ITHACA, N.Y. – On the Cornell volleyball team's Senior Day at Newman Arena, it was only fitting that it was seniors Jillienne Bennett, Casey Justus, Avery Hanan, and Madison Baptiste who teamed up to lead the team to victory in the final home match of their careers, as the Big Red swept Harvard, 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-21), on Saturday evening in Ithaca, N.Y.
The quartet of seniors combined for 25 of Cornell's 35 kills on the day, helping the Big Red out-hit Harvard .238 to .105 for the match. Justus and Bennett notched seven kills apiece, hitting an impressive .389 and .263, respectively. Hanan and M. Baptiste both tallied six kills, and junior Joanna Chang recorded seven kills of her own.
The brigade of Big Red seniors, along with Chang, also fueled Cornell's blocking game, accounting for 10 of the Big Red's 12 blocks and helping Cornell record 6.0 blocks on the match as compared to Harvard's 4.0. Justus notched the match-high with four blocks, with Hanan (3) and Chang (2) each closing multiple blocks. M. Baptiste secured a block of her own, and sophomore Sydney Moore notched a pair of blocks.
It was the serving game, however, where the Big Red absolutely put Harvard away. The Crimson simply couldn't handle the Cornell serve, as the Big Red poured in 11 aces to Harvard's one. The 11 aces is the second-most for a team in a 3-set match in the Ivy League this season. Chang (3), Justus (2), and junior Emma Worthington (2) all made Harvard pay more than once with multiple service aces.
The Crimson made the decision to repeatedly go to libero Megan Bickel on the serve, and it was a mistake. The freshman played with poise, not making a single reception error on 40 attempts and adding nine digs and four assists.
Sophomore Rylee Baptiste and Worthington shared the setting responsibilities, with R. Baptiste notching a match-high 15 assists and Worthington adding 12. R. Baptiste added double-digit digs as well with 11 for the first double-double of her collegiate career. It was none other than her sister M. Baptiste that was the other Big Red player with double-digit digs with 11. Together, the sisters accounted for half of the team's digs in the contest.
The first set victory for Cornell was key in building momentum for the match, with the turning point in the first set coming when Harvard had built a five-point lead, 16-11. It was at that point that the Big Red flipped the switch, scoring six-straight points to take a 17-16 lead. Four different Cornell players put down kills in the run, including Bennett, Justus, Hanan, and Chang. Harvard tried to copy the Big Red with a 3-0 run of its own to claim a 19-17 advantage, but in a set of runs, the Big Red responded. Five-consecutive Cornell points gave the Big Red a 22-19 lead which it would never relinquish in the first.
The Big Red built a comfortable lead in the second, and Harvard helped the cause, and with the score at 7-7, the Crimson committed four-straight attack errors that allowed the Big Red to take an 11-7 lead. It was Justus and Hanan who put the pressure on Harvard, teaming up for blocks on back-to-back plays to force a Harvard timeout. The Big Red maintained the lead throughout the set, and with the score at 21-16, scored the last four points of the set to go up 2-0 for the match. Kate Stration secured an ace in the run, and Moore notched a kill.
With Harvard leading 10-8 in the third set, the Big Red went on a 5-1 run to take a 13-11 lead. Back-to-back Worthington service aces highlighted the run. The third set would stay close, but Cornell would never trail again. With the score at 17-17, four-straight Big Red points, including a kill from Hanan and a kill and an ace from Chang, gave the Big Red a 21-17 lead that allowed it to go on to a 25-21 third set victory and a sweep of the Crimson for the match.
The Cornell volleyball team (7-13, 3-9) will close out its season next weekend at Penn on Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. and Princeton on Nov. 13 at 5 p.m.
