This past weekend volleyball continued Ivy League play, hosting Brown and Yale at Helen Newman Arena. Facing overpowering matchups, the Red ultimately failed to come away with a win and got swept by both opponents.
“We executed the game plan,” said sophomore libero Jackie Baker. “I just think that the teams we played, Yale and Brown, were more consistent so they ended up edging us.”
In Friday’s game against No.4 Brown (6-6, 2-1 Ivy), the team competed hard to the very last point. After trailing 17-11 in set one, the Red brought itself back within striking distance by scoring three consecutive points, via a kill by junior blocker Sydney Moore, a block by Moore, and a kill by senior outside hitter Joanna Chang. However, the Bears went on to outscore Cornell, 8-2, and win the first set, 25-16.
In set two, the two teams fought neck and neck. The score was knotted at 10-10, when Brown scored five consecutive points to start pulling away. However, the Red scored four of the next five points to keep the game close at 16-14, but the Bears were still able to hold on to their lead until the end and secured a 25-20 win in set two.
The Bears started set three going on a 4-0 run and never looked back, as Cornell was unable to make up the deficit. Brown won set three 25-20 and completed the sweep of the Red.
“Brown offensively…were super disciplined,” Baker said. “I think that they have a lot of big hitters on their team. Their opposite [hitter] obviously played incredible, so I think that [made them] pretty good.”
In Saturday’s game against No.1 Yale (11-1, 3-0 Ivy), Cornell held the lead for most of set one. The Red led 21-18 late in the set, but Yale scored the next three points to tie up the score.
After a kill by Chang to retake the lead for the Red, Yale started to pull away, scoring another three consecutive points, and the Bulldogs ultimately completed the comeback and won set one, 25-23.
“[Playing against] Yale, it was just back and forth the entire time, and I think they just got one or two [key] points,” Baker said.
Similarly in set two, Cornell stayed within a couple points of the Bulldogs for most of the set. They trailed by only one point, 17-16, late in the set, however Yale put on a strong offensive performance and outscored Cornell, 9-2, for the rest of the set to win, 25-18.
Set three was overpowered by Yale, as they quickly jumped out 5-0 and never relinquished the lead. The Red went on to lose the final set 15-25, marking their second loss via the sweep of the weekend.
Looking ahead, the team, currently ranked fifth in the Ivy League, will travel to New Jersey to face off against No.2 Princeton (11-2, 3-0 Ivy) at 7:00 p.m. this Friday, Oct. 7. Then head to Philadelphia to play No.8 Penn (1-12, 0-3 Ivy) at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 8.
“In practice this week we’re preparing for Penn and Princeton,” Baker said. “They’re not [very] physical teams, but we’re working a lot on defense, and how to defend them. Obviously, also getting the points that we need in order to win, like [winning] the big plays and everything, [creating] momentum shifts, etc.”