15-0 across five games.
A 15-set winning streak represents weeks of frustration, offensive tweaks and adversity.
Over the past three weekends, Cornell (9-5, 5-0 Ivy) began finding its groove, emulating a similarly dominant run in the 2025 season where it went 7-0 in games played and 21-4 in sets.
Early this season, the team relied on its elite defense to supplement its evolving offense. Fourteen games in, however, both sides of the ball have started to gel, culminating in this impressive run and a stronghold on first place in the Ivy League.
Cornell’s five-set woes have started to pay dividends, evident by its resiliency in pulling through every single set despite being down late against the likes of Penn (10-5, 2-3 Ivy) and Princeton (5-8, 3-2 Ivy).
Two weekends ago, the Red took on the University of Pennsylvania Quakers and Princeton University Tigers and swept both teams.
In the opening set against Penn, Cornell got off to a slow start, in part due to slow defensive rotations and minor mistakes. The Quakers’ middle blockers made their presence felt early on and ultimately led the team to a 7-2 start.
From this point, freshman outside hitter Kiran Rio took matters into her own hands, driving a kill into Penn’s back row to quell its run. A subsequent 9-3 run by Cornell featured its own vaunted front row.
The persistent wave of middle blocker pressure, courtesy of junior Mackenzie Parsons and senior Ava Bogan, along with sophomore outside hitter Sophia Ahrens, resulted in five attack errors by the Quakers.
A back-and-forth affair eventually saw the set knotted up at 21 apiece, ensuring that the Red was in for another red zone finish.
“Red zone is when [the score] is 20 points and up,” Parsons said. “So we call those red zone games because it was so close. We work on it every day, and it’s just a matter of working through that pressure and working with it.”
In this pivotal moment, Cornell once again turned to its front row, utilizing multiple blocks by Bogan, and outside hitters senior Jaida Sione and sophomore Sydney Zanca to steal the set. A final kill by Sione gave the Red a narrow 25-23 victory.
The second and third sets featured even more fireworks.
A sudden 6-0 run late in the second set saw Sione put on her superhero cape, generating three kills and a block in the short time frame. Despite facing game-point elimination four separate times, the Red relied on Parsons and Sione to generate clutch points.
A final 3-0 run featured two errors by the Quakers and a kill by Bogan. Despite the odds, Cornell had dug deep and found a way to take a 31-29 victory from the jaws of defeat.
“A huge part of being on a team is who you have around you,” senior libero Sara Pomar said. “We push each other every day because we know there’s still so much room for us to get better.”
In the final set of the night, both teams played a relatively clean brand of volleyball, capitalizing on quick tempo sets to create opportunities for their pin hitters and middle blockers.
Another down-to-the-wire finish saw sophomore setter Mary Wolcott deliver beautiful sets to Sione and Bogan to shut the door on a late Quaker rally. The Red went on to take the set 25-23 and sweep Penn.
“I think this team is just really competitive and hardworking, and we don’t give up easily,” Pomar said. “Especially in those really close sets, I think we did a good job of not letting the pressure change the way we played. We trusted each other and kept competing.”
On Saturday afternoon, Cornell faced the Tigers and took care of business, winning all three sets in close fashion.
The first set was a game of runs. Cornell struck first, using kills by Bogan to take a 5-2 lead. Princeton then responded with a run of its own to eventually knot the score at nine apiece. A 5-0 run into the red zone saw the Tigers trim a six-point deficit to just 20-21.
Despite a heroic effort from Princeton’s Ava Harrington, the Red closed the set on a 3-0 run, capitalizing on kills by Sione and Bogan, and won 25-22.
The second set saw another 5-0 run from the Tigers turn a three-point deficit into a 22-20 lead. Cornell then broke the Dillon Gymnasium faithful’s hearts by ending the set on a 5-1 run on the backs of Sione, Bogan and Rio, again stealing the set late and winning 25-23.
In the final set of the afternoon, both squads fought hard, trading blows and making incredible back row saves. A 24-24 tie favored the Tigers who had the ensuing serve. A well-placed serve resulted in an ace and the Red once again found itself facing elimination.
A clutch kill from Bogan calmed the raucous gymnasium before a duet block featuring Bogan and Zanca silenced the crowd for good. A subsequent service ace by junior outside hitter Haley Clark gave Cornell the 27-25, sweeping Princeton.
“Our setter, Mary [Wolcott], kept our team at a hitting percentage above .300 in the Princeton match, so great job by her for spreading out the offense and consistently finding the middle [blockers] and making the right decisions at the right time,” Parsons said.
During this weekend, Wolcott amassed 62 assists and just one setting error, paving the way for a hyper-efficient offense.
The following weekend, Cornell hosted the Dartmouth College Big Green and Harvard Crimson at Newman Arena, making quick work of both matchups.
Against the Big Green, the big three consisting of Parsons, Sione and Bogan led the way for the Red, combining for 32 kills and nine blocks in the matchup. In addition, Rio added a team-high 11 digs.
A decisive victory saw Cornell take all three sets by scores of 25-12, 25-8, and 25-15.
“We definitely didn’t expect that,” Parsons said. “Dartmouth is a real competitor and they’ve given us trouble in the past [including] winning a game last year against us. I think we finally got into that flow state, and it was just really exciting.”
The following night, the Red faced a tougher challenge in the Crimson, but pulled away late, ultimately winning the final set 25-10.
Like the contest against Dartmouth, Cornell’s big three combined for 28 kills and 14 blocks. Wolcott accounted for 63 assists and just two errors across the dominant wins.
“We’ve got Jaida [Sione], Kiran [Rio], Sydney [Zanca], Mary [Wolcott], in the front row, and that's dangerous,” Parsons said. “So, bring it on.”
Next weekend, the Red will be on the road as the team prepares for a doubleheader weekend, first against Brown University (4-9, 2-3 Ivy) at 6 p.m. on Friday and then Yale University (10-3, 4-1 Ivy) at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
The Red currently holds first place in Ivy League standings, and will be looking to extend its strong lead, especially against Yale who eliminated Cornell from the Ivy League tournament last season.
“I trust the people around me, and I think if we focus on playing our game and executing what we’ve worked on all week, we’ll put ourselves in a good position,” Pomar said.
Coverage will be available on ESPN+.
Buzmael Joanus is a member of the Class of 2028 in the Nolan School of Hotel Administration. He is a Sun Staff Writer and can be reached at bjoanus@cornellsun.com.
