NEW YORK, NY – University of Rochester women's volleyball dropped its University Athletic Association (UAA) Round-Robin weekend finale to No. 8 Washington University in St. Louis, 3-0, on Sunday morning at the John A. Paulson Center.
 
After a back-and-forth start to the opening set, the Bears jumped ahead with four-straight points and back-to-back aces from Ellie Laird. Up 6-3, WashU extended its lead to 10-6 with three more after UR pulled within one on Mackenzie McDonald's ace, and the Yellowjackets took a timeout to regroup.
 
Down 10-6, UR scored the next two points on kills from Ashley Cook and Alexia Nelms, but the Bears answered with the next three and five of the next seven points to take a 15-10 lead.
 
WashU's lead remained at five, 21-16, till the 'Jackets made a late run to pull within a point. Nelms' kill started it off, while UR took advantage of two Bears' errors sandwiched around Myla Nover-Estes' kill to make it a 21-20 ballgame and force WashU to take a timeout.
 
Two side outs made it a one-point game once again, but the Bears would notch the set's final three points, with Sam Buckley and Lily Steinbach's block giving WashU a 25-21 set-one victory.
 
UR would again keep things close in the second set, before three-in-a-row from the Bears made it a five-point advantage, 10-5, for WashU. The 'Jackets took a timeout though and regrouped, matching the Bears point-for-point over the next four serves to keep WashU from further building their lead, before making a run of their own.
 
Down 14-9, the Yellowjackets won the serve back on Cook's kill, before the sophomore fired an ace to make it a three-point game. WashU won the next point but the Yellowjackets won the next two, and after trading serves over the next four points, Rochester trailed by just two, 17-15, after another Cook kill.
 
WashU responded with four of the next five points to re-open a five-point lead, but again the 'Jackets came up with an answer, pulling within two, 22-20, on back-to-back kills from Nover-Estes before the Bears took a timeout. Out of the timeout, Rylee Bergeron smashed another kill to make it a one-point game, but a service error slowed UR's roll and made it a two-point Bears' lead.
 
Nover-Estes brought the 'Jackets back within one with a kill on Laird's serve, but WashU finished off the set with a pair of kills from Lucy Davis and Steinbach, taking a 2-0 match lead with a 25-22 set win.
 
The Bears then rolled out to an early lead in set three and never looked back, scoring the first six points before Rochester got on the board. WashU opened up a commanding 12-3 advantage and led by as many as 15 in the third set, finished off the match with back-to-back Laird aces to take home a 3-0 victory with a 25-10 third-set win.
 
Nover-Estes led UR with 10 kills in the loss, while Nelms dished out a team-high 26 assists. Nelms and McDonald each tallied two service aces, while Lydia Weeks led Rochester defensively with 11 digs.
 
Rochester drops to 7-10 (0-3 UAA) with the loss, while the 8th-ranked Bears pick up their first conference win, moving to 14-4 (1-2 UAA) on the year.
 
Following a week off, Rochester is back home for a non-conference matchup against Alfred University on Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 7:00 p.m. inside the Louis Alexander Palestra.