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Cornell University Athletics

The Cornell Volleyball team celebrates after defeating Harvard on Sept. 29, 2023 inside Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y.
Lexi Woodcock/Cornell Athletics

Volleyball Travels Northeast For Weekend Slate Against Harvard, Dartmouth

10/24/2023 1:00:00 PM

ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell volleyball hits the road this weekend for two Ivy League matches against Harvard and Dartmouth.

GAME INFO:

CORNELL AT HARVARD
SITE: Malkin Athletic Center – Cambridge, Mass.
DATE and TIME: Friday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m.
RECORDS: Cornell (5-12, 3-5 Ivy League), Harvard (12-5, 5-3 Ivy League)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 45-30
BROADCAST: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: gocrimson.com

CORNELL AT DARTMOUTH
SITE: Leede Arena – Hanover, N.H. 
DATE and TIME: Saturday, Oct. 28 at 5 p.m.
RECORDS: Cornell (5-12, 3-5 Ivy League), Dartmouth (6-11, 3-5 Ivy League)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 45-24
BROADCAST: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: dartmouthsports.com

WEEK IN REVIEW: BIG RED COMEBACK FALLS SHORT IN FIVE SETS AGAINST COLUMBIA
The Big Red is coming off a hard-fought match against Columbia on Saturday from Newman Arena. Cornell rallied from two sets down but could not pull off the comeback, losing in five sets (24-26, 23-25, 25-18, 26-24, 9-15).

Sophomore Nicole Mallus had another strong showing for the Big Red, matching her career-high with 17 kills and six digs. Jaida Sione also had 12 kills and four blocks, and Sydney Moore had a team-high six blocks in the loss for Cornell, which was just its fourth all-time at home in program history to the Lions.

The Big Red would find itself in a 2-0 hole going into the third set until Mallus helped spring the attack with seven kills and a .538 hitting percentage to keep the team alive. Cornell would ride the momentum wave into the fourth, using 15 kills and five blocks to wrangle in the fourth set, 26-24, to set up the penultimate set.

Despite the magic swinging back to the Big Red, Columbia would take control in the fifth, winning six out of the last seven points to take the tightly contested match, which had 36 tie scores and 15 lead changes.

A LOOK INSIDE THE MATCHUPS

AT HARVARD

  • Friday's match will be the 76th all-time between the Big Red and the Crimson.
  • Cornell is 16-14 inside the Malkin Athletic Center in program history and won the previous matchup in four sets on Nov. 5, 2022.
  • The Big Red has won three out of four matchups in the Bay State, with its lone loss coming in four sets on Oct. 15, 2021.
  • Seven out of the last ten matches in Cambridge have gone at least four sets. The lone five-set match favored Cornell on Oct. 15, 2016.
  • The red and white has recorded 40 or more kills in eight of the last ten road matches against the Crimson and has hit .200 or better in five, with a high of .333 coming in 2022.  

MATCHUP FLASHBACK: BIG RED UPENDS CRIMSON IN NEWMAN ARENA
Cornell and Harvard have already matched up once this season, with the Big Red pulling the upset over the Crimson in straight sets in Ithaca on Sept. 30, 2023. 

Eliza Konvicka led the Big Red with 14 kills and eight digs, while Alexa Orent netted a career-high 11 kills in the win, the eighth in the last ten for the red and white against the Crimson. Ashley Wang was the lone player with double-digit kills from the Crimson (11), who lost the kills (37-56) and blocks battle (6-10) to the Big Red. 

Camryn Carlo (team-high .455 hitting percentage and six blocks) and Doga Ozalp (33 assists, five blocks) were the other notables for the Big Red, who held Harvard to a .030 hitting percentage. 

SCOUTING REPORT

  • Harvard rolls into Friday's match at 12-5 overall and 5-3 in conference play and sit in the final playoff spot with about three weeks left in the regular season. 
  • The Crimson is also coming off a five-setter of its own, taking down Dartmouth after rallying from a 2-1 deficit on Saturday.
  • Three Harvard attackers had double-digit kills in the win over the Big Green with Katie Vorhies (15), Ava Rauser (12), and Nicole Prescott (12). The Crimson also had a season-high 23 total blocks in the victory, besting its 19 stuffs in a five-set win over Princeton on Oct. 6. 
  • Ryleigh Patterson has been a problem for opposing Ivy-League offenses up front for the Crimson, as the first-year player leads the conference with 52 total blocks and a 1.79 blocks/set. Harvard is also the best blocking team in the Ivy League, recording 91.0 overall and 3.14 per set in conference action. 
  • Ashley Wang (80) and Katie Vorhies (79) sit eighth and ninth in kills versus Ivy League opponents. Both have helped lead the Crimson offensive attack that sits fourth in kills/set (12.10) and hitting percentage (.232). 
  • Harvard's defense is holding Ivy opponents to a conference-low .176 hitting percentage over 29 sets this year but has given up the second-most kills per set (12.41). 

AT DARTMOUTH

  • Saturday's match will be the 70th all-time between the Big Red and the Big Green.
  • Cornell has lost six consecutive matches against Dartmouth, with its last win via a sweep of the Big Green in Ithaca on Oct. 11, 2019.
  • The red and white is also 13-13 on the road against Dartmouth in program history and looking to snap a three-match winless streak inside Leede Arena.  
  • Seven out of the last ten matches in Leede Arena have gone four sets or more, with Cornell winning four of them. Its last win of that mark came in four on Oct. 26, 2018. 
  • Cornell has notched 50 or more kills in six of the last ten matches in Hanover, with the highest amount (59) reached twice in 2013 and 2019. The Big Red is 2-4 in those games.

MATCHUP FLASHBACK: BIG RED FALLS IN STRAIGHT SETS TO BIG GREEN
Cornell struggled in its earlier matchup this season in Ithaca, as Dartmouth took home a straight sets victory on Sept. 29, 2023. 

Ten athletes recorded a kill in the loss for the Big Red, including Nicole Mallus, who had ten and a .238 hitting percentage. Eliza Konvicka was the next-highest attacker with six kills in the loss.

The red and white also had its lowest performance to date in assists (26), total blocks (3), digs (31), kills (27), and points (32.0).

 SCOUTING REPORT

  • Dartmouth comes into the weekend at 6-11 overall and 3-5 in conference play. The Big Green is also looking to snap a four-match losing streak after a 3-2 heartbreaking loss on Saturday to Harvard. 
  • Amelia Gibbs led Dartmouth with 13 kills and six blocks, while Karen Murphy and Makenzie Arent each dished out over 20 assists in the loss to the Crimson.
  • Dartmouth's attack struggled in the penultimate set on Saturday, mustering a -.111 hitting percentage compared to a .471 by Harvard. 
  • Gibbs has been a bright spot for the Big Green since beginning conference play, as the senior is sixth in the league in hitting percentage (.351).
  • Dartmouth's defense has been solid in Ivy League play, giving up the second-fewest assists (10.67) and kills (11.50) in its 30 sets played in 2023. 
  • But the Big Green has allowed its Ivy foes to capitalize in the block department, as the team has given up 68.0 on the year. Dartmouth has also struggled to record blocks, with only 51.5 over eight conference matches. Both metrics place the Big Green seventh in the conference. 

UP NEXT
After this weekend's matches, the Big Red returns to Newman Arena for its final home matches of the season against Princeton and Penn. Cornell will host the Tigers on Friday, Nov. 3, at 7:00 p.m. before facing off against the Quakers on Saturday, Nov 4. at 5:00 p.m. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+.

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