CORTLAND – Sparked by strong hitting performances in games two and four, the University of Rochester defeated Stockton University, 3-1, in the first Saturday match of the SUNY Cortland Red Dragon Invitational.
 
In the second match on Saturday, the Yellowjackets compiled 17 service aces, seven by Allie DeRubertis in the fourth game to finish off a 3-1 victory over Houghton College (25-20, 19-25, 25-20, 25-11). Rochester is off to a 4-0 start and returns to the Palestra next weekend for the UR Invitational.
 
Against the Ospreys of Stockton, Rochester hit .334 in the second game and .321 in the fourth game. The game scores were 20-25, 26-24, 25-20, and 25-16.
 
Alara Kocak and DeRubertis led the way on the front line. Kocak had 15 kills and DeRubertis added 11. Clara Martinez had eight, Hope Havenhill added five, and Tamara Shaw contributed four.
 
The dig leaders were Sara Apanavicius with 13, Courtney Vidovich with nine, eight for Beth Ghyzel and Lauren Lopez, and seven by Kocak.  Apanavicius had three of Rochester's eight aces. Ghyzel had two aces and 42 assists. Martinez, Lydia Barnard, and Kocak had one ace each.
 
UR totaled nine team blocks – two solos (Kocak and DeRubertis) plus 14 block assists coming from six players: Martinez four, Shaw and Havenhill three, DeRuertis two. Ghyzel and Kocak had one assist apiece.
 
Versus Houghton, DeRubertis added 11 kills and six digs to her seven aces. Martinez had seven kills, five blocks (one solo), and two digs. Kocak had eight kills, three aces, and 15 digs.
 
Ghyzel had 27 assists and seven digs. Apanavicius dug 15 balls. Barnard had seven digs. Shaw registered four kills, and Megan McHugh had four kills.

At the conclusion of the tournament, Kocak and Martinez were named to the All-Tournament Team with voting conducted by the head coaches.