pack with eight kills, while Samanta Arenas finished with seven. Baptist's eight kills came on just 10 attempts with one error (.700) and both Carla Sganderlla (6-1-9) and Kara Rogers (6-1-10) finished above .500.
 
Junior setter Katie Randolph handed out a career-high 24 assists and senior Natalie Danenhauer finished with a team-high six digs to go along with four service aces.
 
Lamar (2-5) was led by Tomar Thomas' seven kills.
 
The first set was evenly played early-on but with Lamar holding a slim 12-9 lead the Big Red embarked on an 8-2 run, thanks to Jada Stackhouse and Jenna Phelps coming up big in the middle to take control of the set. The Cardinals fought back to pull within one, 20-19, but Cornell scored the final five points to secure the 25-19 victory.
 
The Big Red carried that momentum into the second set and built a 7-1 lead behind the strong serving of Danenhauer. Lamar answered with a run of its own to pull within three points, 8-5, but that was as good as it got for the Cardinals, as Cornell scored five of the next six points and rolled to the 25-12 win.
 
Cornell used another strong start to take a 5-1 leads early in the third set. The Big Red eventually pushed its advantage to 20-13 before the Cardinals began to battle back. Lamar made it a contest, pulling within two at 23-21 but Cornell held on for the 25-22 victory.
 
The Big Red is back in action tonight when it takes on the host Cougars at 8 p.m.