Cornell volleyball hosted Yale on Friday and Brown on Saturday. The Red previously lost to both schools on the road, but the team hoped for a different outcome at home.
Unfortunately, the end result was the same as Cornell was defeated by both teams, leaving the Red’s standing at (6-12, 2-8 Ivy League).
Even though the Red lost against Yale (13-5, 6-3), Jillienne Bennett, Joanna Chang, Casey Justus and Camryn Carlo all individually performed well. Despite a 0-3 (25-21, 25-15, 25-20) loss, the Red was able to outkill them. Bennett specifically, had a match-high of nine kills, with Change and Justus contributing with eight and seven kills, respectively. Bennett didn’t stop there though — she had 17 kills, .353 hitting percentage and 3 blocks. Justus additionally had a season-high of five blocks.
Yale ended up out-hitting Cornell, though, with .255 to .117 from the match. They additionally had 37 assists with the Red only having 31.
Madison Baptiste and Emma Worthington performed well over the weekend. Baptiste earned a team-high of 12 digs and Worthington also had a team-high of 20 assists.
On Saturday, Cornell faced off against Brown (16-4, 9-1) once again. They lost 0-3 (25-21, 25-17, 25-15), but senior Avery Hanan had one of her best matches of the season. She had a match-high and season-best of 13 kills, a .303 hitting percentage, two digs and a match- and team-high of two blocks.
“We were up against some of the toughest teams in the league and were able to come together and play as a team, but fell short in a couple areas,” Hanan said. “The games were very good learning opportunities and we know what we need to work on this week in preparation for this weekend and the rest of the season.”
Hanan wasn’t enough to stop Brown, though. The Bears were precise on their serves and came out with a better hitting percentage than the Red, .336 to .197. Brown had 6 aces compared to the Red’s single ace, completed by Emma Worthington.
Rylee Baptiste and Worthington also had themselves a good night. Baptiste collected a team-high of 22 assists and Worthington contributed 13. Then they both added eight and seven digs, respectively. While Chang had a match-high of 12 digs.
“Our team continues to improve each week, and this week’s focus is likely going to be on finishing games as they get close to the end and thriving in pressure situations,” Hanan said.
Next weekend, Cornell defends its home court for one of the last times this season. On Friday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. the Red will face Dartmouth for its Senior Night. And on Saturday, Nov. 6, Cornell will host Harvard at 5 p.m.
“We have a good feeling about Dartmouth. We are playing them on our home court, and it is our senior night weekend and our last few home games. I think many of us will come out and play our best, especially for our seniors,” Chang said.