The volleyball team (7-2, 0-0 Ivy) extended its winning streak to six games, as it swept the Binghamton Bearcats (8-9) in three sets last night at Newman Arena. Junior outside hitter Elizabeth Bishop recorded the 1,000th kill of her career in the victory. She became only the fourth player in Cornell history to reach the 1,000-kill plateau.
Bishop led the Red with 21 kills in the three-game set, while senior Rachel Adomat chipped in with 13 and posted an impressive hitting percentage of .765. Senior co-captain Whitney Fair led the Red with 46 assists and sophomore Kara Zaragoza paced the Red with a team-high 10 digs. Despite the victory, the Red was displeased with its effort against a spirited Bearcat team.
“We didn’t execute well at all,” said head coach Deitre Collins. “The way we played tonight was not indicative of the way we’ve been playing. We played well enough to win and that is a positive, but things didn’t seem to click very well.”
Cornell started slowly in game one, as a feisty Binghamton team jumped out to a five-point lead 13-8, midway through the first game. Bishop tied the game two points later with a mega spike and the Red seemed to capitalize on the momentum shift. Senior libero and co-captain Kelly Kramer added a service ace, as the Red went on a 15-6 run to end the first game, winning with a final score of 30-21.
Game two proved to be the most exciting of the evening, as Cornell won 30-27. Binghamton again jumped out to an early lead, 7-4, before the Red battled back. After tying the score at 12, both teams hit a wall, as neither squad could gain any momentum. Neither team enjoyed more than a two-point lead until late in the game when the match was tied 27. After a missed serve by Binghamton and another point won by Cornell, junior Alaina Town sealed the deal for the Red, as she found herself alone in front of the net, spiking the ball with authority into the heart of the Binghamton defense.
Binghamton played Cornell tough again in game three, as both teams played even volleyball until Cornell took a two-point lead, 11-9, after two kills from junior middle blocker Joanna Weiss. Zaragoza recorded a service ace to give Cornell a 12-9 lead, which forced Binghamton to take a timeout. Cornell would never relinquish its advantage, as Bishop eventually went on to record the last four points en route to a 30-22 win.
Although the victory saw the Red play sluggish and sub-par compared to its talent level, the win should serve the team well in the long run, as it looks forward to its first Ivy League game against Columbia this Saturday in New York City.
“We learned tonight that we can’t just show up and expect to win,” Kramer said. “We can’t be on and off against the Ivies like we were tonight. The only place we can take care of that is in practice. One of the things we are pushing for now is more focused practices.”
Although the the team is upset about last night’s performance, the fact is that a win is still a win. “We were just glad that we pulled it out in three,” Fair said. “That was a big deal for us because we weren’t playing like we usually do.”
Archived article by Tim Kuhls
Sun Staff Writer