MATCH INFORMATION
MATCH #12: Cornell at Dartmouth
MATCH TIME: Friday, Oct. 8, 2010; 7:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Leede Arena (Hanover, N.H.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 36-8
LAST MEETING: Dartmouth won, 3-1, Oct. 30, 2009
2010 RECORDS: Cornell (3-8, 1-1 Ivy); Dartmouth (11-2, 2-0 Ivy)
LIVE STATS: www.DartmouthSports.com
LIVE VIDEO: www.DartmouthSports.com

MATCH #13: Cornell at Harvard
MATCH TIME: Saturday, Oct. 9, 2010; 6:00 p.m.
MATCH SITE: Lavietes Pavilion (Cambridge, Mass.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 34-16
LAST MEETING: Harvard won, 3-0, Oct. 31, 2009
2010 RECORDS: Cornell (3-8, 1-1 Ivy); Harvard (3-11, 0-2 Ivy)*
LIVE STATS: www.GoCrimson.com
LIVE VIDEO: www.GoCrimson.com

* Records prior to matches on Friday, Oct. 8.

THE MATCH-UP: The Big Red volleyball team hits the road this weekend as it travels to Dartmouth and Harvard. Cornell will take on the Big Green on Friday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m., before facing the Crimson on Saturday, Oct. 9 at 6 p.m. The Big Red is coming off its first Ivy League win of the season after defeating Columbia, 3-2, on Oct. 2 to improve to 3-8 overall and 1-1 in the conference. Dartmouth is riding a three-match winning streak, as it improved to 11-2 overall and 2-0 in the league after defeating Harvard last weekend. With that defeat, the Crimson fell to 3-11 overall and 0-2 in the Ancient Eight.


THE SERIES VS. DARTMOUTH: Cornell's series with Dartmouth began in 1981 and the Big Red has dominated from the beginning, winning the first 13 meetings before falling to the Big Green for the first time on Oct. 12, 1996. Cornell owns a 36-8 record in the all-time series, winning 19 of the last 21 meetings, but had a three-match streak halted last season with a 3-1 Big Green victory on Oct. 30, 2009.

SCOUTING THE BIG GREEN: Dartmouth opened the season on a seven-game winning streak and brings an 11-2 record (2-0 Ivy League) into the match on Friday night. The Big Green is led by Madeline Baird, who is averaging 4.06 kills and 3.43 digs per set. As a team, Dartmouth owns an impressive hitting percentage of .242 with eight players hitting better than .200. A pair of setters average more than nine assists per set, with Kendall Houston leading the way at 9.69, while Alissa Santa Maria is right behind at 9.46. Libero Amber Bryant ranks seventh in the nation with 5.70 digs per set, leading five Big Green players that average more than two digs per set.

LAST TIME VS. DARMTOUTH: The Big Red fell to Dartmouth, 3-1, on Oct. 30, 2009 in Hanover, N.H. The Big Red dropped the first two sets, 25-20, 25-22, but won the third, 26-24, before dropping the fourth set, 25-20. Cornell was led by Deveney Pula with 19 kills and five errors on 53 attempts for a .264 hitting percentage. Alessa Cekauskas also chipped in nine kills, while Jessica Misse posted the best hitting percentage on the night for the Big Red (.375) with eight kills and just two errors on 16 attempts. Jordan Reeder handed out a then career-high 41 assists to go along with 13 digs and two service aces, while Megan Mushovic tallied a match-high 35 digs. Pula also registered double-digit digs for the Big Red with 10. Dartmouth hit very well for the match with Annie Villanueva registering 16 kills and just four errors on 29 attempts for a .414 hitting percentage, while Krista Covington posted eight kills and no errors on 18 attempts for a .444 hitting percentage. Alissa Santa Maria tallied 42 assists and 16 digs and four other Big Green players posted double-figures in digs – Lexie Campbell (24), Jessie Harman (18), Megan MacGregor (14) and Amber Bryant (11).

THE SERIES VS. HARVARD: Cornell and Harvard first met in 1977, a 2-0 Big Red victory. Cornell went on to win the next 10 contests before the Crimson earned its first win in the series during the 1988 campaign. The Big Red had won nine straight meetings, dating back to Oct. 9, 2004, before Harvard earned a series sweep last year. Still, Cornell holds a significant lead in the all-time series, leading the Crimson 34-16.

SCOUTING THE CRIMSON: Harvard ended a seven-match losing streak last week when it defeated New Hampshire, 3-2, before falling to Dartmouth three days later to slip to 3-11 (0-2 Ivy League) on the season. The Crimson is led by Anne Ingersoll with 2.03 kills per set, while libero Christine Wu is averaging 4.29 digs per set. Harvard has split time between a pair of setters with freshman Natalie Doyle and senior Beth Kinsella averaging 5.60 and 5.12 assists per game, respectively.

