In an unofficial championship match of last weekend's RIT Tournament, the University of Rochester volleyball team won a tough five set contest over the RIT Tigers on Tuesday evening in the Palestra.
 
Both teams went 4-0 during last weekend's RIT Invitational and shared the team title, but Rochester set out to prove it was the better team on this night with toughness in gritting out the five set win.  They came from behind in sets three and five to take the match.
 
The big momentum shift seemed to come as the teams were switching ends in the fifth and deciding set.  At the time, UR (11-3) was down 8-7 in the frame scored to 15.  Rochester then got a huge kill from senior Meghan Neff and then two straight block assists from Neff and classmate Kelly Mulrey to surge ahead.  After two more points made it 13-8, the Yellowjackets were able to put away the pesky Tigers (9-4)15-9 in the fifth set.
 
In the first set, Rochester was able to jump out to an early lead but RIT would battle back with strong play from their outside hitters.  The Tigers would hold on for a 25-21 win.
 
In set two, it was all UR, with the Yellowjackets taking the first seven points and never looking back.  Evening the match at one set a piece, UR took the second 25-10.
 
Set three was a come from behind victory for UR after getting behind by as much as six points at 18-12.  Mulrey was key in the comeback, smashing six kills in the set.
 
Set four went to the Tigers after they jumped out to a significant advantage early on.  RIT's Cat Sullivan fired a streak of six consecutive service aces to build a 7-2 RIT lead.  After that the Tigers would never look back and would go on to take the set 25-19.
 
That set the stage for the fifth and deciding set between the two cross town rivals.  After the first half was played fairly evenly, a timeout by head coach Ladi Iya fired up the team after the changeover.  That's when Neff and Mulrey stood tall at the net and rushed the 'Jackets ahead for good.
 
On the night, Mulrey posted huge numbers with 20 kills and 16 digs.  Savannah Benton finished with 11 kills and eight blocks while Alma Guevara posted 11 kills and six assists.  Xiaoyi Li had 39 assists and 14 digs for UR.  Sara Ribakove finished with seven kills and 14 digs.
 
For the Tigers, Sullivan led the way with 12 kills and those six aces.  Christina Worth chipped in seven kills and eight digs while Amanda White had nine kills and six blocks.  Libero Bethany Davis was all over the court in recording 23 digs.

Rochester next travels to Elizabethtown, PA to compete in the Elizabethtown Tournament on Friday and Saturday.