MOUNT VERNON – Cornell gave the No. 5 team in the country all it wanted in an NCAA Volleyball Regional semifinal Friday night that boiled down to the final few points in Set 5 on the Rams' home court.
It was a special season and week as first-time region hosts for coach
Jeff Meeker's Rams, who saw their journey end with a tough 25-18, 20-25, 25-21, 23-25, 15-10 loss to perennial power Northwestern inside the Small Athletic and Wellness Center.
No. 4 seed Cornell defeated Millikin 3-1 in Thursday's quarterfinals to reach the Round of 32 for the second time in program history. The 25th-ranked Rams finished the campaign at 23-8.
"For our program and college to put on an event like this, and have our women honor the effort our staff put forth fills me with pride," Meeker said. "We are grateful to be a part of such an amazing match with a heckuva crowd.
"It was one of the most exciting matches that's been played in this gym. It doesn't take away the pain, but we gave it all we got. We have a great team. Everyone saw that on the court."
Top-seeded Northwestern (31-4) advances to Saturday's regional championship at 5 p.m. against No. 2 seed UW-Whitewater (28-4), which moved on with a 25-20, 25-18, 25-18 victory over Wash U.
The Rams beat Northwestern in a five-setter at home in early September and had another upset in the making late in this one. Cornell won 25-23 in a Set 4 battle which saw neither team lead by more than two points, squaring the match at 2-2.
Cornell carried momentum into the decisive fifth set, which was tied seven times. The Rams pushed ahead 10-8 on a
Kiana Manson block and then a
Kensie Staats service ace, prompting a Northwestern timeout.
The Eagles, a 2022 Final Four participant, regrouped and rattled off seven consecutive points to take the win. With the score 14-10, match point was replayed after an apparent Northwestern kill was dug up by Cornell and sent back over the net while the Eagles' bench prematurely rushed the court.
Northwestern retained the serve and recorded the winning point on a block, its 12th of the match.
Cornell's balanced attack had four players reach double-digit kills, led by 14 from senior
Ilah Perez-Johnson. Fifth-year
Grace Marti, sophomore
Carly Puffer and junior Manson had 12 kills apiece.
The Rams fired a season-best 14 aces, including five from Perez-Johnson.
Nia Howard and Staats had three aces apiece.
Clare Green recorded 47 assists and
Ella Becker led the team with 22 digs.
The Eagles received fine performances from Abby Glanzer (24 kills) and Marylyn Schroyer (38 digs).
