Ben Parker / Sun Assistant Photography Editor

Cornell couldn't beat Dartmouth in their second meeting of the year and ended the season with a loss.

November 18, 2019

Cornell Volleyball Finishes Season 3rd in Ivy League

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Cornell volleyball closed out its season with away matches at Harvard and Dartmouth over the weekend.

On Friday, Cornell swiftly beat Harvard in Cambridge, claiming a 3-0 victory with scores of 25-23, 25-19 and 25-15.

The game was dominated by Cornell junior right side Paige Becker, who made 10 kills and one block.

In Cornell’s last contest against the Crimson, the Red won three sets to one in mid-October. At the time, Cornell was riding a nine-game winning streak.

On Saturday, the Red couldn’t pull off one last win, falling 3-1 at Dartmouth. Although sophomore outside Madison Baptiste and senior middle blocker Jada Stackhouse each added 14 kills, with sophomore outside Avery Hanan tacking on another 10, it wasn’t enough for the Red, who lost to Dartmouth in the first, third and fourth sets.

Cornell swept Dartmouth three sets to zero in their matchup earlier in the season, but the Red couldn’t replicate those results in Hanover.

“[Dartmouth] had a more solid block against us and they definitely stayed more level-headed,” Becker said. “They worked really hard to slow the game down against us. We play very fast-paced and it changes when the other side knows to slow down the game.”

Cornell ended the season with an 8-4 record in Ivy League play — good for third place in the conference, while Princeton and Yale tied for first in the league with 10-2 records.

The Red fell to Yale in both of the games, but managed to beat Princeton in one of the two times they faced off.

Cornell started its season strong, at one point boasting an 11-game winning streak before its first loss to Yale.

Despite the coming graduation of several key members of the squad, younger players show potential to keep the program toward the top of the league. 2019 marked the second consecutive year that the Red finished third in the Ancient Eight.

“We’re always working on outsmarting the other side,” Becker said.