Cornell brings home top trophy at Winter

Cornell senior Jayda Turchen spikes the ball over the net to Bruce Sept. 28, in the Chiefs’ away match, with Cornell coming up the victor in three sets. Photo by Todd Roehl

By Ginna Young

Cornell’s volleyball program ended the week on a high note, after winning a conference match at Bruce, then dominating a Winter Invitational.

Sept. 28 vs. Bruce conference (W 3-0)

To begin the week, the Chiefs headed to Bruce for a conference match-up, with the first set a close contest. Cornell pulled out the win, then went on to take the final two sets, 25-14 and 25-16.

Junior Michayla Turchen had 8 kills and 2 blocks for the Chiefs, while senior Jayda Turchen ended with 7 kills and 14 digs. Freshman Briana Glaus and sophomore Brooke Sime each added 5 kills.

Freshman Bralee Schroeder lead the team in assists, with 12, and she also had 3 kills. Sophomore Brooke Anderson had 21 serve attempts, with 0 errors and 3 aces.

Oct. 2 vs. Winter Invitational (W 4-1)

To finish out the week, the Chiefs went to Winter, for a tournament, finishing in first place, complete with medals and a trophy. This is the first tournament championship for coach Amy Lorenzen in the program and the first tournament championship for the Chiefs volleyball program in quite some time.

Sacrificing her body for the play, Lake Holcombe sophomore Ella Hartzell saves the ball Sept. 14, in a triangular against New Auburn on Cornell’s court. The Chieftains fought back from a deficit, but couldn’t overtake New Auburn, dropping the set, 3-1.

South Shore was first up on the day, but Cornell couldn't get their offense going, and dropped the sets, 25-15 and 25-16. The host school was next, against Winter, where Cornell won the sets, 25-20 and 25-13.

The Chiefs third opponent of the day was Lac Courte Oreilles (LCO), with Cornell taking the victories, 25-19 and 25-10.

In order to get into the championship, the Chiefs then faced Frederic. Frederic won the first set, 25-23.

“We rallied back and took the second set, 25-16,” said Lorenzen. “The third set, we started off strong and had a good lead, but Frederic was determined and kept getting the ball to one of their strongest hitters in the middle. It was a back-and-forth battle to the very end.”

The third set saw the match go to Cornell, 17-15.

Butternut was all that was in the way of the championship and while the sets were close, Cornell walked away with the victories, 26-24 and 25-20.

The Chief are now 8-0 in conference play and 14-5 overall.

“The girls played great…,” said Lorenzen.