Jada Stackhouse, Jillienne Bennett, and Madison Baptiste line up at the net in preparation for the next serve during the Cornell Big Red volleyball team's contest against Youngstown State University on Friday, Sept. 6, 2019 in Newman Arena in Ithaca, NY.

Patrick Shanahan/Cornell Athletics

Volleyball Set to Compete in Blue and White Classic

9/17/2019 3:00:00 PM

ITHACA, N.Y. – The Big Red women's volleyball team will play its final non-conference tournament of the season this weekend, as the team is set to compete in the Blue and White Classic, hosted by Buffalo, Friday and Saturday at Alumni Arena in Buffalo, New York.

MATCH INFORMATION

Match #7: Cornell vs. Canisius
Match Time: Friday, Sept. 20, 2019 at 10:30 a.m.
Match Site: Alumni Arena (Buffalo, N.Y.)
Series Record: Cornell leads, 7-1
Last Meeting: Cornell won, 3-1; Sept. 26, 2003
*2019 Records: Cornell (4-2, 0-0 Ivy); Canisius (2-7, 0-0 MAAC)
Live Stats: https://ubbulls.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Live Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QN9Z3qjVe8

Match #8: Cornell at Buffalo
Match Time: Friday, Sept. 20, 2019 at 6:30 p.m.
Match Site: Alumni Arena (Buffalo, N.Y.)
Series Record: Cornell leads, 16-6-1
Last Meeting: Cornell won, 3-2; August 31, 2018
*2019 Records: Cornell (4-2, 0-0 Ivy); Buffalo (2-7, 0-0 MAC)
Live Stats: https://ubbulls.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Live Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FICgNEvJP8

Match #9: Cornell vs. Saint Francis (Pa.)
Match Time: Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019 at 10:30 a.m.
Match Site: Alumni Arena (Buffalo, N.Y.)
Series Record: Cornell leads, 10-1
Last Meeting: Cornell lost, 1-3; Sept. 4, 2010
*2019 Records: Cornell (4-2, 0-0 Ivy); Saint Francis (Pa.) (0-9, 0-0 NEC)
Live Stats: https://ubbulls.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary

*records prior to Friday's contests

THE BLUE AND WHITE CLASSIC:

Cornell will open the Blue and White Classic with a pair of games Friday against Canisius (10:30 a.m.) and host Buffalo (6:30 p.m.) before rounding out the tournament on Saturday against St. Francis (Pa.) at 10:30 a.m.

Live video will be available on YouTube for Cornell's Friday contests against Canisius and Buffalo, while live stats will be available for all three matches. Please refer to the links included, above.

THE SERIES VS. CANISIUS:

The Big Red holds a 7-1 series advantage over the Golden Griffins dating back to 1990. Friday's meeting between the two schools will mark the first in sixteen years, with Cornell downing Canisius, 3-1, the last time the two teams squared off in 2003.

ABOUT CANISIUS:

Canisius enters Friday's contest on a six game losing streak after dropping all three of its contests in back-to-back weekends at St. John's Jack Kaiser Volleyball Classic and Loyola (Md.)'s Charm City Challenge. Senior Cassidy Ceriani earned a spot on the all-tournament team last weekend at the Charm City Challenge after surpassing 3,000 career assists and registering the 42nd double-double of her career in Canisius' final game against Charlotte.

THE SERIES VS. BUFFALO:

Cornell also has a distinct series advantage over Buffalo, holding a 16-6-1 record over the Bulls. In the teams' last meeting at the 2018 Cornell Invitational, the Big Red won a five-set thriller, 3-2, to open the season with a win. Lily Barber had 26 digs in the victory, and Samanta Arenas added 20 to go along with 14 kills.

ABOUT BUFFALO:

Buffalo will be hosting its second home tournament of the season, having also played host to the UB Invite August 30-Sept. 1. The Bulls currently hold a 2-7 record, and are coming off a weekend that saw them fall to California (3-0), Green Bay (3-0) and North Dakota State (3-2) at the NDSU Classic. The Bulls have been led so far this year by seniors Polina Prokudina and Rachel Sanks, who have registered 89 (3.00/set) and 84 (2.74/set) kills, respectively. Lexi Nordmann is also having a solid season, having been named to the NDSU Classic All-Tournament team last week.

THE SERIES VS. SAINT FRANCIS (PA.):

The Big Red owns a commanding 10-1 advantage over Saint Francis going back to 2004. Cornell will look to avenge its only loss to the Red Flash this weekend, having fallen to Saint Francis, 3-1, the last time the two teams faced each other in 2010.

