The University of Rochester volleyball split a pair of matches to finish the UR Volleyball Invitational with a 3-1 record, finishing in third place in the eight team event.
 
The Yellowjackets (6-2) won their sixth straight match by defeating Utica College 3-0 in the opener before nearly rallying from 2-0 down, ultimately falling 3-2 to SUNY Geneseo in the final match.
 
UR was led by two all-tournament team selections in senior libero Meghan Connor and freshman setter/right side hitter Beth Ghyzel.  Also, junior Shira Katz and senior Alexandra Goldman had nice days on Saturday, finishing the tournament among the stat leaders.
 
In the opener against the Pioneers (1-8), Katz paced the Yellowjackets with 16 kills and only three errors in 30 attempts, hitting at a .433 clip.  Ghyzel added seven kills and hit .353 while also handing out 11 assists.  Connor chipped in 16 digs while sophomore Elizabeth Thomas added seven kills in the sweep.  Overall, Rochester won the match 25-22, 25-14 and took a marathon third set 29-27.
 
Against SUNY Geneseo (3-4), the Yellowjackets fell behind early, dropping the first two sets 25-16 and 15-19, but showed grit in battling back and winning the next two in impressive fashion, 25-13 and 25-18.  In the fifth set, Geneseo maintained its composure and held UR at bay, holding on for a 15-10 win.
 

The 6-foot-3 Goldman's defense was the story as she swatted 10 blocks, including three of the solo variety in addition to her 10 kills.  Katz added 14 kills while Aimee Kohler added 34 assists, 13 digs, 5 kills and 4 blocks.  Connor recorded 23 digs while freshman Sara Apanavicius added 16.  Senior Nina Baek added six kills and 13 digs.
 
Goldman's 10 blocks were the third most in a single match in UR history, one shy of matching her own record of 11 set last year and in 2012 by Alma Guevara.
 
Overall in the tournament, Goldman led the eight teams in blocks with 13, averaging one per set.  Katz was tops in kills with 3.64 per set, swatting 51 total in four matches.  Connor was tops in the field in digs, recording 80 in four matches, averaging 5.71 per set.
 
The College at Brockport went 4-0 and took home the team title while SUNY Geneseo finished second with a 3-0 record.  UR was third at 3-1.  Beloit finished fourth with a 1-1 record while Hamilton and St. John Fisher were tied for fifth at 1-2.  SUNY Poly was seventh at 0-3 and Utica ended eighth with an 0-4 record.
 
Rochester's next match will be against tournament champion Brockport on Sept. 15 at 7 pm in Brockport.