ST. LOUIS, MO – The University of Rochester volleyball team will play for 5th place in the conference after splitting a pair of matches at the UAA Championships on Friday evening at Washington University in St. Louis.
 
Rochester (23-11), the tournament's #5 seed, dropped a tight match to #4 seed Carnegie Mellon (24-6) by a 3-0 score, falling 25-21, 25-21 and 25-21 in the quarterfinals.  In the consolation match later in the day, the Yellowjackets rebounded to defeat Brandeis (7-20) by a 3-0 score to advance to the fifth place match.  UR topped the Judges 25-23, 25-21 and 25-19.
 

In the opener against the 21st ranked Tartans, Rochester's Alara Kocak led the way with 10 kills and a .320 attack percentage.  Clara Martinez added 8 kills, 4 blocks, 4 digs and 2 aces while Alexandra Goldman chipped in five kills.  Setter Aimee Kohler had 33 assists and a team best 16 digs while both Meghan Connor and Sara Apanavicius recorded 12 digs each.
 
The later action saw CMU upset top seeded Chicago 3-2 in the semifinals, advancing the Tartans to the UAA title match to face off with Emory who won over NYU and Washington to reach the final.
 
Kocak again was the top hitter in the Brandeis match, swatting 14 kills while adding four digs.  Goldman hit well in addition, with 13 kills and a .455 attack percentage.  Martinez added 10 kills and six digs while Shira Katz added seven kills.  Kohler dished out 38 assists and added eight digs while Nina Baek led the 'Jackets with 10 digs.  Connor and Courtney Vidovich had eight and seven respectively.
 
The win sets Rochester up for a fifth place showdown with Case Western Reserve University at 10 am on Saturday.  In the round robin match earlier this season, the Yellowjackets topped the Spartans in five sets and will look for a similar result to close the season.