Though they trailed in each of the first two sets, University of Rochester volleyball battled back to force a decisive, fifth set but fell just against the SUNY Cortland Red Dragons, 3-2, in their season opener at the Red Dragon Classic on Friday evening inside Whitney T. Corey Gym.
 
In the opening set, Cortland raced out to an early lead, scoring the first six points of the match, and eight of the first 10. But the Yellowjackets battled back, cutting the deficit to two, 13-11, on Sonia McGaffigan's kill from Alexia Nelms.
 
The Red Dragons would again surge ahead, leading by as many as five midway through the opening set, but four straight from UR on Ashley Cook's serve leveled the score at 20-all.
 
Cook's ace made it a 20-18 lead for Cortland before a block from Ruby Moore and Myla Nover-Estes tied the set at 20-20.
 
The 'Jackets would again tie the set at 21-all after Allie Sturgess' kill gave SUNY Cortland a one-point lead, but three-in-a-row from the Red Dragons set up set point.
 
Down 24-21, UR rallied to again pull within one and hold off set point, with McGaffigan smashing another kill, one of 23 on the night for the senior, but Lexy Bloss finished off the set with a kill for the Red Dragons to give Cortland a 1-0 lead.
 
Cortland would again take an early lead in set two, and with a 6-1 run opened up an 11-4 lead. Rochester answered with four-straight, including three straight aces from Nelms, but the Red Dragons would score the next six and seven of eight to take an 18-9 lead.
 
However, the 'Jackets would regroup and answer with a massive run of their own, holding the Red Dragons to just two points the rest of the set.
 
Down 18-9, Rochester scored six-straight on Lydia Weeks' serve, with the first-year connecting on a pair of service aces to bring UR within three. The 'Jackets then added three more after Courtland pulled back up by four, before finishing the set with seven-straight points to earn a 25-20 victory.
 
Cook and McGaffigan combined for five kills as the 'Jackets knotted the score at 20-all and never looked back to even the match at 1-1.
 
The Red Dragons though, would quickly come back to take the third set. Cortland built up an early lead, surging ahead with a 7-1 run to take a 15-7 lead on Giovanna Rossi's kill.
 
A quick four from UR would pull the 'Jackets within four, with McGaffigan's two kills spearheading the run, but Cortland scored eight of the next 11 to put the set away, finishing off a 25-19, set-three win with another Rossi kill.
 
The 'Jackets quickly jumped out to a lead of their own in the fourth set though, putting together a dominant fourth-set performance to force a fifth set to decide the winner.
 
After Cortland made it 2-1 in favor of the 'Jackets, following two early Rochester points, UR rattled off the next 12 to take a 14-1 lead. A pair of aces and three McGaffigan kills highlighted the run, as Rochester led by as many as 14 in the fourth set.
 
Up 18-4, SUNY Cortland scored three-straight, but that'd be as close as the Red Dragons would get the rest of the way, with Cook's kill finishing off the set, 25-11.
 
The 'Jackets would then take an early lead in the fifth set, as they looked to finish off the comeback, with kills from Moore and Katie Westerheim making it a 5-3 UR lead.
 
But the Red Dragons would score the next three to take the lead, and then four more after Moore's kill tied it at six, to take a 10-6 lead.
 
Cortland then would finish off the match with five of the last six points, taking the fifth set, 15-8, and the match, 3-2.
 
Individually, McGaffigan led UR with 23 kills, while Cook tallied 13 in her debut and Moore notched nine. Cook also added 14 digs for a double-double, while Weeks' led the 'Jackets in the category with 18.
 
McKenzie McDonald and Moore joined the two first-years in double-figure digs with 10 apiece, while Westerheim notched a team-high 37 assists and Nelms led the 'Jackets with three service aces.
 
As a team, both UR out-hit Cortland, with 54 kills and a .178 hitting percentage, while the Red Dragons tallied 51 kills on a .176 hitting percentage.
 
The 'Jackets will wrap up their opening weekend with two more matches at the Red Dragon Classic on Saturday, Sept. 2, facing Fredonia at 11:00 a.m. and Hartwick at 1:30 p.m.