PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Cornell volleyball team continues to blow past anyone who is in its path, and Brown was the Big Red's latest victim, as Cornell downed the Bears, 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-14) on Friday night at the Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence, R.I.
The Big Red has been building momentum since the opening weeks of the season and is picking up speed, improving to 13-2 overall and 6-0 in Ivy League play with Friday night's victory. Cornell has now won 11 straight matches and eight of its 13 victories have been 3-0 sweeps.
Cornell was once again led by the sophomore duo of Madison Baptiste and Jillienne Bennett, who play with the poise and confidence of upperclassmen. The pair combined for 25 of Cornell's 46 kills, as Baptiste tallied 13 and Bennett notched 12. Baptiste and Bennett also posted solid hitting percentages, hitting .281 and .370, respectively, and helping the Big Red out-hit Brown .330 to .197 for the game.
The Big Red made its presence known at the net, out-blocking Brown 8.0 to 2.0 for the match. Led by Jada Stackhouse's match-high six block assists, Cornell recorded 16 block assists as compared to Brown's four. Stackhouse also chipped in five kills and an assist.
Lily Barber held down the back row, recording a match-high 14 digs to go along with seven assists and a match-high three service aces. After tonight, the senior is just seven digs away from amassing 1,000 for her career.
Alena Madar stepped into the line-up tonight seamlessly, making her first career start. The junior defended the net well, also notching one kill.
Both teams were neck-and-neck in the first set, as the opening frame featured 15 ties and eight lead changes. With the score tied at 15-15, Cornell created some separation after kills from Bennett and Stackhouse, forcing a Brown timeout with the score at 17-15 in favor of the Big Red. Brown would respond, scoring four of the next five points out of the timeout to take a 19-18 lead. Cornell then posted a run of its own, scoring four of the next five points to reclaim a 22-20 lead. From there, Cornell did not look back, going on to win the first set, 25-22. Baptiste came up big in the closing points of the opening stanza, recording a crucial kill and capping off the set with a service ace. She led the Big Red in the first set with four kills, while Avery Hanan and Bennett chipped in three kills apiece.
Set two was more of the same, featuring 14 ties and eight lead changes. With Cornell trailing 11-10, the Big Red scored three straight points to take a 13-11 advantage and force a Brown timeout. While it seemed as if the Big Red were about to set themselves apart once again, Brown scored three straight points out of the timeout to take a 14-13 advantage. It was then that Cornell flipped a switch, scoring three of the next four points to go back up, 16-15. A pair of Joanna Chang kills pushed the Big Red lead to 20-17, and the Big Red rolled from that point forward, winning set two, 25-20.
The second set featured a well-balanced Big Red attack, as five different Cornell athletes recorded at least one kill. Baptiste, Hanan, and Bennett carried the majority of the Big Red load, capturing 11 of the Big Red's 16 kills in the second set.
The third set opened with Brown scoring three of the first four points to take a 3-1 lead. Cornell came storming back, scoring the next four points to go up 5-3 and force Brown to burn an early timeout. Cornell's reign continued out of the timeout, as the Big Red scored seven of the next nine points to extend its lead to 12-5. Cornell was commanding in the third, out-hitting Brown .467 to .125 to win the set, 25-14, and the match, 3-0.
The Big Red will be back in action tomorrow when it travels to New Haven, Conn. to face Yale in an Ivy League matchup. First serve is set for 5 p.m.
