Rochester's players banded together and earned a gritty five-set win over Elmira College to celebrate Senior Night in the Palestra on Wednesday.
 
The Yellowjackets won, 25-22, 22-25, 25-14, 23-25, 15-6. The win evens Rochester's record at 13-13 Elmira is 15-11. Rochester plays at Buffalo State next Tuesday, then goes to Nazareth College over the Halloween weekend for the New York Regional Challenge.

Defense played an important role in this one. Rochester had a total of three block solos and 11 block assists. Alexandra Goldman had one block solo and six block assists. She also had 10 kills, one of four players to record 10 or more.
 
Emma Gira had five block assists and led Rochester with 17 kills. Aimee Kohler had one block solo and four block assists. She also contributed 15 digs, two kills, and 49 assists.
 
Jennie Ford had three block assists to go along with 11 kills, three aces, and 21 assists. Shira Katz had 12 kills and eight digs, plus a block assist. Anna MacDonald had two kills, four digs, one block solo, and three block assists.
 
For Elmira, Natalie Schieder led the way with 14 kills for the Soaring Eagles. Paola Ortiz had eight kills and Ashley Heiman had seven.
 
Kelsey Ross had 21 digs for Elmira. Scheider had 19, and Kierstin Derr had 10.
 
In the first set, Rochester pulled away from a 13-12 deficit by scoring nine of the next 10 points. Gira had two kills in the run along with a block assist (pairing up with Ford). Rochester led by seven, 21-14, before Elmira asserted itself. The Soaring Eagles took advantage of three errors – two on serves – to fuel an extended 8-2 run to creep within 23-22. Katz earned a kill (24-22) and Rochester won the game on an Elmira double hit.
 
Elmira built a 13-8 lead in the second set before Rochester rallied to pull within 18-17, thanks partially to one kill apiece from Goldman and Katz and two kills by Gira.  EC couldn't build a lead of more than two  in the next few scoring opportunities. Back to back kills by Ford evened the score at 22-22, but her next try was blocked. Then Ortiz earned an ace and Scheider put away a kill for the 25-22 win.
 
Rochester ran away in game three, outscoring Elmira 13-2 at one point. In the fourth game, the Eagles notched an early 5-4 lead. Rochester eventually battled back, getting kills from Katz and Goldman plus a block assist by Kohler and Goldman for an 11-7 lead. EC scored seven straight points to move in front, 14-11, only to see Rochester run off eight of nine points for a 20-16 edge. Elmira replied – two aces from Derr helped – and tied the score at 21, then edged in front, 22-21. Rochester evened it at 22-all and 23-all before the Eagles scored the final two points.
 
The Yellowjackets jumped ahead, 5-1, in game five and built the lead to 8-3, before the teams switched benches. Elmira made it 8-4 on a block assist. Rochester scored four in a row and six of the next seven to take a 14-5 lead.