ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell volleyball team held its own against UNLV in the Big Red's opening game of the Cornell Invitational, pushing UNLV to the limit in the first two sets before ultimately falling to the Rebels, 3-0 (23-25, 23-25, 14-25), on Friday night at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y.

The Big Red were led offensively by junior outside hitter Joanna Chang, who notched eight kills. Senior outside hitter Madison Baptiste and sophomore middle blocker Sydney Moore each added seven kills, while senior right side hitter Jillienne Bennett added six. Moore exuded efficiency, collecting her career-high seven kills on just 11 attempts for a .545 hitting percentage. Moore and Bennett also led the Big Red at the net, with Moore notching three block assists and Bennett tallying two solo blocks and two block assists.

Emma Worthington made an impact for the Big Red in multiple facets of the game, recording a match-high 24 assists, team-high 14 digs, and match-high three service aces, while notching a solo block and block assist.

Worthington was a big reason why Cornell was right in the second set. With the Big Red trailing 19-15 in the second, Worthington helped the Big Red chip back in, notching a solo block and a service ace on back-to-back plays to cut the Rebels' lead to 19-17. These two points were part of a run in which the Big Red scored five of six points to knot the score at 20-20 and force a UNLV timeout. Out of the timeout, a Bennett kill gave the Big Red a 21-20 advantage. The set was now anyone's game, and with the score tied up at 22-22, a kill by UNLV's Gabrielle Arretche-Ramos gave the Rebels a 23-22 lead. Chang stepped up to the plate on the next point, putting down a kill to knot the score up again, 23-23. UNLV would put it away, however, scoring the next two points to win the second set, 25-23.

The Big Red also showed grit in the first set. Facing a 13-5 deficit, Moore made her presence known, recording a kill and teaming up with Bennett for one of her three team-high block assists to help bring the score to 14-7. Moore remained a threat, and after a Chang kill, Bennett and Moore teamed up at the net once again to cut the Rebels lead to 15-9.

Cornell continued to hang around, and with the score at 19-15, a Baptiste kill and another Worthington service ace cut the Rebel's lead to two, 19-17. UNLV re-extended the lead to 21-17, but Cornell once again fought back. An UNLV service error and yet another Bennett block cut the score to two again, 21-19. UNLV's two-point advantage stayed steady until the score was 24-22, and with the Big Red facing set point, Worthington and Casey Justus closed a block to cut things to one, 24-23. The Big Red were unable to get over the hump, however, falling 25-23.

The Cornell volleyball team, who fell to 2-2 with the loss, will look to get back in the win column tomorrow when it plays a pair of matches against Niagara at 11 a.m. and Bucknell at 5 p.m. at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y.