SELINSGROVE, PA – The University of Rochester volleyball team nearly rallied from two sets down against host Susquehanna University, eventually falling in a thrilling 5-set affair at Houts Gymnasium, competing at the Susquehanna River Hawk Classic.
 
The River Hawks (17-12) captured the first set 25-19 and went up 2-0 with a 25-17 win before the Yellowjackets (12-16) answered back with 25-13 and 25-21 wins to force a fifth set. In the deciding set, the teams needed extra points in the marathon match, with Susquehanna fending off Rochester 18-16 for the overall match win.
 
Rylee Bergeron led Rochester with 15 kills and 25 digs in the match, while Caroline Hoag added 13 kills and five blocks. Myla Nover-Estes added 11 kills while Ruby Moore chipped in double-digit kills, ending with ten.
 
Senior setter Alexia Nelms had a career-high 51 assists in the match, also recording nine digs. Lydia Weeks had a team-high three aces to go along with 13 digs.
 
Set one was a set full of runs, with Rochester leading 14-12 after a Nelms service ace. Susquehanna rattled off four straight points to grab a 16-14 lead and never relinquished it the rest of the set, leading to the 25-19 win after a triple block at the net.
 
In the second set, the River Hawks sprinted out to a 7-2 advantage held a multi-point lead the rest of the set. A four-point burst made it 20-13, and after UR strung three straight points to trim the lead to four, Susquehanna rattled off four more in-a-row to lead 24-16. Nelms provided a block to keep UR alive, but a setting error on the next point gave the set to the River Hawks.
 
Susquehanna was looking for the sweep, sitting up 7-4 early in the third set until the Yellowjackets scored a tremendous 11 straight points to surge in front 15-7. On Weeks' service turn, Ashley Cook and Nover-Estes each provided multiple kills, while Weeks also chipped in a pair of aces.
 
Later in the set, UR continued its strong play, rattling off nine points in a 11-point stretch to go up 24-12, with a kill from Hoag eventually securing the 25-13 set win.
 
Set four was back-and-forth, with the teams playing nearly even throughout. The River Hawks edged in front 18-16 and maintained a slim lead, going up 21-19 before the Yellowjackets stormed back with the final six points of the set to win 25-21.
 
A block from Nover-Estes and Hoag knotted the set at 21-all, with the pair connecting on three straight blocks at the net to put UR up 23-21. A River Hawk error gave UR a set point and Bergeron notched an ace to emphatically end the set and force a fifth.
 
The River Hawks started quick in the final set, going up 7-4, but three straight UR points, from Hoag, Moore and Nover-Estes pulled the teams even on the scoreboard.
 
A few points later, UR was up 10-9 before the River Hawks score three in-a-row to go up 12-10. Rochester answered with a three-point run, aided by two kills from Bergeron and an ace from McKenzie McDonald, moving the score to 13-12 in favor of the Yellowjackets.
 
After a timeout, Susquehanna capitalized on a pair of UR errors to earn a match point, but that was fended off by back-to-back kills from Hoag and Nover-Estes, giving the Yellowjackets their own chance at winning the match.
 
Susquehanna's Amanda Gore saved the match point with a kill, sending the fifth to extra points. The teams traded errors to make the score 16-all before the River Hawks got a kill from Ryan Rorls and used an attack error on the Yellowjackets to clinch the 18-16 win and the overall match.
 
Rochester wraps up play at the River Hawk Classic with a pair of matches Saturday, playing William Smith College at noon and Stevenson University at 2 pm.