ATLANTA, GA – The University of Rochester volleyball team will be the 8th seed at the upcoming UAA conference championship after falling in two matches at UAA Round Robin #3 on Sunday afternoon at the Woodruff PE Center at Emory University.
 
The Yellowjackets (5-15, 0-7 UAA) fell to host and #13 ranked Emory 3-0 in the opening match before getting edged out in a terrific match, 3-2 by Brandeis University in the second game of the day. Emory improved to 16-3 overall (5-1 UAA) with the win, while Brandeis is now 6-15 overall (1-6 UAA).
 
Rochester's leader in the Emory match was Sonia McGaffigan who had six kills and three blocks. Megan Gatz had four kills and seven digs while Ella Sokolowski chipped in three kills. Isabelle Miranda added three blocks and six assists for UR.
 
Emory was consistent throughout the match hitting, ending with a .352 percentage for the match, leading to the 25-14, 25-14 and 25-10 victory. The Eagles top player was Tara Martin who had 15 kills. Madison Cail had seven and Alana Dawson had six. Cail added five blocks and Cassie Srb dished out 21 assists.
 
The Brandeis match was tight throughout, with UR winning the opening set 25-18. Brandeis rebounded with a 25-22 win in the second but that was followed by the Yellowjackets surging ahead with a 25-15 win in the third.
 
With their backs against the wall, the Judges sneaked out an extra point 26-24 win in the fourth.
 
The fifth and deciding set also went extra points when Rochester managed to fend off multiple match points, posting a 4-0 run late after trailing 14-12. With the score 15-14 UR, Brandeis settled down and finished off the 17-15 win getting three straight points in the final set.
 
Gatz, McGaffigan and Kellie McCrea all finished with double-digit kills for UR. Gatz had 14, McCrea 12 and McGaffigan 10. McGaffigan added four more blocks while the Yellowjackets also finished with 11 aces, including three each by Zaira Reyes and La'i Yuen.
 
Reyes also handled 29 assists while Ana Cerezer was the leading defender with 18 digs. Yuen added 16 digs while Sokolowski and Reyes added 11 and 10, respectively.
 
Brandeis was led by Stephanie Borr who finished with 15 kills and 12 digs. Lara Verstovsek and Amelia Oppenheimer each had 11 kills. Ella Pereria had a whopping 28 digs while Verstovsek ended with a double-double, recording 11 digs. Ines Grom-Mansenecal had 39 assists and 14 digs for the Judges.
 
Rochester's next match is Thursday, October 21 against Houghton College at home. The game will serve as senior day for the Class of 2022 for Rochester with the match starting at 7 pm.