ITHACA, N.Y. - Senior Sonja Banicevic (Zagreb, Croatia) recorded a match-high 14 digs as the Delaware State University volleyball team opened their season Friday afternoon with a 3-0 (19-25, 15-25, 16-25) loss to Cornell University at Newman Arena.

"We are still learning to play as a team," stated DSU head coach Renee Arnold.  "There were a few positive moments to draw from and there are adjustments that will be made for tomorrow's matches."

The Hornets took a 16-12 lead in the first set of the afternoon off of a kill by sophomore Jessica Croucher (Brisbane, Australia) before frustrations caused the Big Red to call a timeout.  DSU went up, 17-14, before Cornell went on a 9-0 run.

Croucher scored the 18^th point of the set with a kill to cut the lead to five at 23-18 in favor of the Big Red.  Cornell rounded out the game with a kill by sophomore Rachel D'Epagnier and service ace from senior Risa Ka'awa to take the first set, 25-19.

Junior Laisha Davis (Riviera Beach, Fla.) started Del State off on the right foot in set two with 1-0 lead off of a kill from fellow junior Bel Fakaosi (Salt Lake City, Utah).  The two teams exchanged points before two straight kills from CU sophomore Janel Forte and a service ace from senior Jordan Reeder gave the Big Red a 12-8 lead.

The Hornets came within three at 16-13 off of a kill from senior Elisa Herrmann (Andernach, Germany) before a 6-0 run from Cornell.  A Theresa Schieder (freshman; Munich, Germany) kill cut the CU lead to 23-15.  Two kills from Forte and Meagan Tatum gave the Big Red a 25-15 second set win.

Like the previous two sets, the Hornets stuck with Cornell at the beginning, staying within two points up until a 4-0 run gave the Big Red a 10-6 lead.  CU then went on a few runs before DSU caught up to within four at 16-12.  The Hornets were never able to get into a steady rhythm and Cornell took the game at 25-16.

The Big Red recorded a .252 attack percentage to just .063 for DSU and were led by Forte's 11 kills.  Reeder posted a game-high 34 assists for Cornell.

Fakaosi ended the day with a team-high 19 assists while Croucher led the Hornets with seven kills.  Davis recorded the lone block on the day for DSU. 

This was the first game of the season for both teams as the Big Red go 1-0 and the Hornets fall to 0-1.

Del State is back in action on Saturday with two games in the Cornell Invitational.  They play Niagara at 10 a.m. and UTEP at 5 p.m.  Live stats are available via DSUHornets.com and game updates will be posted on twitter.com/DSUVolleyball.