BROCKPORT, NY – University of Rochester volleyball bounced back from an early defeat at the hands of SUNY Brockport to split the final day of the Brockport Invitational, falling in their match of the day to the Golden Eagles, 3-1, before topping William Smith, 3-1.
 
With the split, Rochester moves to 5-2 on the year, while William Smith moves to 3-3 and Brockport wraps up the Invitational at 5-2.
 
GAME ONE: BROCKPORT 3, ROCHESTER 1
After a back-and-forth start, Rochester opened up an early lead on the Golden Eagles on back-to-back kills by Sonia McGaffigan and Ana Cerezer, followed by a trio of Brockport attack errors.
 
Down 13-10, Brockport took a timeout, and quickly took control of the first set out of the timeout, rattling off seven of the next eight points to take a 17-14 lead and force Rochester to take a timeout.
 
The Golden Eagles would keep things rolling though, leading  by as many as six, 20-14, before finishing off the opening set with three-straight to pick up a 25-17 set-one victory,
 
Brockport then opened up an early 5-1 lead in set two, before UR rallied to take a lead of their own.
 
Cerezer's ace evened the score at five-all, while kills and a block from McGaffigan and Areti Tsirikaki gave UR an 8-5 lead. Brockport though came right back with a run of their own, taking a 10-9 lead on Andrea Coyle's kill.
 
UR reclaimed the lead on a service error and Ruby Moore's kill and would lead by five, 18-13 before three-straight Golden Eagle points forced Ladi Iya to take a timeout.
 
Out of the timeout, UR went up 20-17 on McGaffigan's kill and a Brockport error, but the Golden Eagles wouldn't let the Yellowjackets pull away, keeping things close until Coyle's attack error set up set point.
 
Jayda Pyle pulled Brockport back within one, 24-23, but Cerezer finished off the set with a kill to even the match at one set apiece.
 
Brockport though would quickly press their advantage in set three, opening up an early lead and never looking back. The Golden Eagles led by seven, 14-7, early, and used a 4-0 run to put the set away after UR pulled back within four, 21-17, on Moore's kill and a pair of setting errors.
 
Down 2-1, Rochester looked to even the match again, battling back and forth from the get-go against Brockport, before three-straight from the Golden Eagles gave them a 9-6 lead.
 
UR twice pulled within two, on kills from Alexia Nelms and Tsirikaki, but three more from Brockport forced another Rochester timeout.
 
The two sides then traded runs, with the Yellowjackets pulling within two, 15-13, before Brockport went back up by six, 19-13.
 
UR would twice hold off match point down 24-16, before a service error gave the Golden Eagles the match, 3-1.
 
McGaffigan led UR with 11 kills, while four Yellowjackets tallied double-digit digs, led by Cerezer's 18.
 
At the net, Nelms tallied a game-high 36 assists, while defensively, La'I Yuen added 17 digs, Tsirikaki tallied a career-high 12, and Caroline Hoag notched 11.
 
GAME TWO: ROCHESTER 3, WILLIAM SMITH 1
The Herons got off to a quick start in the two sides' second match of the day, with William Smith taking an 11-4 lead in the opening set to force Rochester to use a timeout.
 
The Yellowjackets would pull within six, 21-15, behind an 8-3 run, highlighted by two Tsirikaki kills, before coming as close as three, 23-20, on a block by Julia Chotiner and Moore.
 
But Jaylynn McCarthy answered with a kill to bring up set point, and Hope Von Dohlen and Lauren DeVaney finished off the set with a block to give William Smith a 1-0 match lead.
 
Rochester responded quickly in the second set, racing out to an 11-point lead as UR scored 12 of the first 13 points of the set, forcing William Smith to use both of their timeouts.
 
The Herons has trouble breaking Katie Westerheim's serve as the freshman served eight-straight points to help the Yellowjackets build their lead.
 
UR led by as many as 11 in the second set, rolling to a 25-17 set-two victory over the Herons to even the match up at one set apiece.
 
The Yellowjackets then got off to another quick start in set three, rattling off six straight on Cerezer's serve before the Herons got on the scoreboard. Kills by Moore, McGaffigan and Hoag highlighted UR's early run, as the 'Jackets built up another early lead, forcing William Smith to again use both timeouts in the early going.
 
The Herons spent one after UR scored four straight to open the set, and again after McGaffigan and Nelms' block made it 10-3.
 
Rochester would add one more to their lead to make it 11-3 before William Smith got going, scoring seven in a row to pull within a point, 11-10. But McGaffigan slowed the Herons' run with a kill, and traded points before a 3-0 run made it 17-13 on Cerezer's service ace.
 
However, this time, William Smith took the lead with their next run, going up 18-17 and forcing UR to take their first timeout.
Rochester though regrouped out of the timeout and quickly tied things up at 18-all. The two sides then went back-and-forth with ties at 19-all, 20-20, 21-21, and 22-all, before UR tallied the next three to go up two and set up set point.
 
A service error held the 'Jackets at bay for a point, but the Herons returned the favor to give UR a 25-23 victory in set three, and a 2-1 match lead.
 
The Yellowjackets then proceeded to start the set like each of the last two, again opening up an early lead and forcing William Smith to use both of its timeouts.
 
Back-to-back service aces by Hoag gave UR a 4-1 lead, and a block by McGaffigan and Moore made it 6-1 and forced the first Heron timeout.
 
Up 8-4, Rochester scored six-straight, five on McGaffigan's serve, to go up 10, and added three more to go back up 10, 18-8, after William Smith pulled within seven.
 
The Herons would come as close as eight before the Yellowjackets finished off their four-set victory with a 6-1 run, going up 24-11 on one of McGaffigan's 17 kills.
 
Again, the Herons had trouble breaking Cerezer's serve, and while William Smith once held off match point, a service error gave UR the set, 25-12, and a 3-1 victory.
 
McGaffigan led UR with a career-high 17 kills, while Cerezer added a game-high 17 digs, seven assists and five aces.
 
Tsirikaki tallied seven kills and nine digs, while Nelms notched 32 assists.
 
UR next heads to Geneseo, N.Y. for a mid-week matchup against the Knights on Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 6 p.m.