By ryan
The women’s volleyball team has one goal for this weekend’s matches: reduce unforced errors. On Saturday, the Red (15-8, 4-3 Ivy) will host Saint Francis and SUNY- Albany in the Big Red Invitational. Fortunately, the Red will most likely come out with two more ticks in its win column. On the down side, these two teams are far from Ivy caliber. “We know we are going to beat them, they aren’t any competition for us,” junior outside hitter Jennifer Borncamp said. “I kind of wish we were playing harder teams, but its good because we can start with the basics and play a solid game with less errors.” “This is the time for us to really work on our game, our side of the court and carrying over what we learned in practice,” senior middle blocker Robin Moore expressed. St. Francis heads to the East Hill with a semi-respectable 9-21 record and a .136 team mark in hitting. After taking its season opener, the Red Flash was a victim of an early 12-match losing streak. In its last eight games, the Flash has posted a 6-2 record and regained some of the respect it lost in its September swoon. The Flash is captained by senior outside hitter Tina Miller, who leads the team with 371 kills and a .207 hitting percentage. Sophomore outside hitters Beth Robinson and Amanda Walter have also contributed this year. Robinson has assumed a setter’s role and sparked the offense with 624 assists. Walter has put up 189 kills and is second on the team with 370 digs. This weekend marks the Red’s third meeting with Albany this season. In its two previous matches, the Red handily beat the Great Danes in four games. Albany is not really fooling anyone with its 3-19 record. Notably, in its 19 loses, the Danes were sent home without winning a game in 14 of them. Snapping a six-match losing streak on Wednesday against Marist, Albany is lead by senior captain and outside hitter Julie Arbitman. In Wednesday’s victory, Arbitman helped the team with 15 kills and 12 digs. Sophomore setter Alissa Gibbs also put up good stats and lead the team with 17 kills and 13 digs. Error reduction is Cornell’s resounding goal for this weekend. “This whole week we have been working on [reducing errors]. For the offense we have been working on doing [trick] shots into the court,” Borncamp reported. “If we get stuck in tight situations, we don’t have to swing the hardest possible, we can give a little trick shot and they’ll go down.” Despite this week’s matches, the team is always thinking about the looming Ivy League tournament. “For the Ivies we have been working on new things in practice,” Borncamp said. “Instead of working on all the old things that Princeton and Brown have already seen, we have been trying new plays [and] things that will surprise them.” “We have started preparing [for the tournament], but not specifically. We know we are going to play Brown in the first round, but we haven’t really mentioned what they are going to do because we have a pretty good idea already,” Moore elaborated. “We played a five-game match against them, and they didn’t switch anything in that match, so we are all pretty confident [Brown] is not going to pull out anything new. We just have to play a little bit better against them.” “We are really excited to get to the [tournament] and beat the teams that we haven’t beaten yet,” sophomore defensive specialist Mary Margaret Moore said. “It’s nice to say that we have a third-place ranking, but when we get to the [tournament], it doesn’t really matter. All the teams are equal. It’s who shows up to play. Third is nice, but we have got to play.” The Big Red Invitational will begin at 10 a.m. tomorrow with the Red facing St. Francis. Cornell will be back in action at 7 p.m. to wrap up the tourney with its match against Albany. The matches will be held in Newman Arena.Archived article by Katherine Granish
By ryan
There’s an old adage in sport: offense wins games, defense wins championships. Never is this more true than in college hockey, where offenses will always be trying to fly past defensemen for the breakaway. Without a superstar scorer in its lineup, Cornell will need to shut down other teams’ top lines with its defense to win games. Luckily, the Red has just the men for the job. It all starts with senior leadership. Seniors Danny Powell and Larry Pierce, both captains this year, will be the three-year lettermen responsible for bringing cohesion to a group of young but experienced defensemen. The two play different styles, personifying the two-headed capabilities of this defense — scoring and power. They are the anchors of the ship. Powell is the more imposing of the two, and at 6-3, 215-pounds he a big man with the power to crush smaller forwards. He is the classic stay-at-home defenseman, always there to keep a wary eye on the opponent’s top gunners. The senior is certainly not afraid to shoot the puck, however, and will do so frequently. He managed two goals and seven assists in his junior campaign while playing in all 32 games for Cornell. Powell will be looked to this year to be the strong man on the blueline, to keep the puck in the attacking zone, and to sustain pressure for the Red. Pierce, at 5-11, 195 pounds, will be looked to for more offense than his senior counterpart. The deceptively speedy defenseman will be asked to pinch in deep and find opportunities to score. Last year, he chipped in six goals and six assists, second-best on the team among defensemen. Pierce, like almost every other member of this crew, is strong enough to shatter an opposing attacker against the boards. Juniors Brian McMeekin and Alex Gregory will be expected to step up this year and provide depth at the defensive position. Both have had limited roles on the team thus far, but McMeekin’s physical style and Gregory’s offensive presence could be important factors in the Red’s run for the ECAC title. Head coach Mike Schafer ’86 brought in one of the most talented defensive classes in the country last year when he added sophomores Doug Murray, Travis Bell and Mark McRae to Cornell’s blueline. Murray, at 6-3, 230-pounds, is perhaps the most imposing man the ice hockey team has at its disposal. He uses his size to his advantage, and will likely be paired with Powell as Cornell’s one-two punch to match other team’s top lines. He is powerful and has a wicked slapshot that he can unleash. He had trouble finding the net last year, scoring only three times, but expect that total to rise as he finds an offensive groove to match his physical skills. One player who had no trouble finding the back of the net last year was Mark McRae, who led the Red defensemen in scoring. His five goals and 21 assists were good enough for eighth in the ECAC in defenseman scoring. He is not a pure offensive weapon however, and can certainly play tight defense on any player opponents throw at him. He is one of the best two-way players the Red have. Bell saw limited ice-time last year, but an increase in minutes this year should allow him to emerge as another scoring threat for the Red from the blueline. He is a knowledgeable hockey player who can distribute the puck well. This year’s freshman class includes two new defensemen, David Hughes and Ben Wallace. Each should provide the Red with chances from their blueline posts while maintaining the necessary physical attributes a good defenseman must utilize. Other ECAC teams, beware. When opponents visit Lynah this year, they will face not one, but two Cornell defenses. One bruising, physical and deadly along the boards, the other speedy, fluid and deadly from the blue line.Archived article by Charles Persons