Cornell secured the Ivy League volleyball championship outright Saturday night, sweeping Dartmouth 28-26, 25-20, 25-12 at Leede Arena in Hanover, New Hampshire.
The Big Red finished the regular season 16-7 overall and 12-2 in conference play, according to Cornell Athletics. Cornell had secured at least a share of its first Ivy title since 2006 by beating Brown a week earlier, but Yale remained able to share the championship until Saturday’s victory.
Ellery Williamson and Jaida Sione each finished with 11 kills as Cornell rebounded from Friday’s loss at Harvard. Williamson hit .611 without an attack error and added five digs, two assists and an ace. Sione hit .348 and contributed two blocks.
Cornell produced 42 kills with 11 attack errors in 90 attempts for a .344 hitting percentage. Dartmouth finished at .118 with 34 kills and 22 errors, ending its season 8-16 overall and 2-12 in the league.
Cornell survives a tight opening set
The opening set featured 15 ties and six lead changes before Cornell prevailed in extra points. The Big Red erased an early 9-6 deficit with four consecutive points, then later faced a set point while trailing 26-25.
Cornell scored the final three points, with Sydney Zanca’s ace completing the 28-26 win. Ava Bogan supplied six kills in the set, Sione added five and Mackenzie Parsons had three. Mary Wolcott recorded nine assists.
Cornell hit .324 in the opener and finished with 17 kills to Dartmouth’s 16. The Big Green hit .282 and held a 3-1 edge in blocks, but Cornell served three aces to Dartmouth’s one.
The Big Red moved ahead for good at 5-4 in the second set and built a lead of as many as six points. Williamson recorded five kills, Sione had four and Zanca added three as Cornell won 25-20.
Cornell again hit .324, collecting 16 kills while limiting Dartmouth to nine kills and .086 hitting. Wolcott supplied six assists and Nevaeh Tien added four.
Clark’s serving helps finish the sweep
Dartmouth led 5-3 in the third before Cornell answered with 12 straight points. Haley Clark served the final 11 points of that stretch, including four aces, as the Big Red opened a 15-5 advantage.
Cornell hit .421 with just one attack error in the closing set. Dartmouth committed 11 errors against nine kills and hit negative .071. Bogan recorded four blocks, Williamson had four kills, and Parsons supplied two kills and two blocks, including the kill that ended the match.
Bogan finished with eight kills and six blocks, including three solo blocks, for a team-high 12.5 points. Parsons had seven kills on .438 hitting without an attack error, two blocks and an ace. Zanca contributed three kills, an ace and a block.
Wolcott distributed 20 assists and had three digs. Tien added 13 assists, a kill and two digs. Sara Pomar led Cornell with 12 digs, alongside three assists and an ace, while Clark finished with six digs and four aces.
Before a crowd of 423, Cornell held advantages in aces, 8-1; blocks, 8-5; digs, 34-29; and assists, 40-31. The Big Red hit above .300 in every set.
Cornell will host the Ivy League Tournament Nov. 20-21 at Newman Arena in Bartels Hall. Its opening match begins at 4 p.m. Friday, with seeding and the opponent still to be announced.
Photo: Darl Zehr/Cornell Athletics.
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