ITHACA, N.Y. - The wait is almost over for the Cornell volleyball team, as it will return to competition for the first time since 2019 when it competes in the Crowne Plaza Albany - The Desmond Hotel Volleyball Classic, hosted by UAlbany, on Sept. 3-4 at SEFCU Arena in Albany, N.Y.

Game Information:

Cornell vs. St. John's
DATE/TIME: Friday, Sept. 3, 2021 at 4 p.m.
SITE: SEFCU Arena - Albany, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 0-0, 0-0 Ivy League / St. John's 0-3, 0-0 Big East
BROADCAST: AE.TV
STATS: ualbanysports.com
GAME NOTES

Cornell vs. Colgate
DATE/TIME: Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021 at 11 a.m.
SITE: SEFCU Arena - Albany, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 0-0, 0-0 Ivy League / Colgate 0-2, 0-0 Patriot League
BROADCAST: AE.TV
STATS: ualbanysports.com
GAME NOTES

Cornell at UAlbany
DATE/TIME: Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021 at 7 p.m.
SITE: SEFCU Arena - Albany, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 0-0, 0-0 Ivy League / UAlbany 2-2, 0-0 America East
BROADCAST: AE.TV
STATS: ualbanysports.com
GAME NOTES

What's on Tap:

•   For the first time since 2019, the Cornell volleyball team will return to action when it competes in the Crowne Plaza Albany - The Desmond Hotel Volleyball Classic, hosted by UAlbany, at SEFCU Arena in Albany, N.Y. 
•   The Big Red will open its season against St. John's on Friday at 4 p.m. before playing a pair of matches against Colgate (11 a.m.) and host UAlbany (7 p.m.) on Saturday. Tickets will be required for entry to all games and are being sold on a daily basis. For example, a Friday ticket will grant access to all Friday contests of the tournament, and the same holds true for Saturday.
•   All three of the Big Red's contests this weekend will be streamed live on the America East conference's television platform, AE.TV (http://americaeast.tv/).

About The Big Red:

•   The Big Red posted its best season since 2006 in 2019 before the cancelation of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, notching a 17-6 overall record, including an 8-4 mark in Ivy League play.
•   The team's 17 wins in 2019 were the most for Cornell since the team won 18 matches in 2006. 
•   Cornell has finished third in the Ivy League in each of the last three seasons in which it has competed. (2017, 2018, 2019). This stretch has marked the best seasons for the Big Red since the team won three conference titles followed by a second place finish from 2003-06.
•   Cornell has been selected to finish third once again in 2021, per the Ivy League 
Preseason Poll. 2019 Ivy League co-champions Yale and Princeton were predicted to be the top-two teams in the league in 2021, with Yale being chosen as the preseason 
favorite to win the conference and Princeton being chosen second.

The Landscape:

•   The Big Red returns seven upperclassmen from the 2021 roster, including seniors 
Madison Baptiste, Jillienne Bennett, Avery Hanan, and Casey Justus and juniors Joanna Chang, Evan Reich, and Emma Worthington. 
•   Jillienne Bennett and Madison Baptiste both earned All-Ivy accolades in 2019, with Bennett being tabbed first team All-Ivy and Baptiste receiving second team distinction.
•   Bennett ranked second on the Big Red in blocks and third in kills and points in 2019, while posting a .306 hitting percentage. She helped Cornell record the second-highest team single-season hitting percentage (.261) in program history.
•   Madison Baptiste and Joanna Chang serve as dual threats, making an impact in the back row and at the net. Baptiste led the Big Red in kills (205), kills per set (2.81), and points per set (3.07), while ranking second in digs and digs per set in 2019.
•   Chang owned Cornell's best receiving percentage in 2019, committing only 17 errors on 340 attempts, while ranking third on the team in digs per set and kills per set. She was a serving threat as well, sitting second on the team in aces and ranking third in the Ivy League in aces per set at the conclusion of the season.
•   Setter Emma Worthington returns after serving as one of the team's two primary 
setters and leading the team in assists (511) in 2019. After her freshman campaign alone, she already ranks 18th in Cornell history in career assists.
•   The remaining 10 student-athletes on the Big Red roster will be making their collegiate debuts, as the sophomore class of Rylee Baptiste, Sydney Moore, Alexa Orent, and Kate Stration didn't have the opportunity to in 2020.
•   Freshmen Jackie Baker, Megan Bickel, Camryn Carlo, Brooke Cooper, Sammie Engel, and Jordan Quinones will also suit up for Cornell for the first time.
•   The 2021 Cornell roster features a sister act in senior outside hitter Madison Baptiste and sophomore setter Rylee Baptiste.

