Recent Contributions from Meredith Bennett-Smith

The Sun Sports Staff Selects the Top 20 Junior Athletes

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Each year, the Sun chooses the top athletes from each class. Below are the 20 best juniors as selected by the members of the Sun's Sports Department. On Friday, the Sun will reveal its choice for Athlete of the Year.

Jeff Foote — Men's Basketball

Seniors Lead Team From Front Lines

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Lacrosse players aren’t supposed to be sappy, lacrosse players aren’t supposed to be sad — but it is with a heavy heart that the younger players will soon say goodbye to the Class of 2008, if not after the game against Hobart, then as far along the line as possible. (In the playoffs, it’s a good sign to have to keep putting off those final goodbyes.)

This year, Cornell will lose nine men, valuable athletes every one of them — from twin midfielders Mike and Tom Corbolotti to loyal attacker John Espey to first-year starting goalie Jake Myers. This is a class that will be missed. (But there’s no whining in lacrosse, either.)

Tennis Coach Weiss Voted Into Hall of Fame

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

There are many different kinds of coaches, but as special place is reserved for that special breed of coach — the former player, the coaches who know what they are talking about because once upon a time, they were out there sweating on the same courts, performing the same drills and overcoming the same challenges. Rob Weiss, the Carl H. Meinig ’31 head coach of the women’s tennis team, is such a coach, and next month, he will be recognized for his legacy on the court when he is inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame on Wednesday, May 21 in Tulsa Okla.

M. Lax in Must-Win Against Brown

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The “must-win game.” It’s the kind of game that makes fans squirm in anxious excitement and coaches secretly clutch their clipboards with whitened knuckles. Last weekend the men’s lacrosse team lost to Princeton, snapping the Red’s 14-game Ivy win streak and putting its own back against the wall. No. 8 Cornell must win this Saturday against No. 17 Brown in order to have a hope of securing a share of the Ivy League title, and increases its chances of receiving a NCAA bid.

The Red (9-3, 4-1 Ivy) is currently in second place, behind both Brown and Princeton.

M. Lax Travels to Tiger Territory

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

It is the battle of the undefeated Ivy League titans this weekend, as Cornell takes on Princeton, one of the three undefeated teams currently in the Ivy League. Halfway through the Ivy season, there is both pride and the Ivy title at stake. Princeton and Brown are the only other teams, besides Cornell, who haven’t lost any games yet in the Ancient Eight.

The Red (9-2, 4-0 Ivy) is looking to extend its Ivy League winning streak to 14 wins. Cornell has claimed at least a share of the Ivy title for the past five seasons — the longest active stretch by any team in any conference currently.

Hurley's Career Day Fuels M. Lax

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

In a scene contrasting sharply with Tuesday night, victorious men’s lacrosse head coach Jeff Tambroni smiled with his young daughter, greeting young fans outside the gates long after the match had ended and his team had retreated to their locker room. Cornell defeated Dartmouth 16-11 Saturday afternoon at Shoellkopf Field, led by sophomore attacker Ryan Hurley's five goals and four assists.

With the win, the Red improves to 9-2 overall and remain undefeated in Ivy play at 4-0. Dartmouth (4-6, 0-3) is still searching for its first Ivy win.

M. Lax Falls to No. 1 Orange

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

A crowd of disgruntled assistant coaches and trainers stood huddled outside the door to the men’s locker room at Shoellkopf, muttering and shaking their heads. There wasn’t much else anyone could do last night after a game that left even stoic head coach Jeff Tambroni looking a little defeated, as No. 1 Syracuse proved why it is in fact the top-seeded team, beating No. 5 Cornell decisively, 15-8. With the win, Syracuse moved to 9-1 for the year.

It was the first game in four years where either team had beaten the other by more than two goals.

“We definitely learned why Syracuse is the No. 1 team,” Tambroni said. “They played a complete game from start to finish.”

Golf Falters at Yale

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The golf team traveled to New Haven, Conn. this past weekend to compete against 24 other schools in the Yale Invitational. The Red were tied for first place after the first round, but finished the weekend in a tie for 8th place with the host Bulldogs. The Red completed the weekend with a total of 594, nine strokes behind the winner, Harvard.

