Volleyball Travels to Ivy Foes Princeton, Penn

Coming off a disappointing midweek loss to Binghamton on Tuesday, the volleyball team is eager to return to Ancient Eight play and its more familiar, although not less formidable, foes. The Red will hit the road this weekend to take on current Ivy runners-up Princeton at 7 p.m. today followed by a 4 p.m. tilt with Penn tomorrow.
Cornell currently sits in third place in the Ivies with a 6-2 record, but a disappointing 7-11 overall record due to some tough out-of-conference play, both before and during the regular season. Princeton sits in the No. 2 spot with a 6-1 record and a 12-3 overall mark, just behind No. 1 Yale, which handed Cornell one of its two losses on the season two weeks ago. [img_assist|nid=33171|title=Up and at ‘em|desc=Middle blockers junior Kathryn Woodbury (16) and freshman Kelly Hansen (4) block a Binghamton attack on Oct. 28.|link=node|align=left|width=|height=0]
The Tigers themselves delivered the other Red defeat, a 25-15, 27-25, 25-18 sweep that saw junior libero Megan Mushovic register 18 digs to break the school record for career digs. Senior Emily Borman was another bright spot in the Red’s loss, with a .462 hitting percentage and a match-leading 14 kills.
The stellar Tiger attack was led by senior middle blocker Lindsey Ensign, outside hitter Parker Enritze and freshman middle blocker Cathryn Quinn — all 5-10 or taller — who plagued the Red with 10 kills apiece. Senior setter Bailey Robinson notched a match-high 40 sets.
Penn (8-11, 4-3 Ivy) put up a tough fight in its earlier matchup with Cornell, but ultimately fell 25-22, 26-24, 21-25, 25-16. Freshman middle blocker Kelly Hansen had a huge game with 10 kills and nine blocks, as she continues to prove why she generated so much early buzz with the Red. Junior outside hitter Juliana Rogers, senior outside hitter Kathryn Woodbury and classmate middle blocker Emily Borman also had their way with the Quaker defense, notching 10, 9 and 11 kills, respectively.
Penn’s sophomore outside hitter Julia Swanson carried the team with 15 kills and 16 digs. Junior right side hitter Anne Magnuson (12 kills, .333 hitting percentage) and sophomore libero Madison Wojchiechowski (26 digs) also had nice performances for a gritty Penn team.
If the Red still has its eyes on at least a share of an Ivy title the team must be aware of the pressure it will feel to perform well and win this weekend, since it is fairly essential that the Red keeps up with Ivy leader Yale. The Bulldogs are playing fifth-ranked Harvard on Friday and seventh-ranked Dartmouth on Saturday.