Head Coach Trudy Vande Berg:

•   Trudy Vande Berg is now in her seventh season as the Wendy Schaenen '79 Head Coach of Volleyball at Cornell, owning a 61-57 record in her first six seasons.
•   The 2017 Ivy League Coach of the Year, Vande Berg has helped establish the Big Red as a top-tier team in the Ivy League, as Cornell has finished third in each of the last three seasons in which it has competed from 2017-19.
•   Vande Berg will be assisted by associate head coach Caitlin Mahoney Hager and assistant coach Aaron DeKalb. Hager was promoted from assistant to associate head coach prior to the 2020 season after seven successful seasons on staff. DeKalb returns to the sideline in 2021 for his second coaching stint with the Big Red, having also been on staff with Vande Berg and Hager as an assistant from 2016-18. He most recently served as an assistant coach at the University of Mary for two seasons.

About St. John's:

•   St. John's opened its season last weekend at the UCF Invitational, dropping all three of its contests 3-0, but to fierce competition. The Red Storm faced a pair of ranked opponents, the first being then-No. 12 Penn State on Aug. 27, before falling to UCF and then-No. 24 Georgia Tech on Aug. 28.
•   The Red Storm return the reigning Big East Player of the Year in senior outside hitter Efrosini Alexakou, who was recently named the conference's Preseason Player of the Year for the second-straight year.
•   Rachele Rastelli joined Alexakou on the All-Big East Preseason Team after leading the Big East in kills and points in 2020 en route to unanimous All-Big East honors.
•   The Red Storm were picked to finish third this season in the Big East Preseason Coaches' Poll.

The Series vs. St. John's:

•   Friday's match between the Big Red and Red Storm will be the sixth meeting between the two schools, with St. John's leading the
all-time series 4-1.
•   St. John's swept Cornell, 3-0, the last time the two teams met when the Big Red hosted the Red Storm in the Cornell Invitational on Sept. 1, 2018.
•   Cornell is 13-16 all-time against current Big East opponents.

About Colgate:

•   Colgate opened its season last weekend at Nebraska's Husker Invitational, losing a pair of matches to power-five opponents Kansas State (3-1) and then-No. 5 Nebraska (3-0) on Aug. 27.
•   Colgate returns reigning two-time Patriot League Player of the Year and first team All-Patriot League performer Alli Lowe, who was also named the conference's Preseason Player of the Year.
•   Lowe, along with Julia Kurowski, earned spots on the Preseason All-Patriot League team. Kurowski is also a two-time first team All-League selection and was named the 2020-21 Patriot League Setter of the Year.
•   Colgate was chosen as the favorite to win the Patriot League this year in the 
conference's preseason poll.

The Series vs. Colgate:

•   Cornell and Colgate have a long-standing history of playing each other, with the Big Red holding a 55-30-1 series advantage dating all the way back to Cornell's inaugural volleyball season in 1972.
•   The Big Red have faced the Raiders more times than any other opponent in program history.
•   For as many times as the Big Red and Raiders have faced off, its been four years since the two teams met, with Colgate sweeping the last meeting, 3-0, on Sept. 16, 2017 in Hamilton, N.Y.
•   Cornell has a history of success against Patriot League opponents, holding a 90-43-1 record.

About UAlbany:

•  UAlbany already has four matches under its belt, having played in a tournament at Syracuse on Aug. 27-28 and playing a mid-week tilt at Marist on Tuesday. 
• The Great Danes went 1-2 in Syracuse's tournament, losing a five-set nail biter to UConn, 3-2, on Aug. 27 before splitting a pair of contest on Aug. 28. UAlbany swept Buffalo, 3-0, before being swept by the host Orange, 3-0.
• UAlbany defeated Marist on the road in four, 3-1, on Tuesday to improve to 2-2.
• The Great Danes were chosen to finish first this season in the America East in the 2021 America East Preseason Coaches' Poll.

The Series vs. UAlbany:

•   The Big Red has been dominant over the years against the Great Danes, holding an 8-0 all-time series record.
•  The two teams last met in 2014 when the Big Red once again emerged victorious by a score of 3-1 on Sept. 21, 2014 in Syracuse, N.Y.
•  The Big Red has taken care of America East opponents over the years, holding a 43-13-2 mark over those currently in the conference.

Up Next:

•  The Big Red will open its home slate when it hosts the Cornell Invitational on Sept. 10-11. Cornell will take on UNLV on Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. before playing a pair of matches against Niagara at 11 a.m. and Bucknell at 5 p.m. on Sept. 11 at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y.