Despite heading into the final round with a share of the lead, the Red felt no sense of added pressure.

“We’ve been in that spot before,” said sophomore Rob Cronheim, who finished the weekend with a two-day total of 149. “We knew what we had to do; we just didn’t come through in the clutch.”

Star Cornell Guard Dale Honored by AP

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Cornell sophomore point guard Louis Dale was named to the Associated Press honorable mention All-American team yesterday. Dale’s award marks the first time a Red player has been named to the AP team in over 20 years, since Ken Bantum was an honorable mention honoree in 1985.

Dale, also recently named the Ivy League Player of the Year was instrumental in the Red’s first Ivy League title, not to mention NCAA berth, in 20 years.

“It feels good,” Dale said. “I’m happy about it. It’s pretty cool.”

The 5-11 guard ranked second on the team in Ivy League scoring, with 13.7 ppg. (sixth in the Ivy League) and led the Ivy League in assist with 4.9 per game, 55th in the nation.

Cohesive Play Seals Red Win

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400

It’s fun to be on top. Following up on a dominating win against Binghamton last weekend, Cornell defeated Penn in style Saturday, 13-5, blanking the Quakers for the first 40 minutes of the game while at the same time scoring eight unanswered goals.

The Red (7-1, 2-0 Ivy) extended its own winning streak to six games with the win, while the Quakers fell to 4-3, 2-1 in conference play. Although it was the first victory since 2002 for Cornell at Penn’s Franklin Field, Red holds a decided lead in the series, 59-22-3, which has pitted the two Ivy rivals against each other for over one hundred years.

M. Lax Looks to Keep Rolling Against Canisius

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Last Saturday, men’s lacrosse splashed across Schoellkopf Field, battling and eventually holding off hard-charging Army for a 9-8 victory. The Red will be looking to ride this early momentum as it stares down a short week at its next opponent — Canisius, who it will play at home tomorrow afternoon.

“The win [against Army] is definitely something we want to build on,” said junior defender Matt Moyer.

Moyer said that Cornell (2-1, 0-0) has been working hard during its practice, in the lead-up to tomorrow’s game.

“We just need to come out in practice and keep up the intensity,” Moyer said. “We know Canisius (0-2, 0-0) is a pretty good team.”

Grapplers Start Strong, Finish With One Title

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 01:00:00 -0400

Although Nationals are right around the corner, Cornell wrestling had to step back and focus all of its attention on what was happening this weekend, the EIWA Championships at Franklin & Marshall, in Lancaster, Pa. After a stellar first day of competition, the Red struggled on Sunday, and only sent three wrestlers to the finals. Of the three, only freshman Mack Lewnes won an EIWA title, at 165 pounds. Lewnes’ points gave Cornell just enough points to edge Penn for their second straight EIWA team championship, winning by a mere half point, 128-127.5. Army came in third, out of a 14-team pool.

“We didn’t wrestle up to par. We won by a half point, but you know what? A win’s a win,” Lewnes said.

M. Lax Falls to North Carolina

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

A slow start and an opposing goalie who was on fire between the pipes spelled doom for the men’s lacrosse team yesterday afternoon, as No. 5/6 Cornell fell 13-8 to No. 7/8 North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The Red (1-1) was down 6-1 at the beginning of the second quarter, and although at times it came within two goals of the Tar Heels (3-0), it was never able to gain control of the game.

“North Carolina just came out strong [in the first quarter],” said junior defender Matt Moyer. “They have a really good team, you have to credit them. They played well and they played together.”

M. Lax Looks for Win at Chapel Hill

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Every game’s a big game in the world of men’s lacrosse. Coming off a close win over Navy two weekends ago, Cornell is looking to start its season 2-0, with a match Sunday against No. 7 North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C. A win would give head coach Jeff Tamboni his 75th career win, as well as increase Cornell’s series lead with the Tar Heels to 5-2.

The last time the two teams met, in 2005, Cornell (1-0) was hampered by a two-quarter scoring drought that the Red was unable to recover from. Despite out shooting North Carolina (2-0) overall, 33-30, as well as holding an edge in ground balls (45-40), the Red fell 9-5.

