With their first Ivy League match under their belts (or rather, spandex), it’s time for the Red volleyball players to take stock of their preseason and see what can be learned from the experience, as well as what needs to be fixed as the Ivy season starts up in earnest. Saturday’s 3-0 win against Columbia was a good start for the Red (2-7, 1-0 Ivy), but their record overall leaves something to be desired. Should the team be worried, or were its preseason growing pains a part of a normal process that will ultimately strengthen Cornell this season?

It was a rollercoaster ride for the volleyball team at Newman Arena on Homecoming Saturday. The players started off the day with a back-and-forth battle against Robert Morris University that ultimately ended with a disappointing five-set loss, 19-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-21, 15-11.

Hammering it home: Senior middle blocker Emily Borman (15), with her 20 kills and .727 hitting percentage, was a big factor in Cornell’s win over Ivy foe Columbia Saturday night after a tough loss to Robert Morris earlier in the day.

The team rebounded quickly, though, with a three-set win over Columbia later in the day, 25-17, 25-19, 25-22.

With one day — and one practice — left before the beginning of the Ivy season, the volleyball team is focusing its attention inward in an attempt to shore up any team weaknesses before shifting its concentration to this weekend’s opponents. Cornell will face Robert Morris (8-4) tomorrow morning followed by a matchup with Columbia (5-2) that night.

The Red (1-6) has had a long rough go in non-conference play thus far. The team traveled to Kansas earlier in the semester and was swept by admittedly tough opponents. Then, last weekend, the squad went 1-2 at the UConn Classic. In its final game in Conneticut, against Maine, Cornell was finally able to come up with a much-needed win, only to end up back in the loss column after Wednesday’s 3-0 home loss to Syracuse.

The Red came out of the gate firing in its 2008 home opener, but Syracuse responded quickly and efficiently and ultimately bested Cornell, 25-22, 25-18, 25-20.

The first set was the most heavily contested of the match; at times, Cornell (1-6) enjoyed leads of as many as five points, but Syracuse seemed never to fade away. The set started as a quick back-and-forth affair with both teams trading points won on relatively short rallies.

There’s no place like home. At least that’s what the volleyball team is hoping, as it dusts itself off after a tough 1-5 start to the preseason and focuses on preparing for its first homestand of 2008, beginning with a match against Syracuse tonight. Despite two rough away tournaments, the Red is coming off a solid 3-2 victory against Maine last Saturday, which it hopes will be the catalyst it needs in order to remain in the win column. The Orange (6-8) is also coming off a win, however, after defeating Princeton, last year’s Ivy champ, 3-0 on Saturday.

Progress is progress, even when it comes in small doses. After the volleyball team dropped all three of its matches in last weekend’s season-opening tournament in Kansas, it traveled to the UConn Toyota Classic in Storrs, Conn., and managed to gut out a victory — the team’s first this season — in its final match of the tourney.

“It feels great [to get the first win],” said head coach Deitre Collins-Parker. “Mostly it feels good to see the team play like I know they can play.”

After opening the season with three straight losses in Kansas, the Red volleyball team is back on the road. The team returns to the court this weekend with another road stint at the UConn Toyota Classic at the UConn campus in Storrs, Conn. Over the weekend, the team will face tough competition in UConn, Temple and the University of Maine.

The Red opens the invitational with a match against host UConn, which just won its home opener against Fairfield in dominant fashion. The Red follows that match up with a game against Temple, which just defeated current Ivy League champion Princeton in a close contest. However, head coach Deitre Collins-Parker is confident that her team can make it interesting if it pushes itself.

The volleyball team got its first taste of competition over the weekend and by looking only at the result — three losses and no wins — you might think it left a bitter aftertaste. But while the win-loss column might not reflect it, the team thinks that the tournament in Manhattan, Kan., was valuable to the season as a whole.

“It was definitely a positive experience for us,” said senior right side hitter Kathryn Woodbury. “We got to play some really good competition.”

Forget romantic or mysterious, sometimes déjà vu can be a bad thing, a very bad thing indeed. Cornell found this out the hard way Tuesday night. The Red took a break from Ivy League play but not from the loss column, as volleyball was decisively defeated 3-0 by the Bearcats. With this loss, its third such sweep in a row, Cornell moved to 4-9 for the season.

Now, the games really count.

In its first Ivy League matchup of the season, the Red (4-6, 1-0 Ivy) defeated the Columbia Lions (3-9, 0-1 Ivy) at Levien Gymnasium in New York City, 3-1. Despite a five-game losing streak, the team pulled together and has started off on its quest for a frouth consecutive Ancient Eight crown on the right foot.

“This is the real beginning of our season,” said head coach Deitre Collins-Parker. “From now on, the Ivy League is what matters the most.“