ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell volleyball team returns home for short stint when the team faces off against Columbia to kick off conference play.

Game Information

Cornell vs. Columbia
SITE: Newman Arena at Bartels Hall – Ithaca, N.Y.
DATE and TIME: Saturday, September 24 @ 2:00PM
RECORDS: Cornell (2-7, 0-0 Ivy League), Columbia (3-6, 0-0 Ivy)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 56-15
BROADCAST: ESPN+
STATS: cornellbigred.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 is looking to get back in the win column after dropping six matches across the Cornell Invitational and the South Florida Invite
 
• 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. She currently tallies 1,367 assists to date.
 

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. She ranks sixth in the Ivy League in kills per set with 2.94.
 
• 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 eighth in the nation in aces per set with 0.72. She is third in the Ivy in total aces (18). Her efforts have helped Cornell to be ranked 15th in the nation in aces per set (2.06).
 

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.
 

vs. Columbia:

• The Saturday matchup will be 72nd meeting between the Big Red and the Lions.
• Cornell won the previous meeting in a 3-2 thriller on October 23, 2021.
• Cornell has won seven of the last nine meetings.
• The Lions went 5-19 in the 2021 season, including a 2-12 record in Ivy play. Columbia was the only team to finish below Cornell in the Ivy League last season.
• Columbia opens its season at 2-6. The Lions are also looking to return to the win column after losing their past four matches.
 

Up Next

• The Big Red continue the home play with two matches in Newman Arena at Bartels Hall. First, versus Brown on Friday, September 30 with a serve at 7 p.m., followed by a Saturday October 1 match against Yale at 5 p.m. Attendance is free for both matches. For those at home, the matches will be available to stream on ESPN+.