Wrestlers Battle for Starting Spots

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

The wrestle-off. The very phrase is enough to give one an ominous case of the shivers. One of the most dreaded internal competitions in sports, a wrestle-off is the last resort for a coach when determining who will wrestle in a specific weight category.

Wrestle-offs happen throughout the wrestling world, from the amateur mats of a high school arena, to the tradition-steeped halls of the U.S Olympic Training Center.

Men’s Lax Opens Season With Win Over Navy

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

A win is a win. At the end of a low-scoring day of play, that’s what mattered most as the No. 6 men’s lacrosse team beat No. 12 Navy, 8-7, in overtime to win its season opener. The last-minute win capped a furious comeback effort, with the Red scoring twice in the final minute of regulation play.

With the win, Cornell (1-0) handed Navy (2-1) its first loss of the season. The Red wasled by sophomore Ryan Hurley, who registered three points on two goals and an assist. Cornell knew going into the game that Navy was going to put up a strong defensive effort.

“We knew we would have to generate good offense against their defense, which has been successful over the years,” said head coach Jeff Tambroni. “Both teams were going to grind out opportunities to score.”

Wrestlers Wear Cauliflower Crown

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Anyone who’s spent a good amount of time around wrestlers knows what it is. It ranges in severity and spans the gradient from inconspicuous to dramatically arresting. Many wrestlers treat it as a point of pride, while an embarrassed few wish it would just disappear.

This is the reality of the infamous acquired deformity known as cauliflower ear. Common among combat sports enthusiasts, it can cause an athlete’s cartilage to fold and stretch, and Cornell wrestlers have not escaped their sport’s bizarre scourge. Even head coach Rob Koll sports the distinct look.

Wrestling Team Takes Down Penn, Princeton on Road

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

All things considered, it was a pretty good Saturday for Cornell wrestling. It’s hard to do better than a sweep of Ivy rival Penn, 19-15, followed by a shut out of Princeton, 48-0, all in pretty much the same amount of time it takes to watch the Oscars. And although the Red is not looking for any Academy Award next weekend, its five straight wins and perfect Ivy record greatly increase the chance that the team will take the Ivy League crown.

Cornell (6-5, 3-0 Ivy) traveled to Philadelphia to face an always-competitive Penn team at the Palestra.

Winless Weekend Drops Fencing to Fifth Place

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

After going 2-2 in the first round of the Ivy League Championships on Jan. 3, the Cornell fencing team went 0-2 on Sunday, finishing the tournament 2-4, good for fifth place overall. This is the second year in a row that the Red has finished the tournament in the No. 5 spot.

Columbia won the tournament for the second year in a row, with Penn taking second and Harvard and Brown rounding out the top tier in a two-way tie for third place.

Grapplers Turn to Underclassmen

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

The wrestling team is frankly feeling pretty good right about now, as the Red (4-5, 1-0 Ivy) extended its winning streak to three on Saturday with victories against Hofstra, Columbia and Wagner. One of the most encouraging aspects of the team’s resurgence is the fact that the underclassmen in particular have been dominating on the mat, with freshmen wrestling in more than half of the eight total weight class bouts in last weekend’s dual meet against Columbia.

Friedman Center Sets Precedent for Excellence

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Everyone at Cornell knows about the tradition and excitement surrounding home ice hockey games at Lynah Rink — the hockey fan experience is practically a Big Red rite of passage. But if you were to take a short walk farther down Campus Road you would come upon an athletic center with a fan base just as enthusiastic and an atmosphere just as electric. This little-known Cornell gem is the Friedman Wrestling Center, the nation’s only stand-alone facility devoted to collegiate wrestling, and home to Cornell’s nationally ranked wrestling squad.

Grapplers Upset No. 12 Hofstra in Decisive Win

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

The buzzer-beater, the Hail Mary, the walk-off home run: these are the moments the sports world lives and dies by. Cornell’s wrestling team had its own taste of last-minute heroics Saturday night, as junior Steve Anceravage’s takedown with less than a second left in the match swung the score in his favor, electrifying the standing-room only crowd and dashing opponent Hofstra’s hopes for a comeback victory. No. 18 Cornell (2-5) stunned No. 12 Hofstra (11-6), 28-14, in front of the raucous wrestling faithful at Friedman Wrestling Center.

