Boxscore

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – The Cornell volleyball team earned the first victory of first-year head coach Sarah Bernson's career as the Big Red defeated Fairleigh Dickinson, 3-2, in the opening round of the Binghamton Invitational. The Knights jumped out to a two-set advantage, winning 25-21 and 25-23, before Cornell won the final three sets, 25-19, 26-24 and 15-8.

Sophomore setter Jordan Reeder handed out 36 assists and filled out her stat line with seven digs, three kills, two service aces and one block assist. Junior Alessa Cekauskas led the offensive attack with 14 kills, while freshmen Alice Cope and Deveney Pula chipped in with 12 and 10 kills respectively. Cekauskas's 14 kills came on 38 attempts with just four errors (.344), while Cope registered just one error on 23 total attempts (.478).

The Big Red saw four players tally double-digit digs, led by senior libero Megan Mushovic with 23. Pula registered 18 digs, while sophomore Risa Ka'awa and freshman Taylor Nieman added 13 digs apiece.

Cornell (1-3) got off to a strong start in the first set, building a 15-8 lead before a 12-2 scoring run put the Knights up, 20-17. The teams traded points the rest of the way as FDU earned the 25-21 victory.

The second set was tightly contested throughout, featuring 13 ties along the way, including a knotted score at 23-23. The Knights finished the game, however, with a service ace and a kill by Ali Philbrick to earn the win, 25-23.

After playing to a 10-10 tie in the third set, the Big Red rattled off seven unanswered points to go up, 17-10. During the run, Cornell got two kills each by Pula and Cope, to go along with a service ace from Nieman. From there, the Big Red cruised to the 25-19 victory.

Cornell found itself trailing, 16-11, in the fourth set, but used a kill by Cope to end a six-point FDU run, as the Big Red began to chip away at the lead. Back-to-back kills by Jessica Missa and Cope made it a four-point game, 21-17, and eventually Cornell registered five unanswered points to take the 24-23 lead. The Big Red went on to win the set, 26-24.

The Big Red jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the final set and never looked back as it rolled to the 15-8 victory. Cornell's hot start was in large part thanks to a pair of kills by Cekauskas, as well a kill from Madeleine Przybyl and a service ace by Reeder.

Cornell is back in action tomorrow as it takes on Towson at the Binghamton Invitational at 10 a.m., before facing the host Bearcats at 6 p.m.