Rams claim tourney berth, spot in region rankings

One day after claiming a postseason berth with its 10th consecutive victory, Cornell climbed into the NCAA Division III regional volleyball rankings for the first time in program history.

The Rams (24-5 overall, 4-3 IIAC) came in at No. 7 in the Central Region Poll, released Thursday. Cornell is the highest regionally-ranked team from the Iowa Conference, one spot ahead of Coe.

Cornell improved its in-region record to 20-5 following Wednesday's 25-17, 25-17, 14-25, 25-17 victory over Loras in Mount Vernon. With their 24th overall win - the most by a Jeff Meeker-coached team in 10 years here - the Rams secured the No. 3 seed in next week's six-team IIAC Tournament.

The Rams will host No. 6 seed Dubuque (15-15, 3-5) in a first-round match at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 1 in Mount Vernon. The winner travels to play No. 2 seed Wartburg (22-10, 7-1) in a semifinal Nov. 3 in Waverly. The championship is Nov. 5 at the highest remaining seed.

Cornell closes the regular season Friday at home against Luther (17-13, 2-5) on Senior Night. First serve is 7:30 p.m.

The Rams continued their hot play against Loras on a night that freshman Taylor Dicus became the school's new record holder for total blocks in a season. The 6-foot-2 middle hitter collected six blocks in the match, moving her past Tiffany Cowan (124 total blocks in 2005) atop the program's all-time list with 130. Dicus last week set the school mark for block assists in a season, currently with 103.

It was quite a night for Dicus, who also turned in a career-high 19 kills against the playoff-bound Duhawks (10-22, 4-4). Dicus hit .444 with just three errors on 36 attempts. Samantha Pedersen posted eight kills, while Kathleen O'Connor and Katie Sickelka both added seven.

Freshman libero Kylea Weber had another strong defensive effort with 23 digs. Sabrina Hargis handed out 35 assists. Kayla Gaines and Kelsey Gaillot both served two aces.