PITTSBURGH, PA – University of Rochester women's volleyball fell to No. 5 Washington University in St. Louis and host Carnegie Mellon on Sunday at the second University Athletic Association (UAA) Round Robin, hosted by the Tartans inside Wiegand Gymnasium.
 
Rochester fell to both the Bears and Tartans by the score of 3-0, dropping to 7-10 (0-5 UAA) on the year, while the Bears split their two matches to move to 16-2 (4-1 UAA), and CMU won twice to move to 12-3 (3-2 UAA).
 
MATCH ONE: #5 WASHINGTON (MO) 3, ROCHESTER 0
The fifth-ranked Bears got off to a quick start in the opening set, scoring the first two points of the match before opening up an 8-3 lead.
 
Kills by Sonia McGaffigan and Alexia Nelms slowed WashU's run, but the Bears went back on the offensive, stretching their lead out to 11, 18-11, on Sam Buckley's serve.
 
Three-straight from UR, including an ace from Katie Westerheim, pulled the Yellowjackets back within single digits, before a 4-0 run from UR, down 21-11, made it a six-point game.
 
But WashU matched the 'Jackets point-for-point down the final stretch, and the Bears finished off a 25-17 set-one victory on Amanda Gild's service ace to take a 1-0 match lead.
 
WashU then raced out to an early lead again in set two, scoring five of the first six, and nine of the first 12, points of the set to take a 9-3 lead on back-to-back kills by Lane Bohrer.
 
UR responded with three-in-a-row, the final point of the run coming on Gillian Reeder's kill, but three more from the Bears forced the Yellowjackets to take a timeout down 14-9.
 
Reeder added another kill out of the timeout, but the Bears scored the next eight points to extend their lead to 22-10, before finishing off the second set, 25-12, on Lily Steinbach's kill.
 
McGaffigan then notched the opening kill of set three, but the Bears answered with the next 10, taking a commanding 10-1 lead on Zoe Foster's kill.
 
The Yellowjackets would claw their way back within six, on another McGaffigan kill, but with five of the next six, the Bears extended their lead back out to 10, 16-6.
 
After the two sides traded points over the next few serves, Rochester cut WashU's down to eight, on McGaffigan's 13th kill of the match, the Bears finished off the set with five of the next points to take the set, 25-13, and the match, 3-0.
 
McGaffigan led all players with 14 kills, while Nelms led UR with 23 assists. Defensively, Nelms and Westerheim led the 'Jackets with even digs apiece, while Ana Cerezer and Caroline Hoag tallied six apiece.
 
MATCH TWO: CARNEGIE MELLON 3, ROCHESTER 0
Kills from Cerezer, McGaffigan and Reeder got the Yellowjackets started in their final match of the day, as UR took an early 3-2 lead over Carnegie Mellon.
 
However, the Tartans battled back, breaking an 8-8 tie with a 3-0 run, and scoring seven of eight to take a 16-9 lead.
 
The Yellowjackets would pull within three behind a 5-1 run of their own, highlighted by a pair of aces by Hoag and Westerheim, but CMU responded to go back up by six, 21-15, on a service error.
 
Again though, UR responded, pulling within three on Bella Woodard's attack error, but Laura Reichard prevented the 'Jackets from getting any closer with a kill, and on her serve, CMU finished off the set with a block by Avani Seshiah and Arianna Rosario to take the first set, 25-19.
 
Rochester would again jump out to an early lead in the second set, scoring five of the first six points of the set on Hoag's serve. Kills by Cerezer, McGaffigan and Nelms gave UR a 5-1 lead, and the 'Jackets led by as many as six, 12-6, until Carnegie Mellon made a run of their own.
 
The Tartans pulled within one, 12-11, forcing a Yellowjacket timeout, and then quickly tied the set and took the lead out of the timeout, outscoring UR, 9-3, following the timeout to force another and go up 20-15.
 
McGaffigan slowed CMU's run with a kill out of the timeout, but the Tartans finished off the set with five of six to take a 25-18 set-two victory and a 2-0 match lead.
 
UR and CMU then traded runs to open the third set, with the Yellowjackets scoring 11 of 12 to take a 13-5 lead on McGaffigan's kill. Serves by Cerezer and Hoag highlighted the extended run for Rochester, as the 'Jackets turned an early 4-2 deficit into a 13-5 lead and forced Carnegie Mellon to use both of their timeouts.
 
But the Tartans roared back with a 10-0 run of their own, taking a 16-13 lead on Elizabeth Schlemmer's ace, and later a 22-15 lead on an attack error by UR.
 
The 'Jackets would stage a comeback, holding off match point with Nelms' kill and cutting CMU's lead to three, 24-21, on an attack error, but a service error would give the Tartans the set, 25-21, and the match, 3-0.
 
McGaffigan again led Rochester with 13 kills, while a trio of Yellowjackets notched double-digit digs, led by Hoag's 17. Cerezer added 15 digs and Ruby Moore tallied 12, while Nelms scored a match-high 27 assists.
 
As a team, Rochester tallied 32 kills compared to just 22 for Carnegie Mellon, but 37 attack errors did the Yellowjackets in.
 
Rochester next takes a break from conference play, traveling to Elmira, NY on Saturday, Oct. 8 for a tri-match against Keuka and Elmira beginning at 1 p.m.