ELMIRA, NY – University of Rochester women's volleyball picked up a pair of wins on Saturday at Speidel Gymnasium, coming back from down two sets to none to defeat Keuka College, 3-2, before sweeping the host Elmira College Soaring Eagles.
 
With the two wins, UR moves to 9-10 on the year, while Keuka drops to 6-12 and Elmira moves to 6-15.
 
MATCH ONE: ROCHESTER 3, KEUKA 2
Keuka got the match started with Danya Edholm's kill, as the Yellowjackets and Wolves went back and forth in the early going.
 
Out of the Rochester timeout, the 'Jackets evened the score at nine-all, before jumping out to a 12-11 lead on Ana Cerezer's kill. Keuka would rally back though, opening a 23-18 lead on another Edholm kill and an attack error to force another Rochester timeout.
 
Rochester would pull within four, holding off set point on Sonia McGaffigan's kill, but Sarah Paradiso finished off the set with a kill of her own to give Keuka the opening set, 25-20.
 
Set two started much like set one, with UR and Keuka trading barbs before the Wolves opened a four-point, 13-9 lead. The 'Jackets scored six of the next seven to retake the lead, 15-14 on Caroline Hoag's kill, but Keuka came right back with a run of their own, scoring six-in-a-row to open up a 21-16 lead.
 
A service error and Ruby Moore's ace brought UR back within three, but the Wolves finished off the set with four of the next five to take the set, 25-19, and a 2-0 match lead.
 
Their backs against the wall down 2-0, Rochester battled, but Keuka again opened up a four-point lead, 14-10, midway through the third.
 
Up by four, Keuka held Rochester at bay until kills by Hoag and Cerezer, as well as another ace from Moore, pulled UR within a point, forcing the Wolves to take a timeout. And while the Wolves made it 20-17 out of the timeout, Rochester answered with a 5-0 rally to take a 22-20 lead.
 
And after Keuka tied the set at 22-all, Rochester answered with three-straight kills, two from McGaffigan and one from Hoag, to starve off defeat and take the set, 25-22.
 
The Yellowjackets then raced out to an early lead in set four, scoring nine of the first 11 points of the set, including four on service aces, to take a commanding 9-2 lead.
 
Keuka then called a timeout, but the 'Jackets continue the offensive onslaught, leading by as many as 10, 19-9, before the Wolves were forced to take another timeout.
 
Out of the timeout, McGaffigan smashed a pair of kills, putting UR up 21-10, and though the Wolves would pull within eight, 23-18, on Kendra Waltz's kill, Gillian Reeder slowed Keuka's run and set up set point with a kill, and the 'Jackets took the set, 25-15, on a ball-handling error to force a fifth set.
 
Rochester came out of the gate quickly in the fifth set, taking the early lead on Cerezer's kill, and taking advantage of two Wolves' attack errors to notch the first three points of the set.
 
Keuka kept things close before knotting the score at eight-all, and again at nine-all after the two sides traded attack errors. But an attack error and service ace by Katie Westerheim put UR back up by a pair, and McGaffigan then made it 12-9 with a kill following a Wolves timeout.
 
Keuka pulled back within two on a service error, but McGaffigan then finished off the set herself, notching a kill to make it 13-10, a block to make it 14-10 and another kill to win the set, 15-11, and complete the comeback.
 
McGaffigan led Rochester with 26 kills, adding four digs and two blocks, while Cerezer and Hoag joined the senior in double figures with 10 and 12 kills, respectively.
 
Defensively, Cerezer led the 'Jackets with 22 assists, one of four Yellowjackets with 10+ digs, with Moore, Areti Tsirikaki and Alexia Nelms tallying 12, 11 and 11 digs apiece.
 
Nelms also added a game-high 36 assists, while seven 'Jackets added an ace, as UR notched 12, led by Cerezer's three.
 
As a team, Rochester tallied 60 kills to 38 for the Wolves, adding 53 assists and 72 digs.
 
MATCH TWO: ROCHESTER 3, ELMIRA 0
Fresh off their five-set, comeback victory, the Yellowjackets kept things rolling in set one against Elmira, opening up an early, 7-4 lead on Cerzer's ace and a Soaring Eagle attack error.
 
The Soaring Eagles would come back to tie the set at 10-all on Calli Vocke's block, and again at 11-11 on a service error, before four straight from Elmira made it a 15-12 deficit for UR.
 
But the 'Jackets rallied, using an 8-0 run highlighted by kills by Cerezer and Nelms to take a 20-15 lead, and then adding four more on two McGaffigan kills, Cerezer's ace and a ball-handling error to take a 24-16 lead.
 
Elmira would rally, holding off set point five times, but McGaffigan prevented them from holding it off once more, smashing a kill on Gabriela Rodriguez's serve to take the first set, 25-21.
 
Rochester then went up early in set two, and this time, never looked back. Hoag's kill put UR up 11-8, before a 4-0 run highlighted by two more Hoag kills made it a 15-9 lead.
 
Out of an Elmira timeout, the two sides went back and forth, and while the Soaring Eagles slowly cut into Rochester's lead, kills from Moore and Hoag set up set point, 24-17.
 
The Soaring Eagles then made one last run, holding off set point twice, but Cerezer smashed a kill from Tsirikaki, to take the set, 25-19.
 
Elmira then looked to turn the tables of the Yellowjackets, racing out to an early 10-5 lead in set three. But the 'Jackets took a timeout and regrouped, tying the score at 13-all on Cerezer's ace.
 
Samantha Gerry's kill would slow Rochester's run, but UR then took the lead, 15-14, on McGaffigan's kill and put up five straight points to take an 18-14 lead on Hoag's ace.
 
Up 18-15 following a service error, the 'Jackets then put the set away, scoring six more in a row as part of an extended, 17-5 run, as UR flipped a 10-5 deficit into a 22-15 lead.
 
Elmira took a timeout, but it wouldn't matter, as Rochester continued their roll, with a McGaffigan kill, Moore ace and another McGaffigan kill to finish off the match and give UR a 3-0 sweep of the host Soaring Eagles.
 
McGaffigan again led Rochester offensively with 13 kills, while Hoag added eight and Moore notched five. Rochester again tallied 12 aces, led by four from Hoag, while McGaffigan had a game-high three blocks.
 
Defensively, Cerezer, Hoag and Moore each had seven digs, while Tsirkaki added six and McGaffigan five.
 
As a team, UR held the Soaring Eagles to an -0.013 hitting percentage, tallying 36 kills to just 19 for Elmira.
 
Rochester next returns home for their Senior Night matchup against Roberts Wesleyan University on Friday, Oct. 14 at 6 p.m. inside the Louis Alexander Palestra.