PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Cornell volleyball team (7-15, 5-8 Ivy League) fell in straight sets to the Brown Bears (17-6, 8-5 Ivy League) on Friday night from the Pizzitola Sports Center. The set scores were 25-21, 25-22, and 25-15 in favor of the Bears, who have now won six straight matches over the Big Red.

Eliza Konvicka was the lone Big Red attacker who recorded double-digit attacks with 12, putting her four short of 300 on the season. Other notables for Cornell included Sydney Moore with six kills and a team-high .364 hitting percentage, while Camryn Carlo had four blocks in the loss. Mariia Sidorova and Kate Sheire each had ten kills in the win for Brown.

The first set of Friday's match started eerily similar to the team's earlier matchup on Oct. 7 in Ithaca, as both the Big Red and the Bears traded points early on. At the 9-9 mark, the Big Red went on a run, as three kills by Konvicka and Moore combined helped catapult Cornell to a 14-9 lead. Brown would counter later in the set with a 4-0 run, deadlocking the first at 16 apiece. The battle for position continued for the next four points until a kill by Cierra Jenkins allowed the Bears to pull ahead by four at 22-18. Cornell would never get out of that four-point deficit, as Brown took the opener, 25-21. 

The second looked to be trending in the right direction for the Big Red, as it kept close with the Bears through the opening points until an attack error gave the Bears a 4-3 lead. Brown would eventually stretch that lead into a 17-11 advantage, putting the pressure back on Cornell. The Big Red would not back down without a fight, as a block by Carlo and Nicole Mallus helped spark a 5-0 run, putting Cornell within one. The red and white would continue to hang around until the end of the set, as a kill by Kate Stration put the score at 24-22 Brown. But the Big Red could not close the deal, as a kill by the Bears sealed the second, 25-22. 

Cornell would come out with something to prove in the third set, catching Brown sleeping with a 6-2 run to grab the momentum. The Bears would respond, taking eight of 11 points to take the lead at 10-9. The Big Red would continue to match the Brown attack, as kills by Konvicka and Brooke Cooper kept the deficit at one. Despite the back-and-forth battle, the Bears would take control after the media timeout, stretching its lead to eight at 22-14 thanks to a 6-1 run. And with the magic on its side, Brown took three of the final four points to clinch the set and the match. 

Match Notes

• By virtue of tonight's loss and Harvard's 3-0 win over Penn, Cornell has been eliminated from contention for the Ivy League Postseason Tournament. 
• Cornell has lost in its last three trips to the Pizzitola Sports Center after winning four straight from 2016 to 2019. 
• Eliza Konvicka notched her 16th match of ten or more kills on the season. The sophomore is only four kills away from becoming the first Big Red attacker to record 300 or more in season since Breanna Wong had 324 in 2013. 
• Sophomore setter Doga Ozalp handed out 20 or more assists for the 19th time this season in Friday's loss. 
• Senior Sydney Moore failed to record a block for the first time this season and had her streak of four or more recorded snapped at ten straight matches.
• Junior Megan Bickel had 21 digs on Friday, making it the first time this season that the Kensington, Md. native had 20 or more since 2021. 

Up Next
Cornell will close out its 2023 season tomorrow night as it visits Yale. The first serve is at 5:30 p.m., and the match will be available to stream on ESPN+.