LAST TIME VS. HARVARD: Harvard completed the 2009 season sweep of Cornell on Oct. 31, defeating the Big Red, 3-0, in Cambridge, Mass. The Crimson took all three sets, 25-21, 25-17 and 25-18. Deveney Pula led the Big Red with eight kills, while Megan Tatum hit an impressive .500 with six kills and no errors on 12 attempts. Alessa Cekauskas also chipped in five kills on the day. Lucy Zheng and Jordan Reeder split the setting duties, with Zheng tallying 16 assists and Reeder adding 11. Defensively, Megan Mushovic posted a team-high 17 digs, while Pula chipped in 11. Harvard was led by Michelle Comrie's 10 kills. Lily Durwood handed out 30 assists and Christine Wu posted 17 digs.

SECOND TIME'S THE CHARM: For the second straight season, the Big Red has fallen to Columbia in New York City, only to come back and defeat the Lions the following weekend on its home court at Newman Arena.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Freshman Rachel D'Epagnier became Cornell's first Ivy League Rookie of the Week in volleyball since Katie Marshall was honored on Nov. 14, 2007. The freshmen middle blocker earned the honor after posting an 11-kill, 11-block double-double in the Big Red's 3-2 victory over Columbia on Oct. 2. In that match she also led Cornell with a .450 hitting percentage (11-2-20).

BLOCKS A LOT: Rachel D'Epagnier led the Big Red with 11 block assists against Columbia on Oct. 2. The 11 block assists rank ninth in Big Red history for block assists in a single match and are the most registered by a Cornell player since Kelly Hansen tallied 11 at Penn on Nov. 11, 2008.

100 DIGS: Cornell recorded 101 digs against Columbia on Oct. 2, reaching the century mark in a match for the first time since registering 103 digs vs. Yale on Nov. 3, 2007.

BIG HITTER: Deveney Pula tallied a career-high 23 kills vs. Columbia on Oct. 2, the most kills registered by a Big Red player since Katie Marshall tallied 23 vs. Brown on Oct. 20, 2007.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE DENIZEN: Jordan Reeder has posted an assist-dig double-double in seven-of-11 matches this season. She was the only Big Red player to record a double-double on the year, before Deveney Pula (23 kills, 18 digs) and Rachel D'Epagnier (11 kills, 11 block assists) registered their first of the season vs. Columbia on Oct. 2.

COMING ON STRONG: After recording less than seven kills per match through the first five matches of the season, freshman Janel Forte has come on strong, reaching double-digit kills in four of the last six matches.

DOUBLE-DIGIT DIGS: Junior libero Risa Ka'awa has posted double-digit digs in 10-of-11 matches this season.

BEATING THE BIG EAST: Cornell's 3-2 victory over UConn at the Colgate Invitational marked the Big Red's first win over a Big East school since it defeated Syracuse, 3-0, on Oct. 24, 2006 at Newman Arena. Since that time, Cornell has gone 0-4 against the Big East, with three loses against the Orange and one against the Huskies.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: The Big Red saw four different players named to three different all-tournament teams earlier this season. Kelly Hansen and Jordan Reeder were selected to the Cornell Invitational all-tournament team, while Risa Ka'awa and Madeleine Przybyl were named to the Best Western Falcon Invitational all-tournament team and the Colgate Invitational all-tournament team, respectively.

MARATHON MATCHES: When the Big Red faced Lamar in the final round of the Cornell Invitational on Sept. 4, the game proved to have the longest fifth set (by points) in Cornell history. The match, which went to 23-21 in the final set, eclipsed the previous record by four points. Prior to the Lamar match, the longest fifth set took place at Harvard on Nov. 10, 2007, when Cornell defeated the Crimson, 19-17.

SEASON OPENERS: With its victory over Siena in the opening round of the Cornell Invitational, the Big Red improved to 26-12-1 all-time in season openers. Since 1995, the Big Red is an impressive 14-3 in the first match of the season.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: Senior Erin McCarthy and junior Meagan Tatum have been named captains for the 2010 season

FRESH FACES: The Big Red adds six freshmen to the team this season - Rachel D'Epagnier, Janel Forte, Brittany Fox, Ainsley Lovejoy, Kelly Marble and Sierra Young. All six are taller than 5-11, with two of those six standing 6-1 or taller. The incoming class also draws from six different states, with the group representing Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

HI! MY NAME IS … : There is a new face on the Cornell sideline, as Kate Seabaugh, a former standout player at UConn, joins Coach Sarah Bernson's staff as an assistant coach. She joins the staff while working towards a Master of Engineering degree with a concentration in Financial Engineering at Cornell. Prior to Cornell, Seabaugh was a starter for UConn, where she was an outside hitter, but completed her undergraduate honors finance degree in three years, cutting her playing career short. She helped the Huskies advance to the Big East tournament in each of her three seasons and totaled 621 kills and 625 digs in 90 matches played.

UP NEXT: The Big Red remains on the road next weekend for a pair of games at Yale and Brown. Cornell will take on the Bulldogs on Friday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m., before facing the Bears on Saturday, Oct. 16 at 4 p.m.