PITTSFORD, NY – The University of Rochester volleyball team saw its regular season come to a close, dropping two matches at a St. John Fisher College tri-match on Saturday afternoon.
UR (6-17) fell 3-0 to the host Cardinals by a 25-15, 25-12 and 25-22 score. In the nightcap, Buffalo State exacted some revenge from an earlier season defeat at the hands of Rochester, coming away with a 3-2 five-set victory (25-18, 18-25, 25-17, 21-25, 11-15).
In the opening match,
Megan Gatz led the Yellowjackets with seven kills and 16 digs. Both Ana Cereze and
Kaylin Williams chipped in with five kills each. Cerezer had 11 digs and three blocks, while Willams led the team with four blocks.
Zaira Reyes had 11 assists and 10 digs for UR, while also leading the team with two aces.
Both Gatz and
Ella Sokolowski led the team in the second match of the day, posting 13 kills. Williams added seven and both
Sonia McGaffigan and
Areti Tsirikaki swatted five. The Yellowjackets also combined for 14 aces in the match, four by Gatz, three by
La'i Yuen and two by Cerezer and Sokolowski. Yuen also had 14 digs to her credit in the match.
McGaffigan paced UR with three blocks, while Cerezer picked up a team-best 25 digs in the narrow loss. UR used three primary setters in the match, with Reyes leading with 18 assists.
Isabelle Miranda added 12 and
Alexia Nelms dished out 15.
In the opening set, UR was leading 14-12 when the Yellowjackets embarked on a nice spurt, scoring nine of the next 11 points to lead 23-14, eventually putting the set away in the next few points.
The second set was tight through 14-all, but Buffalo State rattled off six of seven points to surge ahead, eventually winning 25-18.
Rochester responded in the third, using an eight point run across nine serves to go ahead 13-7. UR was up by as many as ten, leading 22-12 before finishing off the set win at 25-17.
In the fourth, Buffalo State used a late rally to stay alive in the match, winning 25-21.
The Bengals used the momentum they earned in the fourth to carry over into the fifth, jumping out to an early lead, sitting up 8-2, eventually leading to the 15-11 win in the deciding set.