ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell volleyball team looks to build off of the success of the opening weekend after going 2-1 at the Kent State Invite with a slate of home matches at the Cornell Invitational.

Game Information
Cornell vs. Colgate
SITE: Newman Arena at Bartels Hall – Ithaca, New York
DATE and TIME: Friday, September 9 @ 7PM
RECORDS: Cornell (2-1, 0-0 Ivy League), Colgate (3-3, 0-0 Patriot)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 56-27-1
BROADCAST: ESPN+
STATS: cornellbigred.com

Cornell vs. UAlbany
SITE: Newman Arena at Bartels Hall – Ithaca, New York
DATE and TIME: Saturday, September 10 @ 11AM
RECORDS: Cornell (2-1, 0-0 Ivy League), UAlbany (0-6, 0-0 America East)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 7-1
BROADCAST: ESPN+
STATS: cornellbigred.com
 
Cornell vs. Temple
SITE: Newman Arena at Bartels Hall – Ithaca, New York
DATE and TIME: Saturday, September 10 @ 7PM
RECORDS: Cornell (2-1, 0-0 Ivy League), Temple (3-2, 0-0 American)
SERIES RECORD: Series tied, 2-2
BROADCAST: ESPN+
STATS: cornellbigred.com
 
 

About the Big Red

• The Big Red open the 2022 season at 2-1, including a pair of wins on Saturday, September 3 over Kent State and Southern Indiana
 
• 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.
 

Out Of The Gates

• Cornell continued its 2-1 trend in opening tournaments since 2015 at the Kent State Invite. The sole exception was in 2017 when the team dropped two matches at the Tropical Smoothie Invitational hosted by James Madison.
 
• The Big Red have not had a 3-0 home tournament since 2005, when it swept La Salle, Colgate, and Butler all in straight sets
 

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.
 
• Sophomore Sammie Engel is receiving national attention for her aces. She tied the single match record by a Cornelian with 8 in the matchup against Kent State. She currently leads the nation in aces per set with 1.36, and ranks 18^th nationally in total aces (15). Her efforts have helped Cornell to be ranked third in the nation in aces per set (2.91).
 

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. Colgate:

• Friday's match between the Big Red and the Raiders will be the 88^th matchup between the two teams.
• Cornell won the most recent match in a 3-0 sweep in the Crowne Plaza Albany – The Desmond Hotel Volleyball Classic on September 4, 2021.
• Colgate went 18-10 in the 2021, including 13-3 in the Patriot League. The Raiders went on to win the Patriot League and appear in the NCAA tournament, where they fell to eventual national champions, Wisconsin.
• Colgate opens its season at 3-3, including a 3-1 upset over Tennessee in the NC State Tournament on Saturday, September 3.

vs. UAlbany:

• The Saturday matchup will be the ninth meeting all-time for the Big Red and the Great Danes with Cornell leading the series 7-1.
• The Big Red's lone loss came last year in the Crowne Plaza Albany – The Desmond Hotel Volleyball Classic.
• The Great Danes finished their 2021 season at 14-15 overall, and 8-4 in the America East.
• UAlbany opened its season at 0-6, including a 3-1 loss against Kent State.

vs. Temple:

• The Big Red have squared off against the Owls four times, leaving the series tied at two.
• Temple won the last two matchups in 2008 and 2012.
• The Owls went 7-24 in 2021, including 3-17 in the American.
• Temple has opened its 2021 season at 3-2, including wins over Delaware, Army, and St. Francis College-Brooklyn.

Up Next

• The Big Red will hit the road once more to close out its non-conference slate at the South Florida Invitational on Sept. 16-17. Cornell will take on South Florida and South Dakota on Sept. 16 at 12:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., respectively. The Big Red then face Stetson on Saturday, September 17 at 10 a.m. all at The Corral in Tampa, Florida. All matches will be available to stream on ESPN+.