Freshman Ella McLaughlin capped an outstanding offensive road trip with 14 kills in Saturday’s 25-18, 25-14, 25-14 Midwest Conference volleyball sweep over Monmouth inside Glennie Gymnasium.
The hot-hitting Rams racked up 45 total kills on .292 hitting for the match, completing an unblemished weekend in MWC play. Cornell (8-4 overall, 2-0 MWC) dominated Knox in a 3-0 win Friday night.
The Rams stretched their overall winning streak to four matches, without dropping a single set during the stretch.
McLaughlin posted a blistering .520 attack percentage on 25 attempts against the Fighting Scots (5-9, 0-2). The first-year outside hitter led the Rams’ offense for the second straight match, totaling 25 kills with only two attack errors in the two MWC contests.
Senior middle blocker Rory Light passed Tiffany Cowan (2005-07) for sixth place on Cornell’s career blocks list with 291. The NCAA Division III leader in blocks per set this season, Light added three more stuffs Saturday to go along with nine kills.
Ilah Perez-Johnson had a strong outing with seven kills, 12 digs and a team-high three aces. Setter Clare Green dished 34 assists and Ella Becker paced the Rams with 15 digs. Carly Puffer notched six kills. Grace Marti had five kills and four blocks.
The Rams limited Monmouth to 20 kills on .011 hitting.
Earlier in the week, the Rams won against Knox 25-4, 25-13 and 25-12.
Freshmen Ella McLaughlin and Carly Puffer combined for 20 kills to pace Cornell’s explosive attack, which committed only four errors on 77 total swings. It was the team’s best offensive match since hitting .511 against Beloit in 2019.
McLaughlin registered a match-high 11 kills on .455 hitting in her MWC debut. Puffer hit .533 with nine kills. Grace Marti and Ilah Perez-Johnson also had efficient offensive nights with seven and six kills, respectively.
Perez-Johnson connected on four service aces. Clare Green set 28 assists and had two aces. Freshman libero Ella Becker led all players with 15 digs.
The Rams, who rank No. 4 nationally in blocks per set, totaled six team blocks against Knox. Marti led the way with four block assists.
Olivia Richards served 12 consecutive points to give Cornell a 19-3 lead in the opening set, and the Rams never looked back.