Cornell, Tigers top Ivy tourney field

As the chewing gum commercial says, Big Red goes on and on. Ironically, this slogan could also apply to the Cornell Big Red volleyball team. The Big Red and Princeton have plowed their way through the Ancient Eight. Now the two foes are looking to continue their success this weekend at the Palestra, as they each embark on their quest to win the Ivy League tournament and an automatic bid to the NCAAs. This season, Cornell won the regular season Ivy League title with a 6-1 record. The Big Red got rolling towards the middle of the season and has not looked back since. Coming off a victory over previously undefeated Princeton on the last Ivy weekend of the year, Cornell is looking to continue its late-season dominance in the first round of the double-elimination tournament against Columbia at 3 p.m. Friday. The Big Red's successful season has been attributed to a well-balanced attack and defensive stability. Cornell boasts four hitters with at least 180 kills. However, only one player -- Carol DeZwarte -- has more than 204. DeZwarte, a middle hitter, is Cornell's offensive leader. This season she blew away the rest of her teammates, compiling 293 kills. In addition to her power, DeZwarte also has deadly aim. She finished second in the Ivies in hitting percentage. But with three other players putting up similar numbers, the Big Red seems to pride itself on the relative anonymity of its players. To emphasize Cornell's balance, in its match-of-the year against the Tigers, DeZwarte only managed 15 kills. She was helped out by freshman Erika Migliore's team-high 18, along with 19 more kills from two other teammates. This balance helped ensure a 3-1 victory over Princeton. If any area of the Big Red stands out, it is the defense. And if this area has a star, it too is DeZwarte. She leads the Ancient Eight in blocks and is among the league leaders in digs. But, like on the offense, not even DeZwarte really stands out. According to Penn setter Heather Glick, who has faced Cornell five times in her career, the absence of a single star has arisen because the Big Red hustles better than any other team in the Ivies. This relentlessness suits Cornell coach Sue Medley just fine. "Our strength is our team and our work ethic," Medley said. "We are very team based. Our whole team, I mean everyone, pulls their own weight. We use a system where no one stands out." In stark contrast to Cornell's low-key approach, Princeton's players make themselves known on the court. The second-place Tigers, who finished with an astonishing 26-2 record, have the biggest hitters in the league, and will likely draw the most 'ooh's' and 'ah's' from the tournament crowd. Those cheers will begin Friday when Princeton squares off against Brown at 3 p.m. In addition to having the biggest hits this season, Princeton posted the biggest numbers. The trio of Stephanie Edwards, Ayesha Attoh and Lowen Cattolico amassed an eye-popping 814 kills, with Attoh and Edwards sharing the team lead with 282 apiece. Unlike DeZwarte, these two standouts have stepped up in the big game. Against the Big Red, the duo combined for 31 kills in a losing effort. In last year's semifinal win over Penn, the two led the team in every offensive category, a remarkable achievement for two freshmen. Since every team has to have a weakness, Princeton's is its occasional lack of intensity on defense. "Princeton has a much stronger hitting team, and also a tendency to stand around," Glick said. The Tigers hit for show, and sometimes lack the drive to get the little things accomplished. But if these scarce defensive lapses are the Tigers' achilles heel, the rest of teams in the league still have their work cut out for them. Facing Cornell or Princeton is a case of choosing between the lesser of two evils. You don't want to face the Big Red, which is like the quiet kid in the class who is waiting to explode, and you certainly don't want to face Princeton, the bully waiting to crush anything in his path.