ABOUT SAINT FRANCIS (PA.):

The Red Flash will be seeking its first victory of the season at the Blue and White Classic, having opened the season 0-9. In their most recent outing at the Akron tournament, Saint Francis was swept by Akron, Seton Hall, and Eastern Kentucky.

THE BAY AREA INVITATIONAL:

At last weekend's Bay Area Invitational, the Big Red went 2-1, dropping a five set thriller to St. Mary's (Calif.), 3-2 (25-17, 22-25, 22-25, 26-24, 15-9), before knocking off Utah State, 3-0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-11), and San Francisco, 3-1 (16-25, 25-14, 25-21, 25-17). Cornell's pair of wins each held its own significance, as the Big Red beat a Mountain West school (Utah State) and downed San Francisco for the first time in program history.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM:

Following solid weekends at the Bay Area Invitational, senior middle blockers Jada Stackhouse and Jenna Phelps both earned a spot on the all-tournament team. This honor is the second of the season for Stackhouse, who also was named to the all-tournament team following the Cornell Invitational.

Stackhouse averaged 7.3 kills and 7 block assists per game to go along with a .361 hitting percentage over the three-game tournament. Even more impressive, she set the game-high in blocks in each of Cornell's three contests at the Bay Area Invitational. Phelps averaged 8.5 kills and 1.5 blocks per game in match-ups against St. Mary's (Calif.) and San Francisco, also hitting .626 for the weekend. Phelps currently ranks second in the Ivy League in hitting percentage, coming in at .426 for the season.

BLOCK PARTY:

Led by Stackhouse, who sits second in the Ivy League in blocks (1.35/set), the Big Red are currently the top-blocking team in the conference, registering 47.5 through six games for an average of 2.35/set. Cornell was on fire at the net in its match-up against Utah State this past weekend, notching 24 block assists as compared to the Aggies' four.

WELL-ROUNDED ATTACK:

The Big Red has a variety of weapons this season, as three different student-athletes led Cornell in kills at the Bay Area Invitational. Samanta Arenas led the squad against St. Mary's with 13 kills, Madison Baptiste tallied a game-high 12 kills against Utah State, and Avery Hanan notched a game-high 12 kills against San Francisco.

Cornell's passing game has also proved to be well-rounded, as Emma Worthington (5.74) and Zoe Chamness (5.55) rank sixth and seventh, respectively, in the Ivy League in assists per set.

Lily Barber has been a weapon from the serving line, tallying 12 aces so far this season, a mark which sits third in the Ivy League.

PRESEASON POLL:

After back-to-back third place Ivy League finishes in 2017 and 2018, the Big Red was selected to once again place third in 2019, the Ivy League announced in its preseason poll on August 29. The Big Red, who received a total of 91 points in the preseason poll, are coming off a season that saw the team go 14-10 overall and 9-5 in conference play, posting the most conference wins since the 2008 campaign.

Princeton, who received a league-high 10 first place votes and a total of 120 points, was chosen as the preseason Ivy League favorite. Yale, the 2018 Ivy League Champion, was picked second with five first place votes and 117 points. Harvard received the final first place vote, and was chosen to finish behind Cornell in fourth with 80 points.

A PROGRAM ON THE RISE:

Over the course of the past two years, the Big Red volleyball program has been on the up-and-up, with their back-to-back third place Ivy League finishes marking the best consecutive seasons by Cornell since the program won three straight titles following a second place finish from 2003-06. This season, the team is ready to break through the third place barrier, having their sights set on an Ivy League title.

THE HEAD COACH:

The Big Red is led by Trudy Vande Berg, The Wendy Schaenen '79 Head Coach of Volleyball. Now entering her fifth season (44-51), Vande Berg became the 11th head coach in Cornell volleyball history in March 2015 after spending three years with the Big Red as an assistant coach. The 2017 Ivy League Coach of the Year, Vande Berg has been the guiding force of the Big Red's recent success.

STRENGTH COMES IN NUMBERS:

The Cornell roster is filled with experience and depth, as the squad returns 15 letter winners from 2018, including four All-Ivy League performers. Seniors Samanta Arenas and Jenna Phelps and sophomore Jilliene Bennett will all be faces to watch after earning second team All-Ivy League distinction last year. Senior libero Lily Barber will be a key component of the Big Red defense, coming off of an All-Ivy League Honorable Mention nod in 2018.

FRESH NEW FACES:

Joanna Chang, Riley Hazelrigg, Evan Reich, and Emma Worthington are the newest members of the Cornell volleyball squad, joining the team for the 2019 season. The group, who will make and immediate impact for the Big Red, consists of one pin hitter, one setter, and two defensive specialists.

UP NEXT:

The Big Red will return home to begin Ivy League play against Columbia on Sept. 28 at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y. The game is slated for a 2 p.m. start.

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