Easy points were in very short supply this weekend for the volleyball team, as the Red was forced to fight for every single point only to lose in straight sets, 25-20, 28-26, 25-27, to a tenacious Columbia team in both teams’ Ivy League season opener. Forced to make a quick turnaround, the club then picked itself back up and rebounded less than three hours later with another tough match ­­–– a Cornell win this time –– against Hartford that went all the way to five sets, 17-25, 26-24, 22-25, 25-13, 15-11.

With the win, Columbia (8-4, 1-0 Ivy) earned its first victory over Cornell since 2001, and has now posted its best start since 2000 — the Lions’ best season in history. Including the Hartford victory, Cornell is now 3-9, 0-1 Ivy.

“[Columbia] may have had an easier preseason than us,” said head coach Sarah Bernson, accounting for some of the disparity between the two teams’ record. “But they definitely came in with a lot of confidence.”

The first set against Columbia started out evenly, with neither team jumping out to a major lead—that is until the Lions exploded for an 8-2 scoring run that gave them the six point, 17-11 lead. A five-point run by the Red brought it to within two of the home team, but the Lions held on, outscoring their opponents 6-3 down the stretch to take the set, 25-20.

The second set was also evenly contested, with 11 ties early on. A strong run, including three kills from junior outside hitter Alessa Cekauskas gave the Red a 17-13 lead. Columbia came right back, however, tying the score following a 4-0 run. Despite five more ties, the Lions outscored the Red when it counted—the last two points—to earn the set win, 28-26. Errors in the final minutes hurt the Red, with three occurring between the 24 and 28-point markers.

Bernson said that while the Red made some unfortunate errors, they were mostly the result of a hustle play that caught an unlucky bounce. “They were aggressive errors,” she said.

With its back against the wall, the Red came out fired up for the third set, but Columbia clawed its way to an 11-7 lead. Stretching this lead to six points, the Lions looked like they might have the match in the bag. Unwilling to give up, the Red pulled itself back into contention. Key play from freshman outside hitter Deveney Pula including four big kills as well as a service ace from a fellow freshman, setter Lucy Zheng, helped the Red piece together a 6-1 scoring run pulling within one point of the leaders. The two teams would tie three more times as they seesawed back and forth for the upper hand. However the Lions came up with clutch kills when it mattered most, stringing together three in a row to take the set and match, 27-25.

Despite the loss, Bernson said she thought the match was a valuable one for her team. All seven freshmen saw playing time over the course of play. “We’re happy with how the freshmen are developing,” Bernson said. But she also said that there is still a lot of development left.

Pula ended the match with a total of 12 kills and 11 digs, while Zheng eared 22 assists to go along with four kills. Senior co-captain and libero Meghan Mushovic led the team with 13 digs.

“We battled hard and we stayed in rallies longer than we have [at Syracuse as well as the Cornell Invitational]. We caught some unlucky breaks.” The difficult, back-and-forth nature of all three sets also showed the Red how tough it would need to be in the future in order to win those types of down-to-the wire matches. “We learned about the fight you need to have in matches,” Bernson said.

At 4:30 pm, just over an hour later, the Red took the court again for the back half of its tri-meet, this time facing off against the 6-9 Hartford club. The Red allowed the Hawks grab the lead early in the first set, 12-6, and never recovered, losing by 8, 25-17.

“I think that we weren’t able to [stop thinking about the Columbia match] as quickly as we could have,” Bernson said. “It took us a game to kind of [regain our focus].”

The second set was extremely close, with the Red tying the game for the first time at 8 points. The Hawks pulled back ahead, but the Red pulled even for a second time at 11 all. The two teams proceeded to combine for 11 more ties throughout the close set before a pair of Hawk errors gave the Red a 26-24 win.

Hartford proved how important a couple of points can be, however, after it capitalized on a short run early in the third set to take a 10-7 lead. The Hawks then refused to relinquish the advantage and kept the Red just out of range for the next 15 points, eventually taking the set, 25-22.

The Red started to adjust quicker over the course of the Hartford match, something Bernson said she was very pleased to see. This was evident in the fourth set, which Cornell really took control of halfway through, stringing together an eight-point run to build a 20-11 lead, leading to an easy, 25-13 victory.

It seemed like the fifth and final set might be another tight contest, as the two teams knotted the score at eight apiece. But an important kill from senior Jessica Misse sparked a 5-1 scoring run that was too much for the Hawks, who watched the Red take the match with a 15-11 set victory.

Blocking was another aspect of Cornell’s game that improved against the Hawks, as the Red started the fifth set out with a strong defensive presence that seemed to rattle the Hawks star middle and outside hitter, senior Erin Macro.

The Red will have the chance to avenge its loss to Columbia this weekend, when the Lions travel to Ithaca for a rematch. Cornell will have a few tricks up its sleeve for the match, including some players who were not active in Manhattan.

“We left on a winning note,” Bernson said, following the victory against Hartford. But the Columbia loss “left a bitter taste in our mouths. I think we’re lucky to have the opportunity [for revenge] so soon.”