ST. LOUIS, MO – The University of Rochester volleyball team swept past Case Western Reserve University by a 3-0 score to capture fifth place at the UAA Championships on Saturday morning at the WU Field House.
 
UR ends its season with a 24-11 record and will await word on if its resume is good enough to earn an at-large berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament.  The Spartans drop to 21-10 on the season.  The win over CWRU was the second for Rochester this season as the Yellowjackets defeated the Spartans on October 1st by a 3-2 score.
 
On Saturday, Rochester won 25-18, 25-23 and 26-24 to earn the sweep.
 
UR was led by Alara Kocak and Clara Martinez who were top-2 in kills in all three matches during the UAA tournament.  Kocak had 11 kills against the Spartans while Martinez added 10.  Alexandra Goldman chipped in five kills while Alexandra Nelligan and Shira Katz had four each.
 

Rochester as a team swatted 11 blocks, with Kayla Sell leading the way with six total, including one solo and five assists.  Goldman recorded five assisted blocks while Martinez had four.  Aimee Kohler had one solo block and two assisted to go along with her 33 passing assists.
 
Meghan Connor led a balanced defensive effort with 13 digs while Martinez and Kohler had nine apiece.  Courtney Vidovich and Nina Baek chipped in eight each.
 
The Spartans were led by Brianna Lemon who had 13 kills.  Haley Sims and Kayla Pfaff each had seven while Shannon Carroll recorded 21 assists.
 
Rochester's key run in the opening set was a 4-0 burst where UR ended up pulling ahead 17-13.  A kill and ace by Martinez along with a Goldman kill and a CWRU error fueled the run.  The Yellowjackets closed out the first set in style, rattling off four more points in a row to win by a 25-18 score.
 
In the second, the Spartans started quick, establishing a 5-1 lead early.  Rochester battled back to 7-7, but Case Western Reserve responded again, recording a 6-of-7 rush to go ahead 15-9.  After a kill by Shira Katz evened the set at 21-21, Rochester had the momentum and won four of the remaining six points to edge out the set 25-23.  Katz, Sell and Martinez had big kills to close out game two.
 
It was the Yellowjackets who were able to jump out to an early lead in the third set, being up by a 10-3 score.  CWRU won six straight to pull within one, but Rochester answered right back with a 6-0 run of its own to regain a seven point lead.  The Spartans would battle to tie it at 18 and take their first lead of the set at 21-20, eventually getting a game point at 24-21.  But the Yellowjackets closed out the win with five straight points to take the third set 26-24.