WILLIAMSPORT, PA – Rochester maneuvered past Catholic University of America, 3-2, then stormed past Penn State Altoona  on the opening night of the Lycoming University women's volleyball tournament on Friday.
 
The two wins give Rochester a record of 16-5 heading into matches against host Lycoming and Elizabethtown on Saturday, The Yellowjackets broke a four-match losing streak. UR was 0-3 at the first UAA Round Robin at Brandeis University last weekend (losses to Emory, Carnegie Mellon, and NYU). Before that, the Yellowjackets lost to RIT. Next weekend, Rochester plays the second UAA Round Robin with matches against the University of Chicago, Washington University, Case Western Reserve, and Brandeis. Results through the two round robin events set the pairings for the UAA Championships . That event is set for Rochester on November 2-3.
 
Against Catholic, Rochester won the first set, 25-14, then Catholic edged ahead, 2-1, with 25-19 and 25-17 wins. Rochester won set four, 25-16, to get the match to a tiebreaker. The Yellowjackets won that – going beyond 15 points for a win symbolically - 17-15.
 

UR received stellar play at the net with Allie DeRubertis and Alara Kocak combining for 47 kills. DeRubertis had 24 kills and hit .396. She added one ace, 10 digs, and five block assists. Kocak was there to kill 23 balls, hitting .245. She had two aces and 12 digs.  Both kill totals were career-highs.
 
Beth Ghyzel dished a career-high 55 assists. It is the third highest total for assists in one match. The mark is 68, set by Xiaoyi Li against Carnegie Mellon in 2012, with Aimee Kohler ranking second after handing out 57 versus Fredonia in 2015.
 
Elizabeth Thomas had five blocks – one solo and four block assists. She added four kills as did Courtney Vidovich. The digs leader was Sara Apanavicius with 20. Vidovich had nine digs with four assists and four aces.  Ghyzel had 10 digs and Kocak added 12.

UR hit .452 in the first set, then .414 in the match-tying fourth set. The Yellowjackets hit .360 in the final set. The loss to UR put Catholic at 13-9.

Against Penn State Altoona (25-13, 25-12, 25-12), Rochester took charge right from the start. The Yellowjackets hit .324, .414, and .545. DeRubertis had 13 kills, Kocak 11, Tamera Shaw six, and Hope Havenhill five. Ghyzel had 34 assists, five aces, and six digs. Havenhill had one solo block and four block assists. Shaw had four block assists, too. DeRubertis and Apanavicius were the dig leaders with nine.