BROOKLYN, NY – University of Rochester women's volleyball fell to the No. 2-seed Washington University in St. Louis, 3-1, and the No. 3-seed University of Chicago, 3-0, at the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships on Friday, hosted by NYU at the Pratt Institute's Activities Resource Center.
 
With the two losses, Rochester falls to 13-13 on the year and will play the No. 8 seed, Brandeis, in the seventh-place match on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 10 a.m.
 
MATCH ONE: #2 WASHU 3, #7 ROCHESTER 1
The Bears raced out to an early lead in set one, taking advantage of a pair of attack errors as well as Lane Bohrer's kill to take a 7-2 lead.
 
Kills by Ana Cerezer and Sonia McGaffigan slowed WashU's roll, but the Bears kept rolling with a 6-0 run, forcing Rochester to take a timeout down 17-6.
 
A service error cut Washington's lead to 11, but two more points from WashU put the Bears up 13, 20-7. WashU would then trade points with Rochester down the stretch, as they finished off a 25-12 victory to take a 1-0 match lead.
 
Rochester though would bounce back to take set two. Alexia Nelms service ace gave UR an early 3-2 lead, while McGaffigan's kill knotted the score at 7-7 after WashU went up by a pair.
 
Following ties at 8-8 and 9-9, the Yellowjackets went up three, with Ruby Moore's smash helping UR take a 12-9 lead, and forcing the Bears to take a timeout.
 
WashU came right back to even the match at 12-all, but UR didn't falter, matching the Bears point for point till the two sides again stood tied at 15-all.
 
Three more quick points, highlighted by a block and a kill by McGaffigan, gave the 'Jackets another three-point lead, 18-15 before another McGaffigan kill kept UR's lead at three.
 
Caroline Hoag notched one of her five kills to put Rochester up 21-18 and force Washington to use its final timeout, and Nelms' service ace out of the timeout gave UR its largest lead yet.
 
Bohrer's smash brought WashU back within three, but Moore answered with a kill. And when Lily Steinbach again made it a three-point game, Gillian Reeder picked up a kill to set up set point.
 
Bohrer and the Bears would hold off set point once, but McGaffigan finished off the second set with one of her five second-set kills, giving UR the set, 25-20, and evening the match at once set apiece.
 
The Bears though would jump out to an early lead in set three, opening an 8-3 lead on Bohrer's kill, before four straight from WashU made it 14-6 and forced the Yellowjackets to take a timeout.
 
WashU would extend their lead out to 18-9 on Zoe Foster's block before the Yellowjackets clawed their way back.
 
Hoag's kill made it an eight-point deficit, but the Bears would keep Rochester from getting any closer, matching UR's kills down the stretch, before Michaela Bach gave WashU a 25-16 set-three win, and a 2-1 match lead.
 
And while Rochester took an early 4-3 lead on the Bears, looking to push the match to a fifth set, WashU answered with a run of their own, forcing Rochester to take a timeout down 8-4.
 
Bohrer made it 9-4 out of the timeout before a kill from Moore and an attack error brought UR back within three.
 
Rochester would again close the gap to three, 12-9, before WashU made another run, extending their lead out to 17-10 to force the 'Jackets to use their final timeout.
 
A service error out of the timeout pulled UR within six, but the Bears kept things rolling from there, scoring seven of the final eight points of the set to finish off a 25-12 set-four victory and a 3-1 match win.
 
Moore led the 'Jackets with 13 kills, while McGaffigan joined in double figures with 11. Nelms notched a team-high 30 assists, adding two service aces.
 
Defensively, Nelms and Katie Westerheim each led UR with nine digs, while McGaffigan tallied a block.
 
MATCH TWO: #3 CHICAGO 3, #7 ROCHESTER 0
The Maroons surged out to an early lead in the opening set, scoring the first eight points of the match and leading by as many as 12, 15-3 before the Yellowjackets used their first timeout.
 
With a pair of kills from Areti Tsirikaki and a service error, UR pulled back within 10, but three more from the Maroons made it a 13-point lead, 19-6, before UChicago scored four of the next five to go up 23-8.
 
But the Yellowjackets didn't falter and clawed nearly all the way back, rattling off nine straight points on Julia Chotiner's serve to pull within six, 23-17, and force UChicago to use its first timeout.
 
Over the 9-0 run, Rochester took advantage of three Maroon errors, while Cerezer and McGaffigan each tallied kills and Chotiner notched a pair of aces.
 
But the deficit would prove to be too much to overcome in full, as UChicago scored the next two points to finish off the set, 25-17, and take a 1-0 lead.
 
Rochester and Chicago then went back and forth to start the second set, with neither team leading by more than three until the Maroons reeled off six straight on Maddie Ryan's serve to take a 14-7 lead.
 
The Yellowjackets took a timeout, but UChicago continued their run, extending their lead out to nine, 19-10, on Maya Patel's ace to force another UR timeout.
 
Again though, the 'Jackets roared back, scoring five straight of the timeout and seven of the next nine to pull within four, 21-17, on back-to-back Maroon attack errors.
 
UChicago scored the next two, but Rochester answered, however, Annika Munson and Patel would finish off the set, 25-19, with two kills to give UChicago a 2-0 lead.
 
The third set would again prove to be competitive much like the first two, with the Maroons jumping out to an early lead, but the Yellowjackets coming back.
 
Down 17-11, Tsirikaki followed up a pair of kills with back-to-back service aces, pulling UR within a pair, 17-15.
 
The Maroons would ago go up by four, 19-15, but Rochester answered with five of the next six, knotting the score at 20-all on Westerheim's ace and forcing UChicago to spend a timeout.
 
After a service ace and kill by Moore, the two sides stood tied again at 21, but UChicago scored the next two, forcing a Rochester timeout.
 
Reeder made it a one-point game out of the timeout, but Maggie McInerney had an answer, finishing off the match with two of the next three points to give the Maroons a 25-23 set-three win and a 3-0 match victory.
 
Tsirikaki led UR with seven kills, while Nelms again tallied a team-high 18 assists.
 
Defensively, Cerezer notched a match-high 17 digs, while Westerheim joined her in double figures with 13.
 
Rochester will wrap up their season with the seventh-place match against 8th-seeded Brandeis on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 10 a.m. at the UAA Championships in Brooklyn, NY.