KEUKA PARK, NY – University of Rochester women's volleyball took a 3-2 lead five points into the opening set and never trailed the rest of the way, sweeping the Keuka College Wolves in a mid-week, non-conference matchup on Wednesday evening at the JMW Recreation and Athletics Center.
 
The Yellowjackets turned in a dominant team effort, outhitting the Wolves, .344 to .103, and tallying 45 kills, to just 23 for the home squad.
 
Rylee Bergeron got things started for UR in the opening set, notching the first points of the match on a kill from Alexia Nelms. Keuka then knotted the score at 1-1 on Dayna Edholm's kill before taking their first and only lead of the match, 2-1 on an attack error by UR. Rochester scored the next three points though, taking a 4-2 lead on Ashley Cook's ace, and would never trail the rest of the match.
 
The 'Jackets stretched their lead out to 9-5 on back-to-back Keuka attack errors, and slowly pulled away midway through the first set, using a 5-0 run to turn a three-point advantage into an eight-point, 20-12 lead.
 
Kills by Maren Smith and Bergeron put Rochester up 18-12 and forced the Wolves to spend a timeout, but the Yellowjackets kept the run coming, with two more points on an attack error and another Bergeron kill.
 
The Wolves wouldn't go away quietly though, pulling within three points, 22-19, on Edholm's kill and a UR error, before twice holding off set point with a service error and ace, but Myla Nover-Estes finished off the set, 25-21, with a kill from Nelms, giving UR a 1-0 match lead.
 
Rochester then surged ahead with the first six points in set two, forcing Keuka to take an early timeout as kills from Nover-Estes and Cook put 'Jackets up early. Rochester would keep the Wolves at an arm's length for much of the set, never leading by less than two before a 5-0 Keuka run pulled the Wolves within a point 17-16.
 
UR scored the next three on Caroline Hoag's kill and two service aces from Lydia Weeks, but the Wolves came right back to knot the set up at 20-all with four-straight points of their own.
 
The two sides then again traded runs, with four-in-a-row from Rochester giving the Yellowjackets a 24-20 lead on Lilly Kraemer's kill, but the Wolves then held off set point thrice with a service error, ace and Nina Scott's kill. However, a Scott error then gave UR the set, 25-23, and the 'Jackets took a 2-0 lead headed to the third.
 
Rochester again built an early lead, notching the first three points of the set on two kills from Cook and Nelms' ace, before adding three more after Keuka scored its first point to take a 6-1 lead. The 'Jackets stretched their lead out to 8-2 and eventually 12-4 before the Wolves took a timeout, with a block by Bergeron and Smith putting the Yellowjackets up eight.
 
UR kept things rolling out of the timeout with points on Katie Westerheim's ace and another Bergeron kill, going up 10, 15-5, on Cook's 7th kill of the match.
 
And while Keuka would answer with the next three points, Cook's 8th kill slowed any momentum by the home side, and the 'Jackets pushed ahead. A block by Hoag made it a 17-9 UR lead, as the 'Jackets quickly extended their lead back to 10, 20-10, on Cook's ace, and finished off the set with five of the last seven points, with kills from Nover-Estes, Bergeron and Smith putting the Rochester up 23-11, before Bergeron smashed another kill to finish off the sweep, 25-13.
 
Rochester moves back to .500 at 7-7 on the year with the win, while Keuka drops to 4-8 with the loss.
 
Bergeron and Nover-Estes each tallied double-digit kills, with Bergeron leading UR with 13 and adding seven digs, while Nover-Estes notched 12. Nelms tallied a game-high 37 assists and four aces, while also adding eight digs.
 
Defensively, Cook led UR with nine digs, also adding eight kills, while Weeks had three aces and eight digs.
 
Rochester next opens University Athletic Association (UAA) conference play with a trio of matchups against Case Western Reserve, Emory and WashU at UAA Round Robin #1, hosted by NYU, beginning on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 1:00 p.m.