ANNVILLE, PA – University of Rochester women's volleyball split its Saturday tri-match at Lebanon Valley College, downing the host-Flying Dutchmen, 3-1, in their first match of the day, before falling in five sets to the Catholic University of America, 3-2. With the split, the Yellowjackets now sit at 6-7 on the year, while Lebanon Valley also split their two matches and stands at 7-4, while the Cardinals are now 6-6.
 
MATCH ONE: Rochester 3, Lebanon Valley 1
The host-Flying Dutchmen jumped out to an early lead in the opening set against UR, leading 6-1 and 10-5 before the 'Jackets were forced to take a timeout. Down 11-5 following Margaret Cole and Libby Lindau's block out of the timeout, Rochester notched four of the next five points to make it a three-point deficit, with Paige Stephenson and Ashley Cook knocking down kills.
 
However, the Flying Dutchmen responded with three-straight points, and after a quick two from UR, spun off four more to go up 19-11. The 'Jackets called a timeout to regroup, but the eight-point deficit would be too much to overcome, and Lebanon Valley finished off the set with six of the last seven points to take the first set, 25-15.
 
Rochester responded quickly in the second set, taking their first lead of the match, 4-3, on Rylee Bergeron's ace, and leading by as many as four, 10-6, in the early goings, following back-to-back kills by Myla Nover-Estes.
 
Lebanon Valley came back to tie the score at 11-all with five of the next six points and would take a 16-13 lead on three-straight points, two of which came on Robyn Stepler's serve, to go up 16-13 and force UR to spend a timeout.
 
Out of the timeout though, Rochester would answer, scoring seven straight, highlighted by three aces from Ruby Moore, to take a 20-16 lead. The Flying Dutchmen quickly tied the set with four-straight points of their own, and the two sides would trade bards as more than 25 points would be needed to decide the second set.
 
Bergeron's kill leveled the score at 25-all after Lebanon Valley used its final timeout, while Cook answered Teaguen Reynolds' kill with one of her own to again square things, this time at 26-26.
 
After Lebanon Valley again took a one-point lead, UR would tie it on another Cook kill, but this time, a block by Cook and Stephenson gave Rochester a 28-27 advantage, and Alexia Nelms service ace would finish off the set, 29-27, to level the match at one set apiece.
 
Set three would stay close at the start, with neither side maintaining more than a two-to-four-point lead. The third set saw nine times from when Lebanon Valley leveled the score at 13-all, till Cook gave Rochester a 22-21 lead after ties at 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21-all.
 
An attack error made it a two-point advantage for UR, and the hosts would take a timeout. And while the Flying Dutchmen scored two-straight to tie it, a service error set up set point for UR, while a bad set gave the Yellowjackets the set, 25-23, and a 2-1 match lead.
 
The Yellowjackets then jumped ahead early, notching three-straight points on Lilly Kraemer's serve to go up 9-4. However, the Flying Dutchmen answered with six-in-a-row out of a timeout, and then UR came back with two straight following their own timeout to take an 11-10 lead.
 
Lebanon Valley then took its last lead of the match, 13-11, on two-straight Taylor McInerney kills, before the 'Jackets would surge ahead and take the lead for good.
 
Two errors knotted the set again at 13-all, before UR and Lebanon Valley again stood tied at 14 after an attack error and Moore kill. Two-in-a-row from the 'Jackets made it a 16-14 lead, and then four of the next five put UR up for good, 20-15, on Moore's ace.
 
Rochester would extend its lead to as large as seven, 23-16, before the Flying Dutchmen made one last run to pull within four, 24-20, but an attack error finished off the set for UR, and gave the Yellowjackets a 25-20 set-four win and a 3-1 match victory.
 
Bergeron and Cook each tallied 13 kills to lead UR offensively, while Nover-Estes notched 12. Nelms had a game-high 38 assists, while Moore sent over four service aces.
 
Defensively, Cook also led UR with 12 digs and three block assists, while Bergeron, Moore and Stephenson each had two.
 
For the match, Rochester hit .153 with 49 kills, while the hosts hit .160 with 42 kills.
 
MATCH TWO: Catholic 3, Rochester 2
Looking to finish off the tri-match sweep, the Yellowjackets would take the opening set against Catholic, 25-22. Both sides would keep things close early on, with neither side able to build much of a lead throughout the first set.
 
Following Nelms' ace, UR and Catholic stood tied at 17, and while the Cardinals scored the next two, the 'Jackets then notched the following two points to again tie things at 19.
 
After ties again at 21 and 22-all, the 'Jackets tallied the final three points of the set, with a block by Moore giving UR the lead, while Kraemer's service ace gave Rochester a 25-22 set-one win.
 
Despite the opening-set win though, the Cardinals would respond in the second set, using a 5-0 run to take an 11-7 lead on Grace Guerin's ace. UR closed the deficit to three before taking the lead on Kraemer's serve, with kills from Moore and Nelms giving the 'Jackets a 13-12 lead.
 
However, Catholic would go up 15-13 following a mini spurt, and after UR tied at 15 on an attack error, the Cardinals scored four in a row to take a 20-16 lead.
 
The Cardinals then made it 23-18 to force a UR timeout, and while the Yellowjackets came all the way back, three times holding off set point and pulling within one, 24-23, an attack error gave Catholic the set, 25-23, and tied the match at one-all.
 
Set three would again prove to be close and very back-and-forth, with ties at 8-8, 9-9, 10-10, 15-15, 17-17, 19-19 and 20-20 before Catholic surged ahead with three-straight points. Vivian O'Brien's kill gave the Cardinals a one-point lead, and four serves later, a block by Erin Faughnan and Alani Rivera Diaz once again brought up set point for the Cardinals.
 
Down 24-21 though, UR responded to knot the set at 24-all, taking advantage of two Catholic errors before Cook slammed down a kill to tie the game at 24. But after another tie at 25-all, the Cardinals scored the last two points of the set, taking a 2-1 set lead on another O'Brien kill to take the set, 27-25.
 
Trailing now two sets to one, Rochester answered in the fourth, pushing the match to a decisive fifth set with another 25-22 win in set four. The Yellowjackets jumped out to an early lead in the fourth, knocking down six of eight points early on, before two errors and two kills put UR up 17-15 midway thru the set.
 
Rochester built its lead to four on a block by Nelms and Stephenson as well as Iliana Balaskas' ace, but the Cardinals came back with four-straight points of their own to knot the set at 21-all.
 
UR regrouped out of a timeout though and finished off the set with four of the last five, forcing a fifth set on back-to-back kills by Shanya Alvarez.
 
However, the Cardinals would race out to an early lead in the fifth set and never look back, leading by as many as 10 in the fifth set before finishing off the match with a 15-5 fifth-set victory.
 
Offensively, Cook again led UR with 17 kills, adding a team-high 15 digs, while Nelms led all players with 44 assists. In addition to Cook, three 'Jackets notched double-digit digs, with Bergeron and Raquel Morales each tallying 11, while Katie Westerheim notched 10.
 
As a team, UR tallied 60 kills, compared to just 52 for Catholic, but were outhit, .178 to .155.
 
Rochester next travels to Keuka Park, NY for a midweek matchup at Keuka College on Wednesday, Sept. 25 at 7:00 p.m.