The women’s volleyball team (8-3, 2-0 Ivy) continues to roll through what has become an historical season. Last weekend, Cornell put itself in the record books when it garnered its 22nd consecutive game win this season, before finally dropping a game to Columbia. New head coach Deitre Collins has propelled the Red’s success, as Cornell began the season losing several major players, including Ashely Stover ’04 and one of Cornell’s best attackers ever, Debbie Quibell ’04. Cornell currently has no seniors on the roster. This weekend the Red will try to continue its trend of success, when Cornell faces Dartmouth (3-9, 0-2 Ivy) and Harvard (7-5, 2-0 Ivy) in back-to-back matches tonight and tomorrow.
The Green has struggled this season, opening with five straight losses in the first two weeks. Despite bouncing back recently and going 3-2 over a five-game span, Dartmouth was swept by the Red’s other opponent this weekend, Harvard.
Dartmouth’s most impressive veteran threat is senior Diana Szczepanski, who leads the team with 3.89 digs per game. She is sixth in the Ivies in that category as well.
In direct contrast to Dartmouth, the Crimson will be a major threat to Cornell’s smooth season thus far. Despite beginning the season 2-3, Harvard has had a complete turnaround. In the Ivies, the Crimson brought down Dartmouth last weekend, failing to lose even a single game. Most recently, Harvard dropped a match to Boston College on Tuesday to fall to 7-5 on the season.
The Crimson’s primary threat is 6-foot senior Kaego Ogbechie, who leads the squad in kills per game, hitting percentage, and points. The Red will also have to watch senior outside hitter Nilly Schweitzer, who was second-team All-Ivy last year.
Cornell currently leads the Ivy League in assists per game, blocks per game, kills per game, and hitting percentage. Cornell has handled opponents well both individually and as a team. The somewhat inexperienced Red has several category leaders on the team, including junior middle blocker Heather Young, who leads the Ivy League with a tremendous .335 hitting percentage. Sophomore Liz Bishop is tops in kills per game in the Ivy League, with 4.72. Junior Whitney Fair leads the Ivy League with 11.78 assists per game.
Last year, Cornell garnered wins in all of its four matches against the Green and the Crimson. The Red will try to continue both this trend and its season of success tonight.
Archived article by Mike Pandolfini
Sun Staff Writer