ALBANY, N.Y. – The Cornell volleyball team made quick work of Colgate on Saturday morning, cruising past the Raiders, 3-0 (25-17, 25-12, 25-13), in the first of its two matches for the day in UAlbany's Crowne Plaza Albany – The Desmond Hotel Volleyball Classic at SEFCU Arena in Albany, N.Y. With the victory, the Big Red improves to 2-0, while Colgate falls to 1-3.
Joanna Chang and Madison Baptiste led the brigade for the second-straight match, both notching double-digit kills. Chang tallied a match-high 13, while Baptiste notched 10 to go along with a .529 hitting percentage. Casey Justus was just one kill shy of double-figures with nine, while adding four block assists. Together, the trio was a key reason why the Big Red out-hit the Raiders .327 to .048 for the match.
Perhaps the reason Cornell was so successful in the back row was because of the solid play from a pair of freshmen in the back row. Libero Jackie Baker and defensive specialist Megan Bickel played with confidence, as Baker secured a match-high 12 digs and Bickel added 11. Chang and Emma Worthington each tallied eight digs, and Kate Stration chipped in seven. In all, Cornell held the advantage in digs over the Raiders, 52-44.
Stration has been unstoppable from the serving line. After notching five aces in her collegiate debut yesterday against St. John's, she stepped up to the plate again today, adding three more and accounting for half of the Big Red's six for the match. Worthington led all student-athletes in assists with 37, more than Colgate tallied for the entire match (23).
Cornell got off on the right foot in the first set, with a pair of Jillienne Bennett kills in the early going giving the Big Red a 4-1 advantage. Cornell only got stronger from there, extending its lead to 8-2, including aces from Stration and Bickel, to force a Colgate timeout. Even the timeout couldn't stop the bleeding for the Raiders, as the Big Red scored the next two points out of the break on a Colgate attack error and a Chang kill to push its advantage to 10-2.
With Chang notching seven of her 13 kills in the first set, Cornell would go on to take the opening stanza, 25-17. Madison Baptiste recorded five kills in the set, and Bennett and Sydney Moore each had three.
Although the second set opened with a bit of a different feel, as both teams exchanged points in the early going, Cornell was able to create separation early on and, once again, never looked back. With the score knotted up at 4-4, a Justus kill, Colgate attack error, and Baptiste kill gave the Big Red a 7-4 advantage. The Big Red would end up scoring seven-straight points to bring its lead to 11-4, with a fantastic series of digs from Bickel highlighting the string of points. With all the momentum in the world, Colgate had no chance of coming back in the second set, and Cornell ran away with it, 25-12, to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
While it looked like Colgate may have regained its footing at the opening of the third set, Cornell quickly halted the Raiders. With Colgate holding an early 3-1 lead, Cornell scored five-straight points to take a 6-3 lead and force a Colgate timeout. Kills from Chang and Moore and yet another Stration service ace helped the Big Red pull away. The remainder of the third set played out like the second, and Cornell secured a 25-13 set three victory to sweep the Raiders and win the match.
The Big Red will look to secure its second win of the day and go a perfect 3-0 in the Crowne Plaza Albany – The Desmond Hotel Volleyball Classic when it squares off against host UAlbany tonight at 7 p.m. at SEFCU Arena in Albany, N.Y.
