ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell volleyball team (15-4, 8-2) came out and took care of business on Saturday evening, securing a season sweep of Penn after beating the Quakers, 3-0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-17), at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y.
Cornell dominated from the onset of the match and played strong throughout, never allowing the Quakers to catch their footing. As a team, the Big Red hit .333 while holding Penn to a .085 hitting percentage for the match. The Big Red came at the Quakers from every angle, and it showed, as five different Cornell student-athletes notched at least six kills.
A night after collecting a career-best 23 kills against Princeton, it was once again Madison Baptiste that led the Big Red attack, tallying a match-high 12 kills to go along with a .440 hitting percentage and 13 digs. The sophomore outside hitter has come into her own over the last several matches, posting three double-doubles over the last five matches.
The victory on Saturday, however, was a total team effort, as Joanna Chang (8 kills), Jada Stackhouse (7 kills), Jenna Phelps (6 kills), and Paige Becker (6 kills) all made their presence known. With so many different weapons, the Quakers were constantly off-guard. Becker, Chang, and Stackhouse were just as impressive on the defensive side of the ball, all notching three block assists. Stackhouse also added a solo block.
Emma Worthington and Zoe Chamness have shared the setting responsibilities for the Big Red all season, but there is one thing that they have in common – they both put their attackers in a position to succeed. Worthington (20) and Chamness (14) combined for 34 of the Big Red's 42 assists on Saturday night. Barber added seven assists, in addition to 13 digs.
Sophomore outside hitter Kelly Behrbaum provided a spark off of the bench for Cornell, recording a pair of kills for the Big Red in the third set.
With the victory, Cornell picked up its 15th win of the season, surpassing its win total from last year and marking the most wins for the Big Red since the 2006 season when Cornell won 18 matches. The Big Red improves to 8-2 in conference play, and after all of the weekend action in the Ivy League, Cornell sits in a tie for second place with Yale.
This sets up a huge match at Newman Arena next weekend, as the Big Red returns to action and hosts Yale on Friday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. in Ithaca, N.Y. Cornell will play its final home match of the season against Brown on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 5 p.m. The contest against Brown will serve as the Big Red's senior day.
