CHICAGO – Rochester opened the University Athletic Association women's volleyball round robin #1 with two of the tougher teams in the league. The Yellowjackets lost to Washington-St. Louis, 3-0 (25-16, 25-11 25-22) and to the University of Chicago, 3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 25-19). UR is 5-5 overall, 0-2 in the UAA.
 
On Sunday at 11 a.m. Central Time, Rochester will play NYU in the third match of the round robin. The second round robin will be staged on October 3 at Brandeis University (UR will play Case Western Reserve and Carnegie Mellon). The third round robin goes to Emory University in Atlanta. Rochester will play Emory on October 17 and follow that with a match against Brandeis. The round robin results set the pairings for the overall UAA Championships (scheduled for Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, starting on November 5.
 
Rochester vs. Washington-St. Louis: The 19^th-ranked Bears hit .253 for the three-set victory. In the first set, WUSTL enjoyed a comfortable 5-6 point lead. UR used back to back kills by Megan Gatz and Anna Cerezer to get within 14-10. Washington scored five straight points on a UR service error, then kills from four individuals. It was 19-10 and the Yellowjackets never got closer than six after that. In the second set, Rochester did string together a run of six points (a block and a kill from Kellie McCrea, an ace from Ella Sokolowski, and three WUSTL attack errors.) The Bears withstood the flurry to take a 2-0 lead. Set three was back-and-forth. Washington ran off five straight points, UR answered with five of the next six (10-10, kills by Gatz and Cerezer helped along with an ace from Alaina Bohrer). The Yellowjackets found late-game energy with a 9-1 run to take a 20-15 lead. With the Yellowjackets ahead, 21-16, the Bears scored nine of the last 10 points to seize the set win and the match victory.
 
Gatz had five kills, Cerezer four, McCrea three. Gatz had two blocks as did Kaylin Williams. Soia McGaffigan had two aces. Zaira Reyes had seven assists, Isabel Miranda had six. Cerezer had seven digs. Ella Sokolowski had six along with La'l Yuen.
 
Rochester vs. Chicago: A fast start in the first set propelled 13^th-ranked Chicago to a 10-4 lead. The maroons failed to connect briefly (two attack errors plus a bad set, and a kill from Cerezer) got it to 11-8 UC. A 6-2 spurt plus another 5-0 surge put the first set in Chicago's hands. UC wasted no time in the middle set. UR opened with an ace from Cerezer. Chicago scored the next nine points. The Yelowjackets parried their way to 14-6 on a McGaffigan skill before Chicago went 6-2 for a 21-9 lead. Four kills plus three attack errors pushed UC in front, 13-5 in the third set.
 
For Rochester, McGaffigan recorded nine kills. Gatz and Sokolowski and four and three respectively. Cerezer had 14 digs, Reyes and Yuen had eight apiece. Ilaria Benciolini had three blocks. Reyes had 13 assists. Alexia Nelms had seven.