With the dual match win, Cornell goes into next Saturday’s meet against Columbia, the first Ivy League match of the season, riding a wave of newfound confidence.

Men's Polo Team Successful in First Match of 2008: After Slow Start, Red Rebounds to Carry Match

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Last Saturday night, the Oxley Equestrian Arena was once again filled with the sights, sounds and yes, smells, of a good polo match. The Red’s men’s team kicked off its winter season in style, defeating the Central New York Polo Club, 19-14, in a fairly competitive match.

The men’s first match of 2008 saw the Red start off a little slow. In the first chukker CNY quickly jumped out to a close 4-3 lead. CNY maintained its early momentum and scored three more unanswered points to rack up a 7-3 lead. Cornell was not disturbed, however, and quickly regained its composure, going on a scoring run of its own as the first half wound down. At halftime Cornell and CNY were all tied up at eight.

Koll Believes Honesty Is Best Policy

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Every great man in history has his special sayings, those unique, quirky personal expressions that make people listening shake their heads with confusion in that “we’ll let that go because it’s just the way he is,” way. Wrestling head coach Rob Koll is no different than other such ism-worthy legends — think of him as the slightly younger and definitely less crotchety Yogi Berra of the NCAA wrestling world.

Get out of his way

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 01:26:38 -0500

Junior guard Adam Gore (23) drives to the hoop during Saturday’s 72-54 win over Columbia in New York City. Gore led the Red with 17 points.

Grapplers Hit the Mats For Missouri Matchup

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Nothing hurts a sports team more than a bunch of injuries occurring on the same day. It can be crippling — literally. The Red experienced this unfortunate phenomenon first hand over the Winter Break at the Southern Scuffle, when three wrestlers were hurt — including All-American junior Jordan Leen — all within an hour of one another. This Sunday, Cornell will be on the opposite coast as they take on Missouri at the state-of-the-art Hearnes Center in Columbia. It will be the first match for the Red at close to full strength again, as head coach Rob Koll expects to have an active roster and a larger squad available.

“We have a better team than we had at the duals,” Koll said.

Wrestlers Ready For League Play

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Dogged by injury, Cornell’s wrestling team spent the winter break preparing for the upcoming Ivy League matches coming up in February. The Red placed third at the Reno Tournament of Champions Dec. 18, fourth at the Southern Scuffle in South Carolina and then went 1-4 in January at Penn St. (10-35), Iowa (3-32), Indiana (22-19) and a second match against the Nittany Lions (9-31). Cornell is currently ranked 16th in the country by the USA Today Division I Coaches Poll.

We had far too many injuries,” said head coach Rob Koll, “and we’re finally now just getting healthy again.”

Despite the losses, Koll said that Cornell’s competition was “fantastic,” with the Red going up against teams ranked at or near the top nationally.

Freshman Lewnes’ Success Not a Surprise

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

What does the Xbox 360, the Village People and the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. all have in common? Mack Lewnes, of course. Although seemingly unrelated, they are actually all connected to Cornell’s standout freshmen wrestler.

Lewnes, a native of Annapolis MD., has already proved himself worthy of the hype. Competing in the 165 pound category in the first dual meet of the season against Wisconsin, Lewnes made short work of Jake Donar. Early in the second period, Lewnes turned Donar from the down position and pinned him with 4:37 left. The six team points creating a shift in momentum that nearly turned into a come from behind win for the Red.

Wrestling Falls to Wisconsin, Wins Body Bar

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Newman Arena is host to many sporting events, but this weekend Newman Nation was all about its wrestling. No. 4 Cornell lost a close dual match against No. 13 Wisconsin, 21-18, Friday night before coming back to win the team title at Body Bar Invitational on Saturday.

“If the [Wisconsin] match was going to go any other way, it would have gone our way,” said junior co-captain Jordan Leen. Leen said that this was “absolutely” a match Cornell could have won, but that the team would use it as an opportunity to prepare for its next match.

