Following a trend that is becoming more and more predictable, the volleyball team split its weekend matches at home during Fall Break, losing to Harvard, 25-21, 20-25, 18-25 and 17-25 on Friday evening, before defeating its higher-ranked opponent, Dartmouth, the next afternoon, 25-17, 25-22, 22-25 and 26-24.

“A split weekend is an example of our inconsistency,” said head coach Sarah Bernson. “I think we beat the better of the two teams.”

On subsequent weekends at the end of September and beginning of October, Dartmouth (7-7, 3-1 Ivy) defeated Harvard (6-9, 2-2 Ivy) in straight sets. Cornell (5-10, 2-2 Ivy) will face both teams once more this season.

Against Harvard, Cornell started off with a 5-1 lead early in the first set, with senior co-captain and middle blocker Juliana Rogers, freshman outside hitter Deveney Pula and senior middle blocker Jessica Misse all scoring kills. Pula and Rogers both scored 10 kills total for the Red in the match, with Pula hitting .148 to Rogers’ .115. Misse chipped in with seven kills.

The Crimson rebounded and evened the score at six, before using an 8-3 scoring run to jump out to a 14-9 lead. Three successive kills from Misse halted Harvard and stole the momentum back for the Red. Cornell never lost the lead again, finishing off the Crimson with yet anther kill from Misse.Look out below: Sophomore Alessa Cekauskas (10) registered 11 kills in Saturday’s contest against Dartmouth at home. She also had just one error on 33 attempts.

Bernson said that despite the set win, the Red failed to capitalize properly, something its opponent was quick to take advantage of.

“Harvard gave us a window to defeat them in the first set,” she said. “We could have made a statement.” Instead, the Red’s lack of aggressiveness — despite the win —breathed new life into the Crimson.

“You can lose a game and still win the match,” said senior co-captain and libero Megan Mushovic. “I think we forgot that. I think we thought [Harvard] would just roll over. One game will not win the match.”

In the second set Harvard quickly ran up a 10-4 lead. However, the Red fought its way back to within one point, 17-16, displaying the type of focus under pressure it has shown in flashes all season. Rogers had three kills during the Red’s 12-7 run and Misse earned a pair of serving aces. Despite the surge, however, the Red was not able to earn the victory, losing by five as Harvard refused to allow further openings.

Steamrolling behind a dominant .469 hitting percentage, the Crimson easily took the third set. Another early lead in the fourth and final matchup gave Harvard a 10-6 lead. Multiple, short scoring runs sealed the deal for the visitors as the Crimson pushed its lead first to 21-14, and then finally to 25-17.

“On Friday we just came out a little flat,” Bernson said. “We had issues with ball control early on, and then when we started to improve our blocking had trouble.”

It was an issue of both individual inconsistency and overall skill inconsistency, something that resulted in various subbing changes throughout the match as Bernson tried different combinations.

Mushovic had 19 digs in the loss, with sophomore setter Jordan Reeder posting 29 assists from the center.

The next day the team was back on the court, this time facing the No. 2 team in the Ivies, the Dartmouth Green.

Bernson said the team was ready to go from the outset, spurred on partly by a desire to redeem the previous night’s match, and partly by being in focus.

Three straight kills from sophomore Alessa Cekauskas helped give the Red a 5-0 win to open the match. This lead was eventually stretched to seven, at 16-9, helped in part by more stellar play from Misse. Although the Green was able to draw within five, the Red buckled down and finished off the set, 25-17.

In the second set the Green seemed to collect itself, battling the Red for every point; the match saw a total of 17 ties. Pula broke the final tie for Cornell at 22, scoring an important kill that the Green garnished with a pair of errors that decided the set in the home team’s favor. The two teams traded scoring runs in the third set, as each squad vied for the important set. With the score at 23-22, a Red attack error and a key Green kill ensured a Dartmouth victory.

“In the third set Dartmouth made some subs,” Bernson said, that changed the game plan enough to shake the Red.

“Against Dartmouth in that third set, I think it was just errors and being unfocused,” Mushovic said.

The real drama was saved for the fourth set, however, as Dartmouth kept the home crowd on edge with a 16-9 lead. Not to be outgunned again, the Red controlled play en route to a 6-1 scoring run. The Green continued to stay just ahead of the Red, however, inching its lead up to 21-17.

But then the Green stopped inching.

“I think Dartmouth caught its breath a little bit,” Bernson said. “And we fought. We set some very aggressive balls and served aggressively. … We fought our way into it.”

Scoring three points to its opponent’s two, the Red’s 6-2 run tied the score at 23 apiece. Then the teams tied at 24. Finally, an ace by sophomore middle blocker/right side Madeleine Przybyl and another kill by Pula gave the Red the set and match.

“We realized that if we did what we needed to do, we could win,” Mushovic said, referring to the Red’s final run. “We just knew that we could take that game. We were just driving. We wanted to finish it in four. We decided to buckle down.”

Reeder finished the match with 39 assists, 24 digs and five kills. Mushovic scored a game-high 30 digs for the Red.

This match was also the debut for the injured sophomore Kelly Hansen, who had been sidelined since before the beginning of the Ivy season.

Hansen’s return is “going to open up our flexibility on the middle and right sides,” Bernson said. Hansen also brings a burst of energy to the team as it nears the middle of the Ivy season. “To have that fresh energy is very important,” Bernson said.