ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell women's volleyball team is geared and ready for the 2024 season. The team features new coaches, veteran scorers and a new winning culture.

After coming off a 7-16 season, head coach, Trudy Vande Berg, is emphasizing leadership from everyone on the team. She wants to increase expectations and accountability for both the coaches and players. Coach wants to take it back to the beginning, "I had to look at myself and figure out like, okay, whatever we're doing right now isn't working because we have the talent, but we weren't winning matches. I spent the break talking everything through with my mentors and assistants and just completely restructured how we are doing the team and what a winning team does."

MEET THE TEAM

The Big Red returns 16 players to the court this season with five newcomers to round out the squad. The team is broken into five freshman, six sophomores, five juniors and five seniors that come from 11 different states and three countries.

FRESHMAN TO WATCH

Coach Vande Berg is already seeing promise in her newest recruits stating, "Any one of them could be a huge, huge impact to us this year, all of them have played at such a high level on teams where there is a lot of pressure on them." When asked more specifically, "(Nella} Misipeka could play any position on the court for us she's got such a high volleyball IQ that she just brings up the level on her side of the net just by making plays and communicating. {Mackenzie} Parsons is a very high-level middle whose club team has won some of the biggest club tournaments in the country. She's played at a very high level against very, very good players. She knows how to how to score and make a difference under pressure."

LIBEROS

Four liberos return for the 2024 season. Including Jackie Baker, Megan Bickel, Madison Wood, and Sarita Pomar while adding to the mix Trinidy Tien.

Pomar was the primary libero for the 2023 season tallying 242 digs over 79 sets, with a season high 26 digs against Niagara.

Baker and Bickel both return with double digit matches played last season and over .930% reception rate.

Tien joins the team from Lehi, Utah where she helped lead her team to four straight Utah 6A state championships, earning back-to-back All-Region Defensive Player of the Year.

"Oh, man, that's a battle. I have no idea," Vande Berg stated. "They're all going to be huge parts of our success at some point during the season."

SETTERS

Doga Ozalp returns as the starting setter alongside Asa Moses and Joy Liu. Ozalp led the team with 736 assists in 86 sets finishing fourth in the Ivy League.

"Coach Mia is working really hard with them to work on location and tempo and they're improving every day. We really need to develop that trust between our hitters and our setters for everything to work. I know that they want it, and they're working really hard. That's true for sure."

MIDDLE  BLOCKERS

Two freshman and four returners make up the middle blocking wall. Camryn Carlo will be the leader of the bunch coming off a season that featured career-high kills (129) and 88 blocks, placing her fifth in the Ivy League. Other returners include Sammie Engel, Ava Bogan and Amrit Dhaliwal.

"We have five middles on our roster, and all are capable of playing, and it is that one's a battle too. Cam's going to be a four-year starter as a senior. She knows her blocking system. She knows the expectations. Sammie is a senior who does everything right. Does everything we ask her; she knows the blocking system. She rarely makes a mistake. Ava can take over a match with her blocking. She's worked really hard on her offense and transition in the spring, and she she's really come a long way with that too."

Avarie Adams and Mackenzie Parsons join the stacked position with skills of their own. Adams is an All-American Honorable Mention and helped lead her team to state semifinals, while Parsons was the leader for kill in the state of California as a middle blocker during her senior season with 587.

OUTSIDE HITTERS

To round out the roster, the Big Red has five returning outside hitters and two rookies, including five who double as right sides.

Eliza Konvicka led the Ivy League in kills (305) and total point (369.5) and this year looks to lead the team on and off the court. "She's not going to be a mystery anymore." Vande Berg points out. "Everybody knows who she is. She's worked really hard in the off season to develop more shots and be more terminal against a very organized defense against her, so she'll be relied on to score when we need her to."

Other powerhouse hitters returning include Nicole Mallus, Jaida Sione, Brooke Cooper and Meghan Gaffigan. Sione comes off a hot freshman campaign, she finished fourth on the team in kills despite receiving an injury towards the middle of the season.

The freshman class includes Haley Clark and Kohanihokuao Misipeka Clark was part of three-straight league championships in California and Misipeka lead her team to a third-place finish at the Missouri 6A state championship tournament.

FIRST SERVE

Cornell opens its 2024 campaign at the Kristen Dickmann Invitational hosted by Navy on Friday, Sept. 6. The Big Red will face Liberty, Navy and UC San Diego over the weekend.

This is the 13th edition of the Kristen Dickmann Invitational. The tournament is named after the Navy volleyball player who unexpectedly passed away in her sleep during exam week at the end of her freshman year in May 2008.