BLUFFTON, OH – University of Rochester women's volleyball fell to the Bluffton Beavers in their opening match of the Beaver Fall Classic on Friday evening at the Sommer Center.
 
Facing the host Beavers to open the classic, Rochester and Bluffton battled back-and-forth early in set one. Alysha Like's service ace gave the Beavers an 8-6, lead but UR battled right back to take a 9-8 lead on Alexia Nelms' kill.
 
But with the Yellowjacket in front by a point, 13-12, following Ana Cerezer's kill, the Beavers rallied for four straight to force a timeout, and the added six of the next seven coming out of the timeout to open a 22-14 lead.
 
A pair of kills by Sonia McGaffigan slowed Bluffton's run, but the Beavers finished off a 25-16 opening-set victory on Kaylie Campbell's kill to take a 1-0 match lead.
 
The Yellowjackets looked to answer in the second set, taking a 10-7 lead on Caroline Hoag's kill, but another Bluffton run, this time a 5-2 run over the next seven points brought the Beavers back and evened the set at 12-points apiece.
 
The two sides then traded points until, down 17-15, Bluffton rallied with six straight to take a 21-17 lead, looking to go up two sets to none.
 
UR answered with three-in-a-row to force a Beaver timeout, and came all the way back on kills by McGaffigan and Cerezer to even the match at 22-all, and again at 23-all on another Hoag kill.
 
But the Beavers took advantage of a service error to set up set point and finished things off with another Like kill to take a two-set advantage.
 
Rochester though would jump out in front early in set three. With the score tied at four, UR scored the next six points on McGaffigan's serve, taking a 10-4 lead on three-straight Ruby Moore kills.
 
The Beavers pulled within two on a run of their own, but this time, UR had an answer, tallying three straight to stay in front by five, 14-9, on Moore's ace.
 
Bluffton would get as close as three, 20-17, on Campbell's kill, but a service error and ace made it 22-17 and forced the Beavers to use their second timeout.
 
UR though, scored two coming out of the timeout on Moore's serve to set up set point and finished off the set, 25-18, on Julia Chotiner's kill to cut Bluffton's lead to 2-1.
 
Rochester again took the early lead in set four, looking to force a decisive, fifth set. A 5-0 run gave UR an 8-5 lead on a block by Chotiner and Moore, but Bluffton rallied back to take an 11-10 lead of their own on a Yellowjacket attack error.
 
Cerezer quickly tied the set with a kill of her own, but Bluffton surged ahead with three of the next five.
 
Following McGaffigan's kill and a service error, the two sides stood tied at 16, but after two straight from the Beavers, Rochester went down 18-16 and took a timeout.
 
Hoag pulled UR back within a point with a kill, but the Beavers pulled away with a 4-0 run, and never led by less than three the rest of the way before finishing off the set, 25-21, on Like's kill to take home a 3-1 victory.
 
UR falls to 6-7 with the loss, while Bluffton moves to 10-4 with the win.
 
McGaffigan led the Yellowjackets with 14 kills, while Cerezer added a double-double with 12 kills and 12 digs. Hoag joined Cerezer in double figures with 13 digs, adding five kills, while Nelms tallied 36 assists.
 
Defensively, Cerezer and McGaffigan each tallied three block assists, while Moore notched five aces.
 
The Yellowjackets wrap up the Beaver Fall Classic in Bluffton, Ohio on Saturday, Sept. 24 against Olivet College and Capital University at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., respectively.