Ava Bogan broke Cornell’s 38-year-old single-season blocks record Friday night, finishing with six blocks as the Big Red lost a four-set volleyball match at Harvard.
Bogan reached 150 blocks for the season, surpassing Becky Merchant’s 149 in 1988, according to Cornell Athletics. Harvard won 25-20, 19-25, 28-26, 25-21 at the Malkin Athletic Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Cornell fell to 15-7 overall and 11-2 in the Ivy League with its second conference defeat. Harvard improved to 18-4 and 9-4.
Bogan tied the record on a block with Ellery Williamson late in the second set. Her solo block in the fourth cut Harvard’s lead to 10-7 and established the new mark. She also finished with 12 kills and 16 points.
Harvard saves a set point in the third
After splitting the first two sets, the teams played a third set with 14 ties and six lead changes. Cornell erased an 18-14 deficit with five straight points, starting with a Bogan kill.
With Trinidy Tien serving, an ace, a Harvard setting error and kills by Bogan and Sara Pomar put Cornell ahead 19-18. Kiran Rio’s ace later extended the lead to 21-19, but Harvard recovered to tie it.
A Mackenzie Parsons block gave Cornell a set point at 25-24. A Cornell service error and a Harvard ace reversed the advantage. Cornell tied it again at 26 before Harvard took the final two points, finishing on a block.
Bogan recorded seven kills in that set, and Cornell hit .237, its best mark of the match.
Cornell opened the fourth with a 3-1 lead, but Harvard won nine of the next 11 points to move ahead 10-5. The Crimson later led 22-17 before a Jaida Sione kill and a three-point serving run by Pomar, including an ace, brought Cornell within 22-21.
Harvard ended the match with a kill, an ace and a Cornell attack error. The Crimson hit .314 in the closing set.
Parsons leads Cornell with 13 kills
Parsons finished with 13 kills on .346 hitting and four blocks, including two solo. Sione added 10 kills and two blocks. Bogan’s team-high six blocks included two solo.
Mary Wolcott supplied 38 assists and seven digs. Pomar led Cornell with 14 digs and served two aces. Tien had seven digs and two aces, Rio added two aces, and Haley Clark recorded nine digs.
Harvard led in kills, 52-43, and digs, 63-55, while hitting .197 to Cornell’s .169. Each team recorded 10 blocks. Cornell made 20 attack errors to Harvard’s 24 but committed 16 service errors. Harvard served nine aces to Cornell’s seven.
The match included 21 ties and nine lead changes. Harvard won 97 rally points to Cornell’s 92.
Cornell finishes regular-season Ivy League play at Dartmouth on Saturday, Nov. 14, before hosting the conference tournament the following weekend.
File photo: Cornell volleyball against Penn. Photo: Braden York/Cornell Athletics.
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