Cornell University Athletics

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Senior Mackenzie Parsons had 14 kills on 21 swings as the Cornell volleyball team swept Columbia 25-18, 25-18, 25-19 on Saturday in the Ivy League opener for both teams. The Big Red (5-5, 1-0) hit .412 as a team to get back to .500 overall, while the Lions (6-4, 0-1) hit .168.

Parsons made just one error and hit .619 in a dominant effort. She added a pair of blocks and two digs in the effort. Senior Ava Bogan added 11 kills on 19 attacks for a .526 percentage and tallied seven total blocks, including a pair of solo stops. Freshman Kiran Rio chipped in eight kills, while sophomore Sydney Zanca added four kills and three block assists. Cornell was in control at the net throughout, finishing with nine team blocks while Columbia had none. Cornell easily won the kill battle (46-33).

Sophomores Mary Wolcott (20) and Mikayla Gray (17) combined for 37 assists for Cornell, while Gray added two aces. Senior Sara Pomar led the back row with 14 digs.

Elena Maynulet led Columbia with 14 kills and hit .355. Avery Jones added six kills. Clara Yu had 14 assists, Claire Mo had 11, and Delaney Seaman posted nine digs and two aces.
 

The first set was tied 4-4 when Cornell scored three straight to take the lead for good. Gray served back-to-back aces in a 4-0 run that put the Big Red up 17-10. Columbia got within 21-17, but Rio's kill ended the set.

In the second set, the Lions tied it 8-8 behind two straight kills from Maynulet. Cornell scored five straight points to go up 21-14, the last four on Rio's serve, to break open a close set. The run was highlighted by a kill and a block from sophomore Sophia Ahrens. A block by Zanca and Bogan made it set point, and a Columbia ballhandling error ended the set.

Columbia opened the third set with a 3-0 lead, and it was tied 9-9 before the home team took over. Bogan's kill started a 5-0 run, with junior Haley Clark serving the last four points, and the Big Red never trailed again. Rio later served five straight points for a 22-12 lead. Cornell hit .548 in the set with 18 kills and one error, and Zanca's kill ended the match to give Cornell the Ivy victory.

Cornell will hit the road for the first back-to-back of Ivy play, visiting Penn on Friday, Oct. 2 at 6 p.m. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.