Volleyball News Releases
Rams stand in three-way tie for second place in the Iowa Conference
Coming up - Tuesday, Nov. 3, vs. Wartburg, Small Multi-Sport Center, Mount Vernon, 7 p.m. (varsity only); Friday, Nov. 6, at Iowa Conference Championships, Indianola, first round matches, 4:30 p.m., semifinal matches, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 7, at Iowa Conference Championships, Indianola, championship match, 2 p.m.
Ram rewind - Cornell notched its seventh consecutive victory and climbed into a tie for second place in the Iowa Conference with a key 25-23, 25-21, 25-23 sweep over league foe Loras Oct. 27 in Mount Vernon.
The Rams (23-7 overall, 5-2 IIAC) tied the 2004 squad for the third-most wins in a season. Cornell has reeled off 17 wins in its last 21 contests, including eight sweeps during the stretch.
"I was excited about our performance against Loras," Cornell head coach Jeff Meeker said. "We played hard on defense and our tempo was excellent. We were in control most of the match, but Loras made several late runs at the end of sets. We did an excellent job of maintaining our composure to score the big point when we needed it."
Cornell's front-line tandem of Laura Dudgeon (Bettendorf/Bettendorf) and Kristin Paczosa (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) led the way with 16 and 11 kills, respectively. Paczosa added a team-high 12 digs for her ninth double-double of the season.
Hannah Boehmer (Riverside/Mid-Prairie) dished out 29 assists. Sophomore libero Caiti Hladky (Fort Lupton, Colo./Valley) finished with 10 digs and a pair of service aces. The Rams totaled 10 blocks, four coming from Brittney Bishop (Highlandville, Mo./Spokane).
Postseason picture - Simpson (7-1 IIAC) wrapped up the IIAC regular-season title with last week's five-set win over Wartburg and will host the six-team league tournament Nov. 6-7 in Indianola. Cornell, Luther and Wartburg are all tied for second in the league race at 5-2.
Cornell can earn the No. 2 seed with a win Tuesday over Wartburg, coupled with a Luther loss to 0-7 Buena Vista. The Rams are guaranteed no worse than a No. 4 seed. The top two teams in the tournament receive first-round byes.
Twice as nice - The Loras match put Boehmer over 1,000 assists for the second consecutive season, currently with 1,012. The junior setter established the school's single-season mark with 1,118 assists in 2008, which could be attainable if the Rams make a run in the postseason tournament.
Boehmer joined Hope Coffin as the only Rams in school history to post two 1,000-assist seasons. Coffin totaled 1,033 assists in 2004 and 1,001 in 2006.
Home finale - Cornell hosts Wartburg (15-16, 5-2) in Tuesday's regular-season finale with postseason seeding implications at stake. The winner will earn at least a No. 3 seed in the IIAC Tournament.
Wartburg has taken all 13 matches in the series since the Rams joined the IIAC in 1997. Cornell nearly broke the streak last year in Waverly, falling in five sets.
"Our match against Wartburg will be an exciting one," Meeker said. "Wartburg is a talented young team playing good volleyball. We have continued to make progress as a team and are motivated to play well for our seniors in our last home match."
Senior Night - Prior to Tuesday's match, Cornell will recognize its five seniors in Dudgeon, Paczosa, Rachel Spriggs (Parsons, Kan./Labette County), CJ Ronhovde (Elmwood, Neb./Elmwood-Murdock) and Laura Welch (Houston, Texas/Lamar).
Dudgeon and Paczosa are both fourth-year letterwinners with a combined 244 matches played in their careers. They rank No. 1 (Dudgeon - 1,372) and No. 2 (Paczosa - 1,312) on Cornell's career kills list. Spriggs, Ronhovde and Welch are all second-year letterwinners.
JV repeats as conference champs - Cornell successfully defended its conference title in going 4-0 at the IIAC Junior Varsity Tournament Saturday in Mount Vernon.
The Rams went 2-0 in pool play with a sweep over Simpson (25-21, 25-16) and a three-set victory over Buena Vista (24-26, 25-15, 15-6). Cornell swept Loras (25-13, 25-20) in the semifinal and rallied past Luther (22-25, 25-22, 15-5) in the championship match.
Cornell concluded a stellar season at 16-4-1 under Coach Katie Green.
"Winning back-to-back JV conference tournaments is very exciting," Meeker said. "It is a testament to our depth, the quality young women we have in our program and Katie Green's outstanding leadership. It was a total team effort led by senior Laura Welch, who has been the driving force in both championships."
