University of Rochester women's volleyball wrapped up its regular season and the 2024 University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship with a 3-0, straight-sets win over the Brandeis University Judges in the seventh-place matchup on Saturday morning on Zornow Court C inside the Goergen Athletic Center.
 
Rochester quickly got rolling on Alexia Nelms' serve, as the senior started off the first set with a service ace, and the 'Jackets quickly opened up a 4-0 lead. UR scored the first four points of the set and led 5-1 after Myla Nover-Estes' kill, before the Judges answered back, pulling within a point, 7-6, on Alina Nowakowski's kill.
 
The Yellowjackets kept on rolling though, tallying the next four points to go up 11-6 and force the Judges to take a timeout, and then added another on Caroline Hoag's block out of the timeout to make it a 12-6 lead.
 
Brandeis answered with four of the next five, but again UR responded, extending a three-point lead to seven with another quick, four points, highlighted by a pair of aces from Nelms.
 
Down the stretch of the opening set, Brandeis rallied to within three, 19-16, before kills from Rylee Bergeron and Ashley Cook brought Rochester back out to a six-point lead. And while the Judges would again close the gap, this time to four, the Yellowjackets finished the opening set, 25-19, with a pair of kills from Bergeron and Hoag.
 
The Judges then opened the second set the same way UR started the first, notching four of the first five points as they looked to level the match at one set apiece. But the 'Jackets had other ideas, quickly leveling the match at eight-all on kills from back-to-back-to-back kills from Bergeron, Hoag and Cook, before again tying things up at 10 on two more kills from Hoag and Cook.
 
UR and Brandeis again stood tied at 13-all, 14-14 and 15-15 before the 'Jackets made their run, taking a 17-15 lead on kills from Bergeron and Hoag, and after a Brandeis timeout, adding four more points over the next five serves to make it 21-16 and force the Judges to spend their final timeout.
 
Anna Ertischek pulled Brandeis back within four with her kill out of the timeout, but UR again finished off the set on a run, notching four of the last five points of the set on two kills from Cook, another kill from Hoag and Nelms' service ace to finish it off, 25-18, and take a 2-0 match lead.
 
Rochester then got rolling to start the third set, with two Nover-Estes' kills to start things off, followed by another ace from Nelms before the Judges got on the scoreboard.
 
UR led 6-3 before the Judges took a timeout, and then added two more on Hoag and Nover-Estes' block and another Nover-Estes' kill to make it 8-3. After leads of 11-6, 12-7 and 14-8, the Judges made their way back, pulling within four on a block assist of their own, before making it a two-point deficit, 17-15, just a few serves later on a UR attack error.
 
The Judges would then tie the third set at 20-all on a block by Tatiana Wainer and Madison Haft-Abromovitch, but the 'Jackets remained unfazed and notched five kills over the next six points to finish off the sweep.
 
Bergeron smashed a pair, sandwiched around another Nover-Estes kill, to retake the lead, 23-20, and force the Judges to take a timeout. And while Lara Verstovsek pulled Brandeis back within two out of the timeout, Hoag tallied two more kills to finish things off, giving UR the sweep and seventh place in the conference standings.
 
Four 'Jackets tallied double-digit kills, led by Cook and Hoag, each of whom totaled 13. Hoag's 13 was a career-high, while Cook added 10 digs for a double-double, tying Lydia Weeks for the team lead.
 
Bergeron joined the pair in double figures with 12 kills, adding eight digs, while Nover-Estes added 11 and a pair of blocks.
 
The Yellowjackets wrap up the year at 15-18 with the win, while Brandeis moves to 16-14 with the loss.