September 18, 2006

Volleyball Wins One at Home

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Facing a tough slate of opponents in this weekend’s Big Red Invitational in Ithaca, the volleyball team managed to win a game off each foe but came away with a disappointing 1-2 record for the weekend.

The Red (4-3) fell, 3-1, to St. John’s on Friday night but recovered with a sweep of Buffalo on Saturday afternoon. In the tournament finale that evening, Cornell took the first game of the match against American but faltered to another 3-1 loss.

“We were disappointed in the end,” said junior captain Amy Gordon. “We were pleased with how we played — we just need to work on our endurance. There were times when we come out on fire, but we couldn’t keep it going for the entire match.”

In its first match of the tournament against the Red Storm, Cornell fell to a two game hole by scores of 30-24 and 30-27. Despite making an attempt at a comeback with a 30-27 victory in the third game, the Red ultimately succumbed to St. John’s with another 30-24 loss.

Though disappointed by its second loss of the season, the Cornell squad did find solace in its third-game victory and its ability to compete against a major conference opponent.

“We learned that we can play with a team with a really high impact offense,” said senior Joanna Weiss. “We might have come up short, but we came prepared to play, and I don’t think that’s something they really expected.”

Senior captain Elizabeth Bishop — the lone Cornell player to named to the all-tournament team — led the Red with 23 kills off of a .267 attack percentage. Weiss, who led the team with eight blocks, and senior Alex Dyer also had big impacts at the net, combining for 26 kills in the loss.

Bishop, Dyer and Weiss were again among the Red’s leaders in kills in Cornell’s 30-27, 30-27, 30-26 sweep of Buffalo. The trio combined for 30 kills and nine blocks in the winning effort.

Sophomore Kathryn Woodbury and senior Katie Rademacher had big games at the net for the Red, earning seven and six blocks respectively. Meanwhile, freshman Stephanie Comon added three service aces to the effort.

In Saturday night’s tournament finale against American, Cornell started strong with a 30-27 win in the first game. However, American came right back with wins of 30-21, 32-30 and 30-23 to clinch the hard-fought victory.

“Afterwards, talking to their coach, he said that it was the best volleyball they had played all year — it’s good to know that they had to play their best to beat us,” said head coach Deitre Collins-Parker. “We’ll learn from it, and we’ll be ready next time to keep the intensity we had in the first game and sustain for the match.”

Both Dyer and Bishop, who finished the tournament with a team-high 55 kills, had big games at the net, combing for 40 kills. Dyer also posted an impressive .412 attack percentage in the contest.

Finishing off strong weekends, Gordon, the team’s setter, and freshman libero Megan Mushovic also put up strong performances from their respective positions. Gordon collected 48 assists to run her weekend total to 132. Meanwhile, Mushovic picked up 20 digs in the contest and finished with 40 digs for the tournament.

“As we play more games, our cohesion will improve and we’ll begin to click more and more,” Gordon said. “When that happens we’ll be able to keep up a higher level of play for a longer time. We’re happy to get the kinks out now before the Ivy season begins.”

Finishing off strong weekends, Gordon, the team’s setter, and freshman libero Megan Mushovic also put up strong performances from their respective positions. Gordon collected 48 assists to run her weekend total to 132. Meanwhile, Mushovic picked up 20 digs in the contest and finished with 40 digs for the tournament.

“As we play more games, our cohesion will improve and we’ll begin to click more and more,” Gordon said. “When that happens we’ll be able to keep up a higher level of play for a longer time. We’re happy to get the kinks out now before the Ivy season begins.”