SAN FRANCISCO – After sweeping Utah State this afternoon, the Cornell women's volleyball team (4-2) picked up their second win of the day this evening, downing San Francisco, 3-1 (16-25, 25-14, 25-21, 25-17), in the finale of the Bay Area Invitational Saturday at the Sobrato Center in San Francisco.
Both of today's wins were milestones for the Big Red volleyball program, with its 3-0 victory over Utah State marking the first win over a Mountain West school in program history, and the win over San Francisco marking the first time the Big Red had ever beaten the Dons.
The trio of Avery Hanan (12), Jillienne Bennett (11), and Jenna Phelps (10) fueled the Big Red attack, as all three notched double-digit kills. Hanan's and Phelps' hitting percentages were even more impressive, as the pair hit .588 and .714, respectively, on the night.
Bennett and Phelps also added two block assists a piece, but Jada Stackhouse once again led the Big Red blocking brigade. Stackhouse was a menace at the net, registering a game-high eight block assists to go along with seven kills. For their efforts, Stackhouse and Phelps both earned a spot on the Bay Area Invitational All-Tournament team.
Zoe Chamness and Emma Worthington continue to make quite the passing duo, tallying 21 and 19 assists, respectively, in the Big Red win. Lily Barber continued to work her magic from the back row, notching a team-high 13 digs.
Tonight's win was all about perseverance for the Big Red, who found themselves trailing to start each of the first three sets. Cornell opened set one in a 3-0 hole, but Bennett responded, scoring the first Big Red point of the match on a kill and adding a second kill two plays later to bring the score to 4-2 after both teams traded a pair of serving errors.
The Dons continued to control the flow of the game in the first set, but Hanan provided a spark off the bench, registering a kill and a block on back-to-back plays to keep Cornell within striking distance early. After a Phelps kill several plays later, Cornell would find themselves trailing, 9-6. Despite Cornell's fight, the Dons would score five straight points in the middle part of the set to extend their lead to 16-9. This run was too much for the Big Red to overcome, as they would drop set one, 25-16.
San Francisco got on the board first in set two as well, notching the first two points before Phelps and Hanan recorded a kill a piece to even things up, 2-2. The ensuing points were very back-and-forth, featuring nine ties and five lead changes as the score progressed to 10-10. Phelps and Hanan came up big over this time span, and with the score knotted at 10, Phelps notched two kills and Hanan chipped in one of her own to bring the score to 12-11. The momentum continued to build for the Big Red, as Barber notched a service ace on the next play and forced a San Francisco timeout.
The Dons scored the first point out of the timeout, but Cornell would take the next three on a Hanan kill, Stackhouse kill, and Stackhouse and Bennett block assist. With the score pushed to 16-12, San Francisco took another timeout, but there was no stopping the Big Red. A Dons attack error and two Bennett kills extended the lead to 19-12. Fueled by Bennett's four kills in set two, Cornell would go on to win the frame, 25-14.
San Francisco once again got out to an early advantage over Cornell in set three, finding themselves with a 4-1 lead. At this point, the Big Red flipped a switch, scoring four of the next five points to even the score at 5-5. This run was driven by Samanta Arenas, who accounted for two kills and teamed up with Stackhouse for a block assist.
The Big Red and Dons again found themselves in a back-and-forth battle, and it wasn't until the score hit 16-16 that Cornell began to create separation. After a pair of kills from Bennett and a third from Stackhouse, the Big Red held a 20-17 advantage. The Dons would come storming back, however, bringing the score within one in the ensuing plays. With the score at 22-21, Cornell would put its foot down, scoring the last three points to take set three, 25-21. Not surprisingly, it was Hanan who secured the final point for Cornell, as her spectacular night continued.
The Big Red took care of business fast in set four. Hanan and Stackhouse completely took over the first part of the set, recording three kills a piece and forcing a San Francisco timeout with the score at 9-4. Cornell would go on to score the next three points out of the timeout and would not look back. The Big Red rolled to victory in set four, 25-17, taking the match, 3-1.
The Cornell women's volleyball team will be back in action next weekend when they compete in the Buffalo Invitational on Sept. 20-21 in Buffalo, New York.
