ST. LOUIS, MO – University of Rochester women's volleyball continued conference play at the University Athletic Association's (UAA) Round Robin #2 on Sunday at the WashU Fieldhouse, falling to Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Chicago by the final score of 3-0. With the two losses, the Yellowjackets drop to 8-12 (0-5 UAA) on the year, while the Tartans move to 13-6 (4-0 UAA) and the 18th-ranked Maroons to 18-3 (3-1 UAA) following their wins over UR.
 
MATCH ONE: Carnegie Mellon 3, Rochester 0
Carnegie Mellon jumped ahead early against the 'Jackets, scoring seven of the first eight points of the opening set before Rochester called a timeout. And while Myla Nover-Estes quelled the Tartans' run with a kill out of the timeout, CMU led by as many as seven in the early going, before a quick four points from UR off Lydia Weeks' serve made it a three-point game.
 
Caroline Hoag smashed a kill to jumpstart the run, while a block by Nover-Estes and Ruby Moore pulled the 'Jackets within five before Weeks served up an ace to force CMU to spend a timeout, up 15-12.
 
The Tartans though, matched UR point-for-point out of the timeout and would let UR get no closer than three down the stretch. After Alexia Nelms' ace again pulled the 'Jackets with three, 20-17, an attack error and Elizabeth Phillips' kill brought CMU's lead back out to five and Rochester used its final timeout.
 
Hoag hit another kill to slow the Tartans' roll, but Carnegie Mellon finished off the set with three-straight kills, taking the opening set, 25-18.
 
The Tartans and Yellowjackets traded 4-0 runs to open the second set, and early on the second set would prove to be much closer than the first. A service error and ace by Moore put UR up 11-9, while back-to-back kills from Rylee Bergeron helped Rochester re-take the lead, 16-15 after CMU won it back.
 
However, the Tartans would answer with the next six-straight points, fueling an 8-2 run that put Carnegie Mellon up for good. Rochester answered back with three-in-a-row of their own, but it'd prove too little, too late, as CMU took the second set, 25-21.
 
Despite Carnegie Mellon again jumping out to an early lead, Rochester would battle back from down 7-1 in the third set, scoring the next four points before the Tartans used an early timeout. Kills from Hoag and Moore helped UR close a six-point deficit to just two before Bergeron and Moore later tied the set at nine-all.
 
Carnegie Mellon again jumped ahead but Rochester kept things close, and with four-straight points, turned an 18-16 deficit into a 20-18 lead. Two aces from McKenzie McDonald and two kills from Bergeron highlighted the 4-0 run, forcing the Tartans to use another timeout.
 
Out of the timeout, the Tartans answered with three-in-a-row to once again pull ahead, but UR responded with three of their own, and eventually brought up set point, 24-22, on a kill from Ashley Cook.
 
However, a service error gave the Tartans the serve and Carnegie Mellon scored the next two to take a 25-24 lead. Rochester took a timeout and then scored the next two, again bringing up set point, but CMU answered and held off another set point, and after UR tied the score at 27-all, scored the final two points of the set to take it, 29-27, and the match, 3-0.
 
Bergeron led UR offensively with 10 kills, with Nelms dishing out 21 assists. Cook and McDonald each sent over two service aces, with Cook adding eight kills and 10 digs. Weeks led UR defensively with 13 digs, while Hoag and Nover-Estes each tallied three block assists.
 
MATCH TWO: No. 18 Chicago 3, Rochester 0
Playing their first match of the day, the Maroons raced out to an early lead on the Yellowjackets, scoring the first three points of the first set, and extending their lead to 10-3 before UR took a timeout. Chicago added two more points out of the timeout and led by as many as 13 points before scoring four of the final points of the set to go up 1-0 in the match with a 25-10 set-one win.
 
Set two would again see Chicago surge ahead early, with the Maroons going on a 6-0 run after Hoag's kill leveled the score at one-all to take a 7-1 lead. Kills by Moore and Hoag would pull UR within five, 11-6, midway through the set, but another Maroons' run, this time a 9-1 run, solidified UChicago's lead and put the set out of reach.
 
Down 20-7, kills from Hoag and Moore as well as a block by Bergeron cut Chicago's lead down to 11, before the Maroons took the set, 25-11, notching the final three points on kills from Diya Mishra and Maggie McInerney.
 
Set three proved to be much closer, with an attack error giving Rochester a 4-3 advantage early, while a 4-1 run leveled the set at 13-all. UR took advantage of a trio of Chicago errors over the run, as well as Lilly Kraemer's kill, to tie the set at 13-13, and kept things close despite the Maroons scoring four of the next five points.
 
Trailing 17-14, the 'Jackets twice closed the gap to two, 17-15 and then 18-16, on a pair of Maroon service errors, but after a service error of their own, the Maroons tallied three straight to pull away, eventually winning the set, 25-18, and match, 3-0.
 
Hoag and Moore each tallied a team-high five kills in the match, while Cook led UR with 10 digs, with Weeks and Nelms notching eight and seven, respectively.
 
The Yellowjackets next hit the road to Potsdam, NY on Saturday, Oct. 19 for a tri-match against RIT and Clarkson, hosted by the Golden Knights, beginning at 3:00 p.m.