The Friday competition boasted a crowd of over 3,000 fans, and the Red and the Badgers gave them a good show, with the meet coming down to the night’s last match.

Volleyball Splits Games

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Cornell, the defending three-time Ivy champion who will miss the playoffs for the first time in four seasons, concluded its final weekend of the season, losing, 3-1, on Friday to Dartmouth before coming from behind to win a hard-fought, five-game match against Harvard on Saturday night.

The Red ends its 2007 season with a 9-16 overall record, 6-8 against Ivy League opposition.

“It’s kind of surreal I guess,” said head coach Deitre Collins-Parker. “But, we ended the season at least with the [Harvard] win. We wanted to win at Dartmouth, but we competed well. They just got the big points at the end of the game.”

Leen Mentally Prepares for Campaign

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Junior wrestler Jordan Leen led the wrestling team in wins last year. He’s an All-American, a two-time NCAA Qualifier, an EIWA Champion and a two-time All-Ivy First Team honoree. But he doesn’t want to talk about all of that.

Leen started wrestling in third grade at the urging of his dad, a college wrestling coach himself. But he doesn’t want to talk about that either. Apparently, he feels his early wrestling years are too cliché to be interesting.

Jordan, consider yourself overruled. Leen said he has loved wrestling for as long as he can remember.

“I came out of the crib wrestling,” Leen said.

Anceravage Follows Family Into Wresting

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

What started out as a toddler’s attempts to duplicate his father’s middle school trophy collection has grown into a championship wrestling career for junior Steve Anceravage, who started wrestling when he was five years old.

“My dad had all these cool little trophies from when he was wrestling and I wanted them too,” Anceravage said.

His father encouraged him to participate in wrestling as well as other team sports. Anceravage played baseball soccer and football when he was growing up.

“[My dad] just wanted us to be active and involved in competitive sports,” he said.

Volleyball Sweeps Columbia in Home Finale

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

The volleyball team has had its high and lows this season, and during some of those low points it didn’t seem like the team would ever be able to pull itself up again.

But going into the last two games of the season, the Red finds itself riding high after beating Yale Saturday and then continuing its win streak with a decisive sweep of Columbia last night, 30-21, 32-30 and 30-15, in the team’s final home stand of the year.

With the win, the Red moves to 8-15 overall and 5-7 in Ivy play, with the chance of improving to a respectable .500 by the close of the season.

“Finishing .500 will put us right in the middle of the pack,” said head coach Deitre Collins-Parker.

Volleyball Splits Two Five-Set Matches

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Cornell split its home double-header this weekend, but not the way most fans would have predicted. The Red dropped its first match, 3-2, against Brown (6-14, 4-6 Ivy). Then Cornell came back to win its Saturday match, 3-2, against Yale, snapping a six-match win streak that had propelled the Bulldogs to the upper level of the Ivy League. After the weekend, Cornell moves to 7-14 (5-6).

“We played good at times [against Brown],” said head coach Deitre Collins-Parker. “[Brown] is the kind of team that we don’t match up well against. They’ve been known to upset people a lot.”

Volleyball Players Show Promise

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

What happens when your best just isn’t good enough? The volleyball team’s disappointing season is drawing to a close, and although the squad’s two seniors will be moving on, most members of the team will be left to figure out how they can ensure that the 2008-09 is a better one.

There are two weekends and five games left on the Red’s schedule, which after last weekend’s defeats, currently stands at 6-14 overall, and 3-6 in the Ivy League.

“This year has been hard on everybody, to go through these growing pains” head coach Dietre Collins-Parker said. “I really hope we can end on a good note [for the seniors].”

Volleyball Returns Home to Face Princeton and Penn

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Inconsistent would be a fair way to sum up the volleyball team’s experience so far as the team prepares to begin the second half of its Ivy League season against Princeton tonight and Penn tomorrow.

“This season has been unpresaid head coach Deitre Collins-Parker.

The Red (6-12, 3-4 Ivy) is coming off three straight losses, including two in the Ivy League, but can move past the .500 mark in the Ancient Eight with two wins.

