PITTSBURGH, PA - Case Western Reserve University captured 5th place at the UAA Volleyball Championships on Saturday with a 3-1 victory over the University of Rochester.
 
The loss ends Rochester's season with a 17-19 record while the Spartans finish the year with an 18-12 mark.
 
Overall, the match was a tight one, with the Spartans taking the first set 25-21, UR rebounding 26-24 in the second before Case took the last two 25-22 and 25-17.
 
Leading the way for Rochester was junior Jennie Ford who smashed a season high 16 kills adding in five digs and two service aces.  She hit a combined .333 on the day.  Senior Xiaoyi Li, playing in her final game in a Yellowjacket uniform, handed out a season high 50 assists and added in 15 digs.  The senior ends her Rochester career with 4,030 assists.
 
Junior Emma Gira chipped in 10 kills and hit .250 while freshman Alexandra Nelligan also hit 10 kills with three digs.
 
After dropping the close first set, the second was kept within two points with UR taking a 15-14 lead.   The Yellowjackets boosted the lead to 20-16 after a Case bad set, and remained up by four at 22-18 after another Spartan error.  Case Western Reserve then rattled off four straight to tie it up at 22-22.
 
Heading to extra points at 24-24, Ford hit a kill to give UR a set point.  Li then stepped up and recorded an ace to take the set.
 
Case captures fifth in the UAA championships with its second win over UR this year.  The Spartans earned a 3-0 victory over Rochester on Oct. 5 at the 1st UAA Round Robin this season.