ITHACA, N.Y. (Sept. 15, 2023)—Eliza Konvicka recorded a match-high 20 kills and Jaida Sione added 10, as Cornell defeated Morgan State, 3-0 (34-32, 25-20, 25-16) in the opener of the Cornell/Syracuse Invitational on Friday night at Newman Arena.
The win ended a six-match losing skid for the Big Red, who improved to 2-6 on the season and 2-0 all-time against Morgan State. The Bears fell to 4-9, while dropping to 1-2 against Ivy League opposition this season.
Doga Ozalp finished with a match-best 39 assists and Sarita Pomar recorded a match-high 15 digs for Cornell.
The Bears were led by
Trinity Carruthers, who recorded a double-double with a team-leading 13 digs and 14 assists.
Gabriela Hiciano finished with 12 digs. Offensively,
Makila Billingsley and
Ainara Fernandes both had nine kills.
Mya Karrick hit for a match-high .833, recording five kills on six attempts, while adding seven assists and four digs.
Morgan State and Cornell began the match playing a thrilling and entertaining Set 1. The Big Red jumped out to a 7-2 advantage and led by as much as six points and 14-8. Trailing 21-17, Morgan State scored four straight points to even the score at 21 all. After back-to-back kills for Cornell, the Bears would score the next three points to take their first lead of the set at 24-23.
However, Morgan was unable to close out and the two teams traded points. The Bears used a 2-0 run, capped off by a block from
Jada Williams to give the guests a 29-28 lead. But the hosts countered with two consecutive kills to take a 30-29 lead. Morgan scored two straight to take a 32-31 advantage, but again could not close out. Cornell ended the set scoring three straight points to claim the 34-32 victory.
Set 2, Morgan would watch Cornell score eight straight points in part of a 9-1 spurt to take a 10-4 lead. Morgan would again come-from-behind and took the lead at 15-14 on a block by Williams. A kill by
Justyus Jackson evened the score at 19 apiece, but the Big Red would close out the set with a 6-1 run to take a 2-0 lead.
Cornell would take control of Set 3 by scoring six straight to take a 16-8 lead. Morgan again saw itself battle back and pulled within four points twice, with the last coming at 18-14, following a kill by Billingsley. Cornell scored the next three points, as it closed out the set and match by using a 7-2 run for the 25-16 victory.
Morgan State will conclude the Cornell/Syracuse Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 16 when it travels to Syracuse, N.Y. to take on the host Orange. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Women's Building.
Syracuse (1-8) dropped its home opener on Friday to Iowa in three sets in its first match of the Syracuse/Cornell Invitational.
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ABOUT MORGAN
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified doctoral research institution offering more than 100 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland's
Preeminent Public Urban Research University, Morgan serves a multiethnic and multiracial student body and seeks to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. For more information about Morgan State University, visit
www.morgan.edu.
