ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell volleyball team battled back from two sets to force a five-setter with the Columbia Lions on Saturday afternoon from Newman Arena. Despite the marathon, the Big Red came up short in the final set, losing the match 3-2 (24-26, 23-25, 25-18, 26-24, 9-15). Cornell dropped to 5-12 and 3-5 in the Ivy League while the Lions improved to 3-14 and 1-7 in conference play. 

Nicole Mallus matched her career-high with 17 kills and six digs, while Jaida Sione pitched in 12 kills and four blocks for the Big Red, which fell to the Lions for the first time in two years. Hailee Watts (12 kills, three blocks) and Anna Gioranidi (11 kills, three blocks) led the Lions, who picked up its first league win of 2023. 

The first and second sets were mirror images of each other, as the Big Red and the Lions had 20 tie scores and ten lead changes combined. Late in the first set, Eliza Konvicka had a kill to give the Big Red a slim 24-23 advantage. But the mojo faded, as a Lions kill paired with a Big Red attack error sealed the first for Columbia, 26-24. In the second, a late Cornell timeout led to a combo block by Jaida Sione and Camryn Carlo to knot things up at 22. Columbia stayed the course, winning three out of the final four points to snag the second, 25-23.

With its back against the wall, the Big Red needed things to go its way. And that happened at the ninth point of the third, as a Sarita Pomar ace gave Cornell a two-point cushion at 6-4. The Lions would stick around, keeping the margin between one and three points. However, the Big Red flipped the script, as a kill by Alexa Orent and a Doga Ozalp ace gave Cornell its largest lead of the set, 23-15. Cornell finished off the Lions in the third on a block by Eliza Konvicka and Sydney Moore to take the set, 25-18. 

Despite the magic being back with the red and white, Columbia raced ahead in the fourth with a 9-6 advantage, putting the pressure on the Big Red. Both teams traded points through the fourth until an attack error by Hailee Watts pushed the Big Red ahead by one (21-20). Columbia would battle back, pushing the set into extra points on a kill by Anna Gioranidi. Despite the up-and-down nature of the fourth, the red and white would pull it out, as a kill by Sione and an ace by Konvicka gave Cornell the 26-24 victory, sending the game to a decisive fifth set. The fourth frame was the best for the Big Red on the night with 15 kills. 

Both teams to open the fifth at a 2-2 stalemate. But an attack error by Mallus proved to be the difference maker, as the Lions took a 3-2 lead that it would never give back, sealing the final point on a ball-handling error by the Big Red to snap a season-long 10-game losing streak.

Match Notes

• Saturday's loss is the first for Cornell against Columbia in Newman Arena since Sept. 26, 2015, where the Big Red lost in four sets. 
• Cornell had nine blocks in Saturday's match, making it the 12th time this season that the team has hit that mark. 
• Nicole Mallus had a solid third set for the Big Red, netting seven kills and an impressive .538 hitting percentage. It is the highest the sophomore has recorded in a frame this season. 
• The Big Red is still searching for a long-awaited five-set victory, which last came over the Lions in Newman Arena on Oct. 23, 2021.
• Sophomore Eliza Konvicka had eight kills on Saturday. It was the first time the Houston, Texas native had not recorded ten or more since losing to Dartmouth in straight sets on Sept. 29.

Up Next

Cornell will hit the road for two conference games next weekend. The Big Red travels to Massachusetts to face Harvard on Friday, Oct. 27, at 7:00 p.m. before heading north to face Dartmouth on Saturday, Oct. 28, at 5:00 p.m. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+.