NEW YORK – Despite a persistent fight and a marathon third set victory, the Cornell volleyball team fell behind by two sets to Columbia and couldn't complete the comeback, falling to the Lions, 3-1 (17-25, 19-25, 30-28, 22-25) on Saturday afternoon at Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium in New York. The Big Red drops to 4-5 on the season and 0-1 in the Ivy League with the loss.
Madison Baptiste finished the contest with a double-double, racking up a team-high and career-best 20 digs to go along with a team-high 12 kills. Jillienne Bennett also notched double-digit kills, collecting 11 and posting a .312 hitting percentage.
Emma Worthington secured a double-double of her own, her seventh in nine matches this season, with a team-high 20 assists and 14 digs. Libero Jackie Baker was the third and final Big Red student-athlete in the double digit dig column with 13. She also tallied 21 receptions on the day with just a single error.
The Big Red had arguably one of its best performances of the season at the net thus far, posting 11.0 total blocks (four solo, 14 assisted) as compared to Columbia's 5.0 (10 assisted). Sydney Moore led the charge, posting a match-high and collegiate-best six blocks (one solo, five assisted). Bennett, Baptiste, Avery Hanan, and Casey Justus were also forces to be reckoned with at the net, all recording multiple blocks on the day.
Although the Big Red held the advantage in the blocking category, Columbia won the hitting battle, collecting 64 kills as compared to Cornell's 44 and out-hitting the Big Red, .248 - .181. The Lions also held the edge in assists, service aces, and digs, with Columbia's Vanessa Pan having Cornell's number. The junior libero tallied a match-high 31 digs and three service aces, the latter of which was more than the Big Red posted as a team (two).
Columbia controlled much of the first and second sets. With the Lions holding an early 9-6 lead in the first, kills from Brooke Cooper and Baptiste helped the Big Red cut the deficit to one, 10-9. Columbia would put its foot on the gas pedal, however, scoring eight straight points to take an 18-9 lead.
The Big Red would trail by as many as 10 in the first set, 21-11, but continued to fight, scoring four of the next five points, including kills by Cooper and Bennett, to cut the Lions' lead to 22-15. But Cornell just couldn't recover, dropping the first set, 25-17.
Cornell jumped out to a 2-1 lead after a block by Bennett and Moore in the second set, but Columbia quickly harnessed its energy from the first set, scoring four consecutive points to take a 5-2 lead. After the teams alternated service errors on the next three points to bring the score to 6-4 in favor of the Lions, it was Columbia once again, scoring four of the next five points to extend its lead to 10-5.
The Big Red wouldn't go away, and with Columbia holding a 12-7 advantage, Cornell buckled down, scoring six of the next eight points to cut the deficit to one, 14-13. After Columbia clinched the next point, Cornell scored three of the next four to knot things up, 16-16. Blocks on back-to-back plays from Justus and Baptiste and Worthington and Moore had the Big Red in good position.
The tides would turn from here for the Big Red, as Columbia scored three straight points out of its timeout to reclaim a 19-16 lead. Cornell took a timeout of its own to try to reset, but it was to no avail. Columbia scored three of the next four points out of the timeout to take a 22-17 lead and would go on to win the second set, 25-19.
With Cornell now trailing the Lions on the match, 2-0, it was crunch time for the Big Red. The third set would turn out to be a marathon, but the Big Red stayed the course. With the scored tied 6-6 early in the third, Cornell scored four of the next five points to take a 10-7 lead. It was blocking that yielded the advantage once again, with blocks by Moore and Baptiste and Moore and Hanan on back-to-back plays forcing a Columbia timeout with the Big Red leading, 10-7.
Cornell's success continued out of the timeout, as kills by Hanan and Baptiste on the next two points extended the Big Red's lead to 12-7. The Big Red had heavy control of much of the third set, holding a six point advantage and set point, 24-18. Columbia had other ideas, however, fighting off six set points and scoring seven straight to take a 25-24 lead.
A Lions serving error on the next play helped stall Columbia's momentum and allowed Cornell to take a breath. The set was a barn-burner, but Cornell remained composed. With Cornell holding a 29-28 advantage after another Columbia serving error, Bennett ended things, putting down a kill to secure the 30-28 set three victory for the Big Red.
Columbia appeared to be in control of the fourth set, taking an early lead and leading by as many as eight, 15-7. The Big Red leaned on its blocking once again to chip back into things, with blocks from Moore, Baptiste, and Bennett and Moore on three straight plays cutting the Lions lead to 15-11.
Columbia would re-extend its lead to 18-12, but three-straight Big Red points on a Columbia ball handling error and kills from Bennett and Justus cut Cornell's deficit to 18-15 and forced a Columbia timeout. The Big Red kept inching closer to the Lions, scoring three of the next four points out of the timeout to cut Columbia's lead to one, 19-18. Bennett had a pair of key kills that couldn't be overlooked.
Just as the Big Red were about to overtake the Lions with the score at 21-20, Columbia put down two straight kills to create separation, 23-20. It would be enough for Columbia to hold on, as the Lions would win set four, 25-22, and the match, 3-1.
The Cornell volleyball team will look to get back in the win column next weekend when it travels to Brown on Friday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. and Yale on Saturday, Oct. 2 at 5 p.m. for a pair of Ivy League matches.
