Cornell’s volleyball team put the finishing touch on a perfect Midwest Conference regular season with a 25-22, 25-11, 25-20 victory over Lawrence Saturday inside the Small Sport Center.
The Rams then completed a Senior Day sweep by outlasting non-conference foe Dubuque in a five-set battle – 25-18, 25-20, 19-25, 25-27, 15-8.
Cornell (18-11 overall) is the MWC regular-season champion for the ninth year in a row, going 8-0 in league play while dropping only two sets along the way. This is the team’s eighth undefeated MWC regular season since 2012.
The Rams built more momentum going into next week’s MWC Tournament, which they will host Nov. 5-6.
Clare Green distributed 84 assists in Saturday’s matches, highlighted by a double-double of 52 assists and 14 digs against Dubuque (10-17). The freshman setter is now only 25 assists shy of 1,000 for the season.
Rory Light and Alissa McEndaffer formed a potent 1-2 hitting punch with 30 and 26 kills, respectively, for the day. Light totaled 18 kills against Dubuque, Ilah Perez-Johnson 17, McEndaffer 12, Olivia Richards 11 and Grace Marti nine.
Perez-Johnson and Sydney Meeker shared team-high honors with 23 digs apiece against the Spartans. Richards added a season-best 20 digs.
Meeker fired six total service aces on her Senior Day, which included recognition of teammates McEndaffer, Lindsey Frazier, Taylor Cruz and Sarah Carvo.
McEndaffer posted a match-high 14 kills against Lawrence (5-18 overall, 0-8 MWC). Light hit a sizzling .600 with 12 kills.
The top-seeded Rams open MWC Tournament play Friday with a 7 p.m. semifinal against Monmouth in the Small Sport Center. Grinnell and Illinois College meet in Friday’s first semifinal at 4:30 p.m.
Earlier in the week, the Rams captured its ninth consecutive MWC regular-season crown with a 25-12, 26-24, 18-25, 25-22 victory over the Pioneers in an anticipated battle between league unbeatens. It was the teams’ first meeting since the 2019 MWC semifinal in Mount Vernon, won by Grinnell.
Coach Jeff Meeker’s Rams earned the No. 1 seed and home-court advantage in the four-team MWC Tournament, held Nov. 5-6 in Mount Vernon. The field will include Grinnell, Illinois College and Monmouth.
Sophomore outside hitter Perez-Johnson (16 kills, 14 digs) and freshman setter Green (41 assists, 14 digs) went for double-doubles to pace the Rams in Wednesday’s hard-fought match that witnessed 28 ties and 17 lead changes.
The Rams had great balance offensively and posted a .229 attack percentage. McEndaffer hit .333 with 13 kills, Light slammed 11 kills on .370 hitting and Marti came through with nine kills.
Light led all players with five blocks. Meeker scooped 11 digs and had a perfect 18-of-18 night from the service line, including one ace.
Green set the tone early with eight consecutive service points, breaking a 7-7 score in the opening set that the Rams won handily. Perez-Johnson exploded for seven kills in a tightly-contest second set, which Light closed out with a spike.
Grinnell came back to take Set 3, but the Rams regained momentum late in a see-saw fourth set that was tied 13 times, including at 18-18. Marti’s kill started a 3-0 Cornell run and moments later the Rams celebrated championship point on a block by Light.