A stirring, come-from-behind victory in five sets against Fairleigh Dickinson (25-21, 25-23, 25-19, 26-24, 15-8) on Friday afternoon earned volleyball head coach Sarah Bernson her first career win with the Red, and proved to the team what it was capable of, following its disappointing, three-loss showing last weekend. Cornell went on to split its second day of competition at the Binghamton Invitational, winning its Saturday morning match in straight sets, 25-13, 25-20, 25-20, before losing in three to the host Bearcats later that day, 25-19, 25-17, 25-23.

While the Bearcats match was tallied in the loss column for the Red, general sentiment among the team was that the weekend had been a positive one.

Senior co-captain and libero Megan Mushovic, who notched 23 digs, an ace and two assists against Fairleigh, stressed the importance of earning that first win.

“I think the first win is a confidence booster,” Mushovic said. “Winning just helps us realize we are capable, [especially since] the weekend before was a bit of a downer.”

Mushovic also said that while the match had its share of drama, as the Red was forced to erase a two-set deficit to win, the team was not necessarily surprised they ultimately came out on top. The squad’s last team practice before departing for Binghamton was especially productive, Mushovic said, and in general a strong week of practices had given the Red confidence going into the weekend’s competition.

High five: Sophomore setter Jordan Reeder handed out 36 assists in Friday’s five-set win.“There’s no reason we should ever not be able to accomplish what we want,” Mushovic said, as long as the team knows it has accomplished it in practice. “Practice is where you can really get the skills down,” she said. “The win was definitely a payoff for our efforts in practice, both mentally and emotionally”

Sophomore setter Jordan Reeder was just one of several underclassmen to see significant playing time against Fairleigh, but she definitely made the most of the opportunity, deftly managing the middle of the court while handing out 36 assists, with seven digs, three kills, two service aces and one block assist. Junior Alessa Cekauskas led the offense with 14 kills, while the freshman duo of Alice Cope, a Sun contributor, and Deveney Pula added 12 and 10 kills, respectively, from the outside.

A sense of awareness on the part of all players on the court contributed to the highly productive match, Reeder said.

“You had all the players on the court being conscientious of what they needed to do to succeed,” she said.

This sort of chemistry is important from a straight win-loss standpoint, but it also just makes everything “more fun,” Reeder said.

Reeder credited a high intensity level as being a major factor in the team’s wins, a point that has been hammered home lately in practices.

“In the game we saw a glimpse of something we think we are capable of — we saw some of that intensity we have been working on in practice,” Reeder said. “Every day in practice we’re working on having 100 percent focus on the next play.”

The first two sets of the match were tightly contested, with both team trading points back and forth but Fairleigh Dickinson always coming away with the slight edge.

The turning point in the third set came when the Red broke a 10-10 tie to score seven unanswered points, before finishing off the Knights easily, 25-19. In the fourth set, it was the Knights’ turn to get a big run, going up 16-11 before the Red was able to slow the onslaught on the heels of back-to-back kills by senior middle blocker Jessica Mise and Cope. A five-point run gave Cornell back the lead, and then the set.

In contrast to the preceding sets, the fifth was a decidedly one-sided affair, with the Red jumping out to a quick 6-1 lead, a lead that it never relinquished in the 15-8 victory.

Reeder said that the emotional victory definitely gave the team a confidence boost as it headed into its second match the next day against Towson.

“[The win] definitely pumped the team up,” she said. “But more than that it proved to us what we already knew. We do have the potential to play with our backs against the wall, fighting for every point.”

The Red overpowered the Tigers offensively, outhitting its opponents .207 to .090. Pula again had a good game on the outside, tallying up a match-high 12 kills with eight digs. Senior co-captain Juliana Rogers added nine kills to the total on .533 hitting. Reeder had another excellent performance, totaling 33 assists and seven digs.

“Jordan did a fantastic job,” Mushovic said.

Mushovic and sophomore Risa Ka’awa both reached double-digits in digs, while Cope and Cekauskas combined for 11 total kills.

The final match of the Invitational pitted the Red against the home team Bearcats, with a chance to clinch the tournament title. It was not to be, however.

Binghamton established itself early as a different caliber of competition then the first two teams Cornell faced, engaging the Red in a dangerous back-and-forth of scoring runs. Overall, the three sets were close until the end, when Binghamton was able to close out the set, 25-19, 25-17 and 25-23.

Cornell actually jumped out to a lead first in the final set, scoring six unanswered points to start the competition. Binghamton scored the next eight points, however, retaking the lead. Cornell then tied the score at 8, the first of what was to 10 total ties throughout the set. The Red and the Bearcats fought back and forth until the final tie, at 23, after which the Red were unable to score any points to the Bearcats’ match-winning two.

Mushovic said that a combination of factors added up to the loss for the Red.

“[Binghamton] was a tougher opponent,” she said. “I think that Binghamton did a good job preparing. And they just had some girls who really adjusted well to us.”

Ultimately, Mushovic said, the ability to adjust to an opponent quickly and effectively is key, especially in a match at the end of a tournament that the team may not have has as much time to prepare for ahead of time.

“They figured us out better than we could adjust,” she said.