HENRIETTA, NY – Host RIT used a big rally, charging back from down two sets to post at 3-2 victory over the University of Rochester volleyball team on Wednesday night at Clark Gymnasium.
 
Rochester falls to 6-6 on the season with the loss, while RIT improves to 4-7 overall.
 
The Yellowjackets looked for the sweep after taking the opening two sets 25-16 and 25-22, but RIT fought off UR match points in a long third set, eventually winning 28-26. The Tigers followed that up with a 25-19 win in the fourth and took the tie-breaking fifth 15-7 for the win.
 
Ana Cerezer led the Yellowjackets with a career-high 16 kills, coming on 50 attack attempts. She also finished with 16 digs to lead the Yellowjackets. Sonia McGaffigan swatted 15 kills while hitting .429, adding three blocks while Gillian Reeder chipped in eight kills.
 
Caroline Hoag led UR with four service aces, while also contributing six kills, seven digs and three blocks. Areti Tsirikaki also had seven kills and nine digs while Alexia Nelms had 43 assists.
 
RIT's leaders in kills were Liv Benard with 16, Samantha Cox with 13 and Cat Vento with eight. Four players finished with double-digit digs, led by Hailey Blixt with 14. The Tigers combined for 13 aces, including five by Blixt and four from Sydney Neff who also added 37 assists.
 
With the score tight in the opening set, Rochester used a six-point spurt to gain a 20-12 lead. After RIT answered with two straight points, the Yellowjackets responded with  five of the last seven to seal the set victory.
 
Set two was similar, as the teams split the first 20 points, sitting tied at 10-10. Rochester scored eight of the next nine to go ahead 18-11. The run was jolted by a pair of Katie Westerheim aces and kills from McGaffigan and Hoag,
 
RIT got back within one at 20-19, but Rochester held off the Tigers for the 25-22 win, with Cerezer and McGaffigan smacking kills for the final two points.
 
The third set was a back-and-forth affair throughout. At 18-18, RIT edged ahead with two points, only to see the brief lead evaporate on the next two points by a pair of Tiger errors. The next six points alternated between the sides to make the score 23-all.
 
Rochester then earned a match point following a RIT attack error, but the Tigers got a kill from Vento to stay alive. Another kill from Cerezer put Rochester up 25-24, but the Tigers kept the match going after Bernard earned a kill.
 
Blixt followed with an ace to turn the tables in favor of RIT 26-25, but Ruby Moore tied it back up with one of her five kills on the night. RIT answered right back through, getting another Benard kill and a block assist from Benard and Emelia Mislan to steal the set 28-26.
 
Rochester held an early lead in set four, but the Tigers kept chipping away, eventually getting the score to 14-14. A UR service error started a five-point run which earned the Tigers an 18-14 lead. RIT kept a lead of at least three points the rest of the way in the 25-19 set win.
 
In the deciding set, RIT jumped ahead early 5-2. Rochester tied the score with kills from McGaffigan and Hoag along with a Tiger error, but RIT answered right back with a stretch of four straight points to go up 9-5, forcing UR to use a timeout. A kill by Reeder stopped the run with Nelms added a kill to make the score 10-7, but RIT finished off the win in style, scoring five straight points for the 15-7 victory.
 
Rochester looks to shake off the loss this coming weekend, as the Yellowjackets travel to the Bluffton Beaver Fall Classic for three matches on Friday and Saturday. UR plays host Bluffton on Friday before matches against Olivet and Capital on Saturday.