ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell volleyball team hits the road to the South Florida to close out its non-conference slate of matches ahead of Ivy League play.

Game Information

Cornell at South Florida
SITE: The Corral – Tampa, Florida
DATE and TIME: Friday, September 16 @ 12:30PM
RECORDS: Cornell (2-4, 0-0 Ivy League), South Florida (4-5, 0-0 American)
SERIES RECORD: Never competed
BROADCAST: ESPN+
STATS: gousfbulls.com

Cornell vs. South Dakota
SITE: The Corral – Tampa, Florida
DATE and TIME: Friday, September 16 @ 4:30 PM
RECORDS: Cornell (2-1, 0-0 Ivy League), South Dakota (8-1, 0-0 Summit)
SERIES RECORD: Never competed
STATS: gousfbulls.com
 
Cornell vs. Stetson
SITE: The Corral – Tampa, Florida
DATE and TIME: Saturday, September 17 @ 10AM
RECORDS: Cornell (2-1, 0-0 Ivy League), Stetson (8-1, 0-0 ASUN)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 1-0
STATS: gousfbulls.com
 
 

About the Big Red

• The Big Red opened the 2022 season at 2-1, including a pair of wins on Saturday, September 3 over Kent State and Southern Indiana.
 
• Cornell dropped three matches in its invitational, including two five set matches against UAlbany and Temple.
 
• Cornell is coming off a 7-15 season in 2021, including a 3-11 record in the Ivy League.

• In the three prior seasons, the Big Red finished in the top three in the conference. In 2021, the team was selected to finish third, but lost 12 of the final 15 matches of the season, leading to a seventh-place finish.

• The Big Red return 12 players from last year's roster, including senior Joanna Chang who notched 149 kills across 19 matches last season. She also recorded 16 aces and 17 blocks. Setter Emma Worthington returns after serving as the team's primary setter while leading the squad in assists (562) in 2021. After opening weekend, she moved from 14^th to 12^th all time, boasting 1,179 assists in just over two seasons.
 

Critically Acclaimed

• Freshman Eliza Konvicka received Ivy League honors after her first weekend of collegiate play. She was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week after tallying 28 kills, three assists, four aces, six blocks, and 25 digs across the weekend at Kent State.
 
• Sophomore Sammie Engel is receiving national attention for her aces. She tied the single match record by a Cornellian with 8 in the matchup against Kent State. She is currently second in the nation in aces per set with 0.94, and ranks 28^th nationally in total aces (17). Her efforts have helped Cornell to be ranked 20th in the nation in aces per set (2.16).
 

Ivy League Preseason Poll

• Cornell was picked to finish seventh in the 2022 Ivy League Volleyball Preseason Poll the conference office announced on August 26.

• Brown received 14 of the 16 possible first-place votes, finishing with an Ivy League-best 126 points. Princeton recorded the two remaining first-place votes, placing second with 110 points. Yale rounded out the top three with 89 points.

• Harvard (73 points), Dartmouth (70 points) and Penn (52 points) were picked fourth through sixth, respectively, while the Big Red earned 33 points, and Columbia ended with 23.
 

Head Coach Trudy Vande Berg

• The 2022 season marks Vande Berg's eighth year as The Wendy Schaenen '79 Head Coach of Volleyball. It marks her seventh season as the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Vande Berg has shaped the Big Red into a team that perennially finishes in the top tier of the Ivy League, finishing third in the conference in three consecutive seasons from 2017-19. The span of three straight third-place Ivy League finishes marks the best seasons for the Big Red since the team won three conference titles followed by a second-place finish from 2003-06.
 

Worldwide

• Cornell has found talent across the globe to fill the roster. Players come from 13 different states/provinces.

• Ohio is the most represented state with three players from the Buckeye State. California, Florida, Illinois, and Texas are all represented by two athletes.

• Indiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, and Virginia are all host one player on the roster.
 
• Doga Ozalp hails from Istabul, Turkey and is one of just nine athletes from outside of the 50 states in 50 years of volleyball at Cornell.

At South Florida:

• Friday's match between the Big Red and the Bulls will be the first ever matchup between the two teams.
• South Florida went 7-24 in the 2021, including 1-19 in the American.
• The Bulls opens its season at 4-5, including a three-match sweep at the Stony Brook Invitational.

 vs. South Dakota: 

• The Saturday matchup will be the first ever meeting for the Big Red and the Coyotes.
• The Coyotes finished their 2021 season at 20-10 overall, and 15-3 in the Summit. Their efforts earned the team the 2021 conference championship and a seat at the 2021 NCAA Volleyball tournament, where they lost to Minnesota in straight sets.
• South Dakota opens its season at 8-1, including three-match sweeps at the Borderland Invitational and the South Dakota Classic.

vs. Stetson:

• The Big Red have squared off against the Hatters just once.
• Cornell owns the lone win from a 3-1 victory on September 8, 2000.
• The Hatters went 13-16 in 2021, including an 8-8 in the ASUN.
• Stetson has opened its 2021 season at 8-1. The Hatters have lost only 3 sets all year, all to Florida Atlantic.

Up Next

• The Big Red will return home to kick off their conference games slate with a matchup against Columbia on Saturday, September 24. First serve is set for 2 p.m. The match will be available to stream on ESPN+.