The University of Rochester women's volleyball team got its 2021 season off to a roaring start with a 3-0 victory over visiting Elmira College at the Louis Alexander Palestra on Wednesday night.
 
Rochester (1-0) posted set wins of 25-13, 25-18 and 25-13 in the three-set sweep. The match was the first for the Yellowjacket volleyball team since November 9th, 2019, a span of 662 days, thanks to the disruption caused the by the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Over the course of the match, the Yellowjackets hit the ball well, smacking at a .371 percentage, hitting over .350 in each set. First-year Ella Sokolowski led Rochester with 10 kills, while senior co-captain Kaylin Williams was next with four. Sonia McGaffigan, Megan Gatz and Kellie McCrea each finished with three.
 
The entire roster of 17 for UR ended up seeing time in the match. Sokolowski also finished with seven digs, most on the team. She was followed by Ana Cerezer with six, Gatz with five and Zaira Reyes with four. Reyes also handed out 13 assists and had three aces.
 
For Elmira, Sam Sprague finished with six kills to lead the Soaring Eagles (0-1). Maddie Hampton had four aces and six digs for the visitors, while Amelia Martin posted eight digs. Cassidy Ryan handed out 17 assists.
 
The first set was a batch of runs early on. UR took a 3-1 lead, but Elmira scored five in a row to make it 6-3. Rochester bounced back with seven of the next eight points to make it 10-7, with Sokolowski providing three kills in the stretch. Elmira got within 10-9 thanks to a pair of Rochester errors, but another seven point run over the next eight points put the set away. The Yellowjackets finished the set with six straight points, aided by three Reyes aces.
 
In the second, Rochester exploded out to an 8-0 lead on the serve of Lopez. Three aces helped the run, as well as kills from Ilaria Benciolini and Gatz. Elmira got a kill from Sprague to get on the board, but two straight points from Rochester made it 10-1.
 
Elmira battled back though, crawling within 14-11 after a scoring six in an eight point spree. The score was 20-16 late in the set before Rochester earned the 2-0 lead thanks to a kill from Sokolowski.
 
Rochester's third set saw the home team fall behind 3-1 in the early going. UR used an five point burst to regain the lead though, jumping ahead 8-4, with Sokolowski providing two more kills in the run. The lead ballooned to 12-5 after three Elmira attack errors and Rochester was able to cruise to the match sweep. Sophomore Diana Karosas clinched the match with a kill for the final point.
 
The Yellowjackets next opponent will be Buffalo State on Friday evening as a part of the UR Volleyball Invitational. Rochester also takes on Smith College on Friday before entertaining Oneonta and Medaille on Saturday.