Cornell’s 24th-ranked volleyball team was stretched to four sets Saturday, but did not break in a 25-20, 25-21, 20-25, 25-23 Midwest Conference victory over Illinois College inside the Small Athletic and Wellness Center.
The Rams remained tied atop the league standings with Lake Forest while handing Illinois College its first conference loss.
Senior Ilah Perez-Johnson continued her terrific play with a match-high 20 kills and team-best 16 digs. The outside hitter delivered the match-winning spike on her 64th attack attempt of the contest.
Clare Green set 42 assists for a balanced Cornell attack that saw Ella McLaughlin register 11 kills, followed by Grace Marti with 10 and newcomer Kiana Manson with eight.
First-year Nia Howard accounted for four of the team’s seven aces and also pitched in nine digs. Ella Becker had 14 digs, Green 13 and Kensie Staats 12.
The competitive match saw the Rams hit .168 with 55 kills. The Lady Blues tallied 52 kills on .170 hitting.
Earlier in the week, the Rams took a 3-0 sweep of Monmouth.
Grace Marti’s 16th kill put a fitting cap on Friday’s 25-20, 25-12, 25-14 Senior Night sweep over Monmouth in Midwest Conference volleyball action inside the Small Athletic and Wellness Center.
The 24th-ranked Rams received on-court contributions from all five members of their senior class, a group that has won nearly 70 percent of its matches since arriving on campus.
Cornell cruised to its third consecutive 3-0 sweep, beating a Monmouth squad that had won seven of its last nine matches going in.
Marti, a fifth-year middle blocker, finished her stellar night hitting .433 and two kills shy of her season high. Senior teammate Ilah Perez-Johnson notched her 12th double-double of the campaign with 11 kills and 11 digs.
Seniors Caitlin Babcock, Tendall Weigand and Mia Loughran also played a helping hand in Cornell’s 18th consecutive MWC regular-season victory.
Carly Puffer made an impactful return to Cornell’s lineup, hitting .571 with eight kills on 14 errorless swings. Green set 42 assists for a Cornell attack that accumulated 50 kills. The Fighting Scots managed only 19 kills in the quick 1-hour, 6-minute contest.
The Rams blasted 17 kills in the opening set, including five from Marti. First-year Kensie Staats fired seven unanswered points to start Set 2. The Rams broke away in the third set with a 15-5 scoring spurt.
Libero Ella Becker led all players with 15 digs and went 11-for-11 from the service line. The Rams connected for nine ace serves, three from Nia Howard.