The University of Rochester volleyball team picked up a pair of 3-0 sweeps on Saturday, defeating visiting DeSales University and SUNY Morrisville in non-conference action in the Louis Alexander Palestra.
 
With the victories, Rochester pushes its record to 12-15 on the season. Prior to the start of their second match of the day, the Yellowjackets celebrated their lone senior, setter Alexia Nelms on Senior Day, as Saturday's matches were the final regular season home contests on the schedule.
 
In the opening match against DeSales (10-16), Rochester won a tight first set, needing extra points after a late Bulldogs rally. After the Yellowjackets were up 23-20, DeSales rattled off four straight points to earn a set point.
 
A kill from Ruby Moore leveled the score at 24-all, before Lilly Kraemer smacked a kill to pull UR back in front. After a DeSales timeout, Moore earned another kill to seal a 26-24 win to jump ahead in the match.
 
The second set featured several short runs by both squads UR using a 4-point burst to go ahead 20-15. DeSales got within three at 22-19, but kills from Moore and Caroline Hoag gave Rochester a set point before DeSales hit the 20-point plateau. A Bulldog kill was followed by a point from Rylee Bergeron and UR took set two by a 25-20 margin.
 
DeSales jumped on Rochester early in the third, looking to stay alive, eventually leading 6-3 after nine points. The Bulldogs maintained their lead until Rochester edged in front 11-10 following a Hoag kill from Nelms.
 
Another run from DeSales, scoring five of the next six points gave the Bulldogs a 15-12 advantage, but UR again battled back, eventually knotting the set at 17-all. After DeSales went up by a point, Rochester scored the next four points, including a block from Moore and Nelms, kill from Bergeron and service ace from Raquel Morales to go up 21-18.
 

The visitors got back within one, down 23-22, but Rochester finished off the sweep with a kill from Myla Nover-Estes and a block from Hoag and Kramer at the net.
 
Bergeron led Rochester with 13 kills, while Nover-Estes had a solid game, smacking 12 in just 22 attempts, equaling a .455 hitting percentage. Kraemer added 10 kills while Hoag and Moore each finished with nine.
 
Nelms had 45 assists in the win, while Lydia Weeks picked up 16 digs and had a pair of service aces.
 
In the later game, the Yellowjackets overpowered the Mustangs (14-11), combining for 44 kills in the three-set win. Rochester as a team also finished with a .326 hitting percentage, its second-best mark in the 2024 campaign so far.
 
A five-point run, aided by a kill and two aces from Bergeron fueled Rochester to an early lead in the opening set. UR led 9-4 before Morrisville battled back within two points later on.
 
UR fended off the Mustang rally with another four-point run to go up 18-12, eventually taking the opening set 25-19 after McKenzie McDonald provided an ace for the clinching point.
 
In the second, Rochester raced out to a 4-0 lead after four straight kills on four attempts. Bergeron had the first two, followed by Nover-Estes and Kraemer.
 
Later, the Yellowjackets won seven of the final eight points to win 25-16, with another ace finishing off the set, this time by Bergeron.
 
Back-to-back aces by Weeks started off the final set for UR, leading to an early 5-1 advantage. Morrisville rallied with five straight points to take the lead, but Rochester went right back on top following a 4-0 run shortly after.
 
Nover-Estes had one and Shanya Alvarez had two kills in the spurt to move the Yellowjackets in front 11-8.
 
The teams battled back-and-forth, eventually reaching a 20-all score. Rochester secured the sweep by winning five of the final seven points of the match, with Bergeron providing back-to-back kills to end it.
 
Bergeron again finished with the leading kill tally with 14 in the Morrisville win. Nover-Estes turned in another efficient outing, hitting .471 with 11 kills on 17 attempts.
 
Rochester as a team finished with 10 aces, including three each from Bergeron and Weeks. Nelms had 34 assists while Morales paced the 'Jackets back line with nine digs.
 
Up next, UR travels to Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania next weekend for three matches at the Susquehanna River Hawk Classic on Friday and Saturday.