CHICAGO, IL – University of Rochester women's volleyball fell in a pair of University Athletic Association (UAA) conference matches on Sunday as part of UAA Round Robin #2, hosted by the University of Chicago at the Ratner Athletics Center. The 'Jackets opened the day with a sweep at the hands of Case Western Reserve University, before falling 3-0 to No. 10 NYU.
 
With the two losses, Rochester drops to 12-6 (0-5 UAA) on the year, while Case Western Reserve wraps up the day at 16-5 (3-2 UAA), and #10 NYU moves to 16-3 (3-2 UAA) on the year.
 
MATCH ONE: Case Western Reserve 3, Rochester 0
With four straight points and six of the next seven following a 5-5 tie, the Spartans surged ahead after some back-and-forth play early against the Yellowjackets.
 
Down 11-6, a Paige Stephenson kill from McKenzie McDonald slowed CWRU's run, but after a service error, Case Western Reserve would score two more to go up 14-7 and force Rochester to take a timeout.
 
The Spartans would keep on rolling though, extending their lead out to 10, 19-9, before Rochester took another timeout. Trailing 22-10, the 'Jackets would answer with three in a row, highlighted by back-to-back kills from Areti Tsirikaki, but a service and attack error brought up match points for the Spartans, who finished things off two serves later, 25-15, on a kill from Lily Crouch.
 
Tsirikaki opened the second set with a kill, as UR scored the first two points and led the Spartans early. But three straight from CWRU put the Spartans up 6-4, and four more from Case Western Reserve on Alyssa Blessinger's serve made it a 13-7 lead.
 
Myla Nover-Estes smashed a kill out of a timeout to make it 13-8, but the Spartans scored another three straight and pulled away with a 5-1 run, going up 21-10 on Jennifer Ngo's service ace.
 
Ashley Cook and Tsirikaki would smash kills over the final few points of the second set, but the deficit proved to be too much for UR to overcome, as the Spartans went up 2-0 with a 25-13, second-set win.
 
The two sides then went back and forth to start the third set, before another run from Case Western Reserve put the Spartans up four. CWRU would eventually extend their lead to six, before the 'Jackets made a run of their own, with two aces from Nover-Estes cutting the lead to 16-14.
 
A service error would give Case Western Reserve the serve, but Tsirikaki won it right back with a kill, keeping CWRU's lead at just two. However, the Spartans then went on another run, stretching their lead out to eight with seven of the next eight points.
 
Down 24-16, the 'Jackets would hold off match point three times with kills from Ruby Moore and Nover-Estes, but Ngo finishes off the set, 25-19, and the match, 3-0, with a kill of her own to give CWRU the straight-sets victory.
 
Tsirikaki tallied a team-high eight kills, while Nover-Estes recorded seven and two aces. Defensively, Lydia Weeks scored a match-high 15 digs.
 
MATCH ONE: #10 NYU 3, Rochester 0
Grace Nelson notched the game's first kill, and the Violets opened up an early lead on Rochester with five of the first six points of the opening set. UR would make their way back though, cutting the deficit to two on Moore's kill, and then scoring four in a row to level the match at 9-9.
 
Moore's two aces got UR going, leveling the set at 9-all, but NYU would answer with a 6-0 run to make it 15-9, followed by a 7-0 run after a Rochester timeout to go up 22-10 on Ava Launsbach's ace.
 
And while Sonia McGaffigan slowed the Violets' run with a kill, the Violets would finish off the opening set, 25-12, with kills from Leela Anvekar and Sarah Lattan to go up 1-0.
 
The Violets continued rolling in set two, racing out to a 10-2 lead before the 'Jackets took a timeout. Rochester would be forced to take another as NYU extended its lead out to 13-4, hitting .476 in the second set en route to a 25-9 set-two victory.
 
Rochester would keep things closer in set three, battling back from a 15-9 deficit to pull within one on Nelson's attack error. Down six, the 'Jackets went on a 6-1 run, highlighted by two Tsirikaki aces, to cut NYU's lead to one, and later tied the set at 19-all on three-straight kills from Tsirikaki and Julia Chotiner.
 
NYU though, took a timeout before scoring two straight, and while Rochester answered each of NYU's next points with one of their own, the Yellowjackets were never quite able to close the gap.
 
Down 22-20, a service error pulled UR back within one, while down 23-21, McGaffigan brought the 'Jackets back within a point. However, a service error gave the Violets the serve and match point, and NYU would take the set, 25-22, on an attack error, taking the match, 3-0.
 
Moore led the 'Jackets with seven kills, seven digs and two aces, while Tsirikaki also had two aces to go along with six kills. Defensively, Weeks again led UR with 11 digs, while McGaffigan and Cook combined for a block.
 
The Yellowjackets will look to bounce back when they host Nazareth on Wednesday, Oct. 11 at 6:00 p.m. inside the Louis Alexander Palestra.