HENRIETTA, NY – University of Rochester women's volleyball split its Saturday tri-match at RIT, falling to the Clarkson University Golden Knights, 3-2, in their first match of the day, before bouncing back to top the host-Tigers in the finale, 3-1, on Saturday inside Clark Gymnasium.
 
With the split, Rochester moves to 4-16 on the season, while Clarkson now sits at 10-10, and the Tigers move to 6-14. The Yellowjackets return to the court next Sunday, Oct. 26, in Chicago, IL, for the University Athletic Association Round Robin #3, facing Emory and Brandeis beginning at 10:00 a.m. CT.
 
MATCH ONE: Clarkson 3, Rochester 2
Despite dropping the first two sets to the Golden Knights, the Yellowjackets would rally back, taking the third and fourth sets to force a decisive fifth set.
 
Clarkson led for much of the early going of the opening set, until a 4-0 spurt by UR tied the set up at 10-all. Myla Nover-Estes sent over back-to-back kills to level the score at 10 and force the Golden Knights to take a timeout, but Clarkson regrouped out of the timeout and retook the lead.
 
Rochester would again respond and this time take the lead, going up 16-14 on Lilly Kraemer's service ