ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell volleyball team played its final two matches of the Cornell Invitational on Saturday, bouncing back from a 3-2 (25-18, 14-25, 23-25, 25-17, 8-15) loss to Niagara with a sweep of Bucknell, 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-14), in the night cap at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y. The Big Red, who finished second in the tournament, improve to 3-3 on the season after downing the Bison.
Senior middle blocker Casey Justus and freshman libero Jackie Baker both earned spots on the All-Tournament team after helping Cornell to a second place finish in the tournament. This marks Justus' second-straight All-Tournament team selection after being named to the Crowne Plaza Albany – The Desmond Hotel Volleyball Classic All-Tournament team last weekend.
Justus was one of the guiding factors in the Big Red's sweep of Bucknell, notching a match-high 11 kills to go along with a .476 hitting percentage. Baker was a mainstay at libero, recording six digs and two service aces against the Bison after accruing a career-best 19 digs and career-high eight assists in Cornell's loss to Niagara.
UNLV was named the Cornell Invitational champion after not dropping a set all weekend. The Rebels' Kate Brennan was tabbed the tournament MVP. UNLV's Mariena Hayden and Lauryn Burt and Niagara's Amanda Darling rounded out the All-Tournament team.
The Big Red attacked Bucknell with confidence en route to the 3-0 victory, amassing 42 kills as opposed to the Bison's 29 and outhitting Bucknell, .292 to .113. In addition to Justus, Joanna Chang also notched double-digit kills with 10 and has now notched at least 10 kills in four of the six contests that Cornell has played so far this season.
Worthington collected a match-high 30 assists and 10 digs for her fifth double-double in six games against Bucknell, while also recording the match-high in assists (41), as well as a career-best in digs (26), against Niagara.
Kate Stration and Camryn Carlo were key players in the Big Red's victory over Bucknell, with Stration notching a team-high 11 digs, matching her career-best. Carlo, who made her collegiate debut against Niagara earlier in the day, settled in against the Bison, posting eight kills and a match-high three block assists.
Alexa Orent and Jordan Quinones saw their first collegiate action against Bucknell, while Brooke Cooper did against Niagara. Cooper recorded five kills against the Purple Eagles.
Chang paced Cornell in its 3-2 loss to Niagara, posting 11 kills and 10 digs to go with a pair of aces. Madison Baptiste had a team-high 12 kills for the Big Red.
Cornell took control in the middle of the first set to take the opener, and Niagara never trailed past the first point of the second set. The Big Red held a 21-19 lead in the third, but service and attack errors fueled the Purple Eagles' rally to take a 2-1 advantage in the match.
A seven-point run in the fourth helped Cornell force a fifth, but Niagara immediately jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the deciding set and held on to win.
The Cornell volleyball team will finish out its nonconference slate next weekend when it travels to Durham, North Carolina to compete in the Duke Invitational. The Big Red will play a pair of matches against LIU at 12 p.m. and North Carolina Central at 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 17 before squaring off against the host Blue Devils at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 18.
