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With a bunch of fresh faces — including that of its new head coach — the Cornell volleyball team (0-0, 0-0 Ivy) looks to start its season off strongly today when it opens with a tournament at Cal State Northridge. CSUN, the host of this weekend’s tournament, had a poor start to its season with three consecutive losses to UCLA, Colorado, and Oregon. Southern Methodist University (2-1) and UNLV (2-1) round out the tournament field. The Red enters this season returning no seniors, but several familiar faces that will help make Cornell competitive in the coming games. Sophomore Elizabeth Bishop, who had a stellar run last season and was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year, will lead on the outside. Junior Whitney Fair, who has started for the past two years, will be a serious threat at the setter position. Junior Kelly Kramer, who had an amazingly strong season last year, will continue to lead at the libero position. “We’re still in the learning stage,” said head coach Deitre Collins. “But our goal is just to get better every week and prepare for Ivies.” Cornell’s first game today is against Southern Methodist University. The Mustang’s lone loss came against Texas in its first game of the season, but SMU then proceeded to beat Northern Arizona and Cal Poly at its own tournament last weekend. Senior Beth Karasek will be a major threat — she is averaging 5.78 kills per game thus far. “We really are going this one day at a time,” Collins said. “The great thing about Cornell is that [we’ve] worked really hard the last few weeks coming into this.” Later tonight, Cornell will face the host of the tournament, CSUN. CSUN currently sits at the bottom of the Big West conference. However, despite having lost its first three matches, the Matadors pose a serious threat to the Red. Particularly, Cornell will have to watch out for CSUN senior Jen Ryan, who is leading Northridge in kills per game (3.55) and points (41.0). In addition, senior Nadine Nickel has played well for CSUN, and leads the squad in assists per game (7.18) and service aces (3). Tomorrow will be a big day — particularly for Collins — when the Red meets up with UNLV for its final match of the weekend. UNLV may prove to be a tough squad to handle, especially with its very strong recruiting class this year. Freshman outside hitter Maria Aladjova garnered the most kills per game (4.91) for the Rebels in their first weekend of this season. In addition, Brittani Lumsden trailed right behind her, averaging an impressive 3.82 kills per game. “Well, they’ve changed a lot,” Collins said with a laugh. “A lot of the kids that played when I was there have graduated.”Archived article by Mike PandolfiniSun Staff Writer
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After only a few days worth of practices, the women”s tennis team will play in its first tournament today. This weekend, the Reis Tennis Center will be the site of the Cornell Fall Invitational, in which Army, Lehigh and Rutgers will compete along with Cornell. The Red is looking to improve after a 6-10 (1-6 Ivy) season, with former Princeton assistant coach Laura Glitz replacing interim coach Tom Borwnlie “98. Glitz, who was an All-American at Arizona State and was ranked No. 1 nationally in the USTA women’s open singles in 1994, will work to develop the young, but experienced team. ‘We”re just trying to get each [player] better, and try to get them ready for the Ivy season,’ Glitz said. ‘Hopefully, we”ll keep improving.’ The Invitational is split into three flights, with Cornell sending players to each level. Slated to play Flight A singles are seniors Akane Kokubo and team captain Melissa Tu, junior Kara Maloy and sophomores Kasia Preneta and Nisha Suda. Kokubo (14-12) was an All-Ivy second team selection for both singles and doubles. She was last year”s Invitational Flight A champion. Tu will look to improve on her 13-13 record from last season, and Glitz said her leadership will be invaluable to both herself and the rest of the players. In addition, helping out Glitz this fall will be former No. 1 singles star Laura Tallent “04 — the only player lost from last year”s squad. While Maloy, who was 5-3 last year, hopes to take her game to the next level, Preneta, last year”s Flight B champion, and Suda, last year”s Flight C winner, will all hope to have a major impact this year. ‘I”m hoping we make the same kind of progress [as last year],’ Maloy said. ‘We have a lot of freshmen who are really strong, and a lot of returning players.’ Flight B will include two of those freshmen, Dana Cruite and Ashley Ebbert. ‘I”m really excited,’ Cruite said. ‘It”s a lot more tennis than I”m used to playing.’ Also cracking the Flight B lineup are sophomore Melanie Tu, and juniors Mollie Edinson, Jennifer Liu, and Liying Wang. Edinson will look to make an impact after suffering injuries the last two years and Wang, an excellent doubles player, will be vital to the Red”s success. Rounding out the Cornell lineup are freshman Weatherly Schwab and junior Jessica Wienstien, who will both compete in Flight C. ‘It”s the first tournament of the year,’ Glitz said. ‘The purpose of the tournament is to play a lot of matches and to get playing time in. I want to see everyone play.’ Cornell”s competition at the Invitational all had fine seasons last year. But Army (19-8, 5-0 Patriot), Lehigh (13-5, 3-2 Patriot) and Rutgers (13-7, 7-3 Big East) each have had very different off-seasons. Army is coming off its best season ever, in which it went undefeated in the Patriot League. The team returns with three All-Patriot League honorees in senior captain Marrisa Limsiaco, junior Megan Noble and sophomore Ali del Moral. Conversely, Lehigh is a young team, boasting five freshmen. Sophomore Gwen Dwyer (11-7) is the only team member with top flight experience while Rutgers returns with quality players such as senior Helen Magomedova (18-12) and Laura Edelschein (17-5). Archived article by Josh PerlinSun Contributor