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Cornell University Athletics

Alexa Orent gets ready for a reception for the Cornell volleyball team during its 3-0 win over Harvard on Sept. 30, 2023 at Newman Arena at Bartels Hall in Ithaca, N.Y.
Lexi Woodcock/Cornell Athletics

Volleyball to Host Yale, Brown in Ivy League Action

10/3/2023 1:00:00 PM

ITHACA, N.Y. – After an upset win on Saturday against Harvard, Cornell volleyball stays home for the second straight weekend to host Yale and Brown in Ivy League action.

Cornell vs. Yale
SITE: Newman Arena at Bartels Hall – Ithaca, N.Y.
DATE and TIME: Friday, Oct. 6 @ 7:00 p.m.
RECORDS: Cornell (4-8, 2-1 Ivy League), Yale (8-3, 3-0 Ivy League)
SERIES RECORD: Yale leads, 51-26
BROADCAST: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: cornellbigred.com

Cornell vs. Brown
SITE: Newman Arena at Bartels Hall – Ithaca, N.Y.
DATE and TIME: Saturday, Oct. 7 at 5:00 p.m.
RECORDS: Cornell (4-8, 2-1 Ivy League), Brown (10-3, 1-2 Ivy League)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 45-30
BROADCAST: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: cornellbigred.com

Special Meaning
Saturday's match against the Bears is part of Cornell's Huddle Together for Mental Health week, which runs Sept. 30-Oct. 6. Created by Cornell Head Football Coach and National Alliance on Mental Illness – Finger Lakes Board Member David Archer, the week focuses on using the platform of sports to bring education awareness around mental health education and resources with various workshops and programming for student-athletes, coaches, and athletics staff.

Week in Review
Cornell comes into the weekend looking to build off the momentum of a 1-1 record on homecoming weekend. The Big Red lost in straight sets to Dartmouth on Friday before doing a 360 on Saturday in a three-set sweep of Harvard. Senior Alexa Orent had a match to remember for the red and white in its win over the Crimson, recording a career-high 11 kills and .391 hitting percentage. Sophomore Eliza Konvicka also had a solid match against Harvard with a team-high 14 kills, alongside eight digs and one block. It was also a block party on Saturday, as the Big Red recorded double-digit blocks (10) for the fifth time this season. Junior Camryn Carlo (6) and sophomore Doga Ozalp (5) led Cornell in that department. 

Other notables for Cornell on Saturday included Carlo (five kills, team-high .455 hitting percentage), senior Sydney Moore (three kills, four blocks), and Ozalp, who had 33 assists. It is the seventh time in 13 matches this season that Ozalp has had 30 or more assists. 

It was also a dominant performance for the Big Red on defense against Harvard, as it held the Crimson to its lowest hitting percentage (.030) and assists (26) on the season. Harvard also had 24 errors in the loss, tied for the second most the team has committed in 2023. 

A Look Inside the Matchups

Vs. Yale

  • Friday's match will be the 78th all-time between the Big Red and the Bulldogs.
  • Cornell has lost eight consecutive matches against Yale. Its last win came in a sweep of the Bulldogs inside Newman Arena on Nov. 11, 2017.
  • Yale went 23-3 overall and 13-1 in Ivy League action last season. The Bulldogs won the Ivy League regular season and postseason championships, earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament, before falling to UCF in straight sets in the first round.
  • Despite an 0-2 start, Yale comes into Newman Arena at the top of the Ivy League at 8-3 overall and 3-0 in Ivy League play. The Bulldogs are also riding a four-match winning streak, including a sweep over Penn and a four-set win over Princeton last weekend. 

Scouting Report

  • First-year right-side hitter Betsy Goodenow leads the Bulldogs with 111 kills on the season and is second on the team in blocks. The Lenexa, Kansas native also has double-digit kills in six of Yale's 11 matches in 2023. Senior Audrey Leak is right behind Goodenow in the kills department with 99 on the year and is fifth in the conference in hitting percentage (.360).
  • Carly Diehl has been the primary setter for the Bulldogs in 2023, as the junior comes into the weekend with 424 handed out, good for third in the Ivy League. Diehl also sits third in the conference with 10.10 assists/set. 
  • Junior Gigi Barr has been dangerous up front, leading the team with 33.0 total blocks in 40 sets played for Yale in 2023. 
  • The Bulldogs are one of the best teams regarding hitting percentage in the Ivy, sitting second with a .255 coming into Friday's match. Sharing is caring for Yale in assists/set, as it is tied with Brown for first in the conference in that department (12.74). 
  • Yale also sits in the top two regarding kills/set (14.10) and digs/set (15.12).
  • Despite the positives, Yale sits sixth and seventh in opponent hitting percentage (.215) and opponent assists/set (11.76). 
  • Also, opponents have dominated in kills/set, as the Bulldogs sit dead last with a 13.02. 

Vs. Brown

  • Saturday's match will be the 76th all-time between the Big Red and the Bears.
  • Cornell has lost four of five matches against Brown. Its last victory over the Bears came in four sets on Nov. 9, 2019.
  • The Big Red and Bears have split the last ten matchups inside Newman Arena dating back to Oct. 28, 2011, with Cornell winning in four sets.
  • The Bears went 15-10 overall and 10-4 in conference play last season. Brown made the Ivy League postseason tournament as the three seed, beating Princeton 3-0 in the semifinals before falling to top seeded Yale in the finals, 3-1.
  • Brown comes into Saturday at 10-3 overall and 1-2 in the Ivy. The Bears went 1-1 at home last weekend, losing to Princeton on Friday in four sets before sweeping Penn on Saturday for its first conference victory. 

Scouting Report

  • The Bears are the only team in the Ivy League with four players with 100 or more kills. Junior MB Beau Vanderlaan has spearheaded the Brown attack with a team-high 133 kills this season. Vanderlaan also leads the conference in attack percentage (.440). The three other Bears with 100-plus kills include Mariia Sidorova (128), Kayla Griebel (110), and Kate Sheire (105). 
  • Vanderlaan has also given opponents fits in the front of the net, leading the Bears with 52.0 blocks on the year. That stat puts her in a tie for second with Princeton's Lucia Scalamandre in the conference.  
  • Senior Sierra Jenkins has handed out assists in bunches, as she comes into the weekend with 468. The Orlando, Fla. native has also had 20 or more assists in every match this season for the Bears and sits second in the conference in assists/set with 10.17. 
  • Brown has been the talk of the conference in both offensive (.260) and defensive hitting percentage (.161), as the team currently holds the top stop in both categories. 
  • The red and brown also have been solid in not surrendering kills so far this season, giving up 11.06/set, which tops the conference. 
  • One area the Bears have struggled in is opponent blocks, as the team is second-worst in the conference with 99.0 given up this season.

Up Next
After Friday and Saturday's matches, Cornell will hit the road for matchups against Penn and Princeton. The Big Red play the Quakers on Friday, Oct. 13 at 7:00 p.m. before facing off against the Tigers on Saturday, Oct. 14 at 5:00 p.m. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+.

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