However, both Penn and Princeton will present stiff competition. The Tigers are undefeated in Ivy play and the Quakers have only lost to Princeton and Yale thus far.

Slow Start Proves Fatal for Red

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Sometimes winning isn’t everything. Cornell’s volleyball team traveled to Syracuse last night for a game against its slightly more yellow in-state rival. Although the Orange was bigger than the Red and won the match in four games, 3-1, Cornell actually came away from the match feeling better about it’s next contest — Ivy opponent Princeton.

“It was a decent night,” said head coach Dietre Collins-Parker. “But we started off slowly, and in Game 1, we really didn’t play well.”

Syracuse jumped out to a quick lead in the first game of the match, and won easily, 30-13.

Volleyball Renews In-State Rivalry With Orange

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

The volleyball team has had better weeks. Despite past Ivy successes, last weekend found the Red again in the loss column, dropping matches to Yale and Brown. Tomorrow, however, is another day. Cornell will face off again, this time against in-state rival and Big East powerhouse Syracuse, in a match that promises to be a tough, but a potentially valuable, opportunity for the Red.

With the losses on Friday and Saturday, Cornell drops to 6-11 overall and 3-4 in the Ivy League. Currently the Orange will be looking to continue the success it has found as it wraps up an eight game home stand. Syracuse has a 4-2 record over the first six games of the series.

Volleyball’s Ivy Title Hopes Hurt With Pair of Losses

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

The high from last weekend’s doubleheader victory proved to be short lived for the volleyball team, as Cornell matched the twin triumphs with two defeats, losing to Yale, 3-1, on Friday and then to Brown, 3-2, on Saturday. With the losses the Red moves to 6-11 overall, and 3-4 in Ivy play.

“We still have four games at home to show what we can do,” said head coach Dietre Collins-Parker. “It’s never over until it’s over.”

Yale (11-5, 5-2 Ivy) cruised to victory in the first two games of the match, winning 30-16 and 30-14, respectively.

“They just have a lot of balance,” Collins-Parker said. “They’re taller, stronger and hit harder. We have some [tall players] but right now we just don’t have enough total size.”

Will the Real Marion Jones Please Stand Up?

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

I had only one nickname growing up. And it had absolutely nothing to do with my name, or my favorite animal or even my middle initial. No, my nickname throughout middle school and into high school was Marion Jr. The Marion in this case stands for Marion Jones, one of America’s most dominant female track and field athletes since Florence Griffith Joyner. Well, she used to be considered that, anyway. Last week, the Marion Jones I revered disappeared, and someone I didn’t recognize anymore admitted to taking, allegedly without her knowledge, the performance enhancing steroid “The Clear,” of BALCO and San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds notoriety.

Volleyball Improves Ivy Record With Two Wins

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Maybe it was the rowdy homecoming crowd, or maybe it was all the breast cancer supporters decked out in pink, but something seemed different in Newman Arena this weekend for the volleyball team. In contests against Harvard and Dartmouth, the Red finally shook off its confidence problems, fighting its way to back-to-back five-game victories.

With the wins, Cornell put a decisive end to its three-game losing streak, and moved to 6-9 overall and 3-2 in Ivy play.

Head coach Dietre Collins-Parker said that the team always knew it had the ability to play well.

“We just needed to do it [play well] for a longer period of time. We played with a lot of heart at the end when it mattered,” Collins-Parker said.

Volleyball Falls to Binghamton

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

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.

Opponents’ Sweeps Send Message

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

With the success of its first Ivy League victory fresh in its minds, the volleyball squad headed off for a league double-header, with the hopes of returning to Ithaca with a 3-0 record and a leg up in the race for the title championship.

Yet, both Penn (10-8, 2-1 Ivy) and Princeton (11-3, 3-0) swept Cornell (4-8, 1-2) over Fall Break, dropping the Red’s record to 1-2 in Ivy play.

“I thought that we played Ok at times,” said head coach Dietre Collins-Parker. “I’ve been harping on the fact that we’re inconsistent, but this time our good was better.”

Penn and Princeton both swept the Red, with Penn winning by scores of 30-20, 30-25 and 30-23, while Princeton defeated Cornell with scores of 30-28, 30-24 and 30-26, respectively.

