Cornell went head-to-head with two of the nation’s elite volleyball programs Saturday, falling in four sets to ninth-ranked Hope (25-16, 24-26, 25-21, 25-22) and sixth-ranked Calvin (25-15, 18-25, 25-15, 25-15) at the Hope Invitational.
The Rams (7-5 overall) finished 2-2 in the tournament, earning 3-0 wins Friday night over national votes-getter Muskingum and Dominican.
The Rams were squared 1-1 in sets with Hope and tied 21-21 late in the third. Cornell also had a chance in the fourth set, which was even at 22-22.
Rory Light had 19 kills on .371 hitting against Hope. The junior also had four blocks. Sydney Meeker gathered a match-high 27 digs, followed by Ilah Perez-Johnson with 16.
Setter Clare Green handed out 39 assists, 13 going to Alissa McEndaffer who hit an impressive .355 in the Hope match. McEndaffer added 10 digs for a double-double.
The Rams were tied 1-1 against a talented Calvin squad going into the third set. Cornell opened the second set on a 10-2 scoring run, highlighted by eight straight service points from Perez-Johnson. Perez-Johnson fired a career-best seven ace serves in the match.
McEndaffer led Cornell’s attack with 16 kills. Light posted a sizzling .545 hitting percentage with 14 kills.
Green distributed 34 assists. Perez-Johnson and Meeker totaled 16 and 13 digs, respectively.
On Friday, Light was spectacular in her return to Cornell’s volleyball lineup, helping the Rams sweep Muskingum (25-17, 25-23, 26-24) and Dominican (25-11, 25-19, 25-23) at the Hope Invitational.
Light gave Cornell’s attack a big boost with 33 total kills and an impressive .568 hitting percentage in the convincing wins. She also recorded six blocks for the night.
The Rams were ready from the get-go against Muskingum. Cornell built a 12-3 lead in the opening set and didn’t look back.
Light registered eight of her match-high 16 kills in Set 2, including the go-ahead spike with the score at 23-23. In Set 3, the Rams rallied from a 17-10 deficit and completed the comeback with consecutive kills by Alissa McEndaffer followed by match point from Light.
McEndaffer had a strong offensive match with 14 kills on .591 hitting. Ilah Perez-Johnson added six kills and nine digs. Clare Green set 34 assists and Sydney Meeker led the team with 10 digs.
The Rams received eight kills from Perez-Johnson and seven apiece from McEndaffer and Olivia Richards. Green dished 33 assists and Meeker had 14 digs. Lindsey Frazier and Green both served two aces.
Coming up next –Cornell begins its Midwest Conference title defense Friday, Sept. 24, with a 7 p.m. home match against Knox.
Cornell VB 2-2 at Hope Invitational
September 23, 2021