Unranked and eighth-seeded, the Rams were ready for the moment Friday night and put a scare into Wartburg’s undefeated season in an NCAA Division III Volleyball Regional Quarterfinal battle inside Levick Arena.
Cornell claimed a thrilling third set and led late in the fourth before top-seeded and No. 4 nationally-ranked Wartburg escaped with a 25-20, 25-16, 26-28, 25-22 victory on its home floor.
The Rams, making their eighth NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011, closed a fine campaign at 20-12 overall. Ten of the 12 losses came against regionally-ranked opponents. Wartburg (28-0), among two unbeatens in the 64-team field, was the ninth Top 25 foe the Rams took on this fall.
“I’m proud of our team. We played our hearts out tonight,” Cornell head coach Jeff Meeker said. “This has been a really rewarding season to be able to coach such awesome young women. We played a tough schedule, stood together and finished the season playing our best volleyball.”
The Rams played their best Friday when the odds were stacked against them, down 2-0 in sets and trailing 7-1 to start the third. A big 6-0 service run by Ilah Perez-Johnson brought the Rams back in it.
Cornell denied the Knights twice on match-point serve, down 25-24 and 26-25. Perez-Johnson slammed consecutive kills to put the Rams ahead 27-26, and a Wartburg miscue gave Cornell the third set.
The Rams rode momentum into Set 4, built a 21-16 lead and seemed poised to extend the match to a fifth set. However, the Knights charged back with seven unanswered points and regained the lead.
A Perez-Johnson spike finally stopped the spurt and got Cornell within 23-22. But that wound up to be Cornell’s final point of the season.
“We just didn’t quite have enough there down the stretch in the fourth set,” Meeker said. “We had the lead and couldn’t quite get to the end of the fourth set. If we get to a fifth set, we would be excited about our chances.”
Cornell fifth-year senior libero Sydney Meeker was terrific in the back row, capping a banner-filled career with a match-high 33 digs. She appeared in her third NCAA Tournament and 126th match as a Ram.
Sophomore Perez-Johnson recorded an impressive double-double with 16 kills and 19 digs in her NCAA debut. Rory Light delivered 10 kills and five blocks. Grace Marti hit an efficient .318 with eight kills.
Alissa McEndaffer added seven kills in her final collegiate match. She totaled 934 kills in her career.
Clare Green handed out 42 assists. Olivia Richards contributed six kills and 14 digs.
Wartburg hit .228 for the match to Cornell’s .122. The Rams held a 5-3 edge in ace serves.
The Rams reached the 20-win mark for the ninth time in coach Meeker’s 20 years at the helm. Cornell was crowned Midwest Conference regular-season champions for the ninth year in a row and won the MWC Tournament for the seventh time since 2012.
Cornell is set up for another run next season with many key pieces returning, including five starters in Light, Marti, Richards, Perez-Johnson and Green.
Cornell volleyball season ends in 3-1 fall to Wartburg
November 18, 2021