GENEVA, NY – The University of Rochester volleyball team fell in three sets to host William Smith College on Wednesday evening at Bristol Gymnasium.
 
The Herons (13-1) earned an impressive 25-8 win in the opening set, before Rochester (3-12) hung tough in set two, ultimately falling 25-18. In the third, William Smith completed the sweep with a 25-14 triumph. The Herons have won seven straight matches.
 
Rochester's Myla Nover-Estes led the team with six kills on 18 swings on Wednesday. Teammate Paige Stephenson had five kills and hit .250 on the night, while first-year Sancia Williams had four kills.
 
Iliana Balaskas handed out a team-high 16 assists while three players had five or more digs for URochester. Lydia Weeks picked up seven, Balaskas had six and Valeria Berrios Puig added five.
 
William Smith was led by Mayla Sayre who had 17 kills and hit .412 and six digs. Hope Von Dolen smacked 11 kills on 17 attacks for a .588 percentage while Emily Fulton added 10 kills and four aces.
 
In the opening set, the Herons got off to a hot start, scoring the first five points of the match. Rochester's early kills were by Nover-Estes and Williams, but William Smith raced out to a big 15-3 advantage after scoring eight straight points. UR scored three straight points to get within 17-7, but William Smith finished off the set by scoring eight of the final nine points.
 
During the second set, a Stephenson kill and service ace from Weeks gave Rochester a 7-6 advantage. Three straight points from the Herons put the hosts in the lead. After William Smith got up by four, the 'Jackets got three in-a-row behind a kill from Stephenson, a Heron attack error and Claire Feczko kill to pull back within one.
 
William Smith continued to lead though, eventually extending the advantage with a 3-point run. The Herons ended up securing the set with a 25-18 win after securing the final three points of the set.
 
The final set saw William Smith score three straight to grab the early lead and later scored two points to one for UR over the next several rallies. The Herons went up 10-5 and held a five-point lead until a 6-to-1 spurt increased the advantage to ten at 21-11. Two late kills from Shanya Alvarez and another from Ellen Porter scored points for the Yellowjackets, but it wasn't enough as William Smith closed out the set by a 25-14 score.
 
URochester is back in action next Wednesday at Alfred University.