MORRISVILLE, NY - The University of Rochester volleyball team will head into the first of two UAA conference round robins with some momentum as the Yellowjackets topped Morrisville State and La Roche College on Saturday afternoon.
 
UR (9-9) topped host Morrisville 3-0 in convincing fashion and then rallied from 2-1 down against La Roche to win a marathon five set match.  It is Rochester's 2nd win against La Roche this season, as UR won 3-0 at the Frostburg State tournament on September 13th.
 
Against the Mustangs, junior Emma Gira had an outstanding performance, smacking 10 kills on 12 attempts for an .833 hitting percentage.  She also added three blocks in the match.  Freshman Allie Fredrickson also had five kills and no errors.  The rest of the 'Jacket lineup was balanced as Aimee Kohler and Xiaoyi Li handed out 15 and 13 assists respectively.  Six players on UR recorded six or more digs.
 
As a team, the Yellowjackets hit .259 in the contest, compared to -.014 for the host Mustangs.  UR would win 25-17, 25-9 and 25-9.
 
In the La Roche match, Gira again led Rochester in kills with 13 while also chipping in three blocks, all solo.  Sophomore Nina Baek had 10 kills and nine digs while freshman Shira Katz had 11 kills.  Meghan Connor had 39 digs in the match while three others, Jennie Ford, Li and Ashley Hunter, all had double digit digs as well. 
 
The line score against the Redhawks was 25-18, 20-25, 22-25, 25-23 and 15-6.
 
Rochester now has a week to prepare for the first UAA Round Robin being hosted by Emory University.  Next Saturday and Sunday, UR will take on Carnegie Mellon, Emory and Case Western Reserve.