Volleyball Begins Ivy Defense in New York City

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400

A new week is around the corner and with it comes the promise of more prelims, but also the possibility of a fresh start for Red volleyball (3-6), as the team heads to the Big Apple this Sunday for its first Ivy League match of the year against Columbia.

Until now, the tournaments Cornell had competed in counted toward its NCAA record, but not the Ivy League championship.

“We are very excited to start the Ivy season,” said senior captain Amy Gordon. “We are capable of winning the league, and that run is going to start on Sunday.”

Volleyball Swept on West Coast

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400

The volleyball team went to California dreaming of one last momentum and confidence booster before launching itself into conference play next weekend. But in the end, the dreams were just that, as the team lost to Saint Mary’s 3-0 on Friday, and was swept again on Saturday, losing to San Francisco 3-0.

With the losses, Cornell moved to 3-6 for the season, while Saint Mary’s and San Francisco moved to 7-4 and 11-5, respectively.

After a fairly disappointing performance at last weekend’s American Invitational, the team was hoping to find some last-minute encouragement this weekend. However, the Red had no illusions about the strengths of both the California squads. Saint Mary’s and San Francisco are not pushovers, a point that was hammered home in the weekend’s matches.

Volleyball Drops Three of Four

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Looking to improve on last week’s 2-2 tournament record, the volleyball team was unsuccessful this weekend, going 1-3 in the American Volleyball Invitational in Washington D.C. The Red came out hard on Friday, defeating Navy, 3-2, and raising expectations, before losing its next three matches, to American, Lafayette and Army, 3-0, 3-2, and 3-0 respectively. With this tournament, Cornell drops to 3-4 for the season. While all the teams it competed against in D.C. were in the Patriot League, the games will count towards the team’s overall NCAA record.

“We just didn’t play well this weekend,” said head coach Deitre Collins-Parker.

Friday afternoon, Army came out strong, taking the first game, 30-24.

Volleyball Visits D.C. for Invitational

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Last weekend, the volleyball team showed promise, but its 2-2 record also revealed plenty of things to work on. This weekend, the team will have the opportunity to showcase any improvements it hasmade in practice, as it competes against its Patriot League rivals in the American Tournament, in the capital city.

The team will be traveling to D.C. by bus, something that can be a little exhausting for the players.

“Traveling is always kind of taxing,” said senior captain Amy Gordon. “It can end up feeling like a really long weekend. But, it’s also really fun for us, it’s a great time to bond.”

Gordon said that she loves traveling, and always would look forward to it as an underclassman.

“It was just our time,” she said, “with no distractions.”

Volleyball Wins Two at Cornell Invitational

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400

The volleyball team started off the Cornell Invitational on a high note, sweeping its first two opponents Niagara and Bucknell, 3-0, and 3-1, respectively, to the raucous approval of the crowd on Friday. But Saturday proved more difficult, as the team lost both contests, losing to Siena, 3-1, and then fighting hard, but eventually succumbing to Montreal, 3-2, later that night.

Volleyball Looks for Continued Success

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400

It’s one thing to be a freshman on a Division I, championship-winning varsity squad, but it’s quite another to start on that team. And that’s exactly the situation that many of last year’s recruits now find themselves in — vying for starting spots in the team’s first real game of the season this Friday at the Cornell Invitational.

Cornell’s women’s volleyball team had a great season last year, finishing with its third straight Ivy League title and with awards to back-up its all-star reputation.

Two Seniors Look to Lead Freshmen

Meredith Bennett-Smith — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 00:00:00 -0400

It’s that time again. The volleyball squad is working out the kinks and taking stock of itself as the preseason wraps up and Cornell’s Ivy opponents loom.

With three straight Ivy League titles, and two straight NCAA appearances, the Red will again be led by head coach Deitre Collins-Parker. Collins-Parker decided to return to Cornell after a short stint as an assistant coach at the University of Georgia during the off season.

In three years under Collins-Parker, Cornell is 54-24, playing under her system of team unity, sacrifice and realism.

Collins-Parker’s realism comes after a the graduation of five seniors, including All-American Elizabeth Bishop ’07.