Monmouth stayed close at the start, but Cornell pulled away in the Midwest Conference opener for both teams as the Ram took a 3-0 decision over the Scots Tuesday night in Glennie Gym.
 
Cornell edged Monmouth in the first set 25-19 and gained steam in each of the next two sets of the match that took less than 75 minutes to complete. Lauren Sperry paced Monmouth with seven kills and a .400 attack percentage, but was offset by the Rams' team .301 percentage and Nicole Ciari's 15 kills.
 
The Scots continue league play Saturday when they host Beloit for a 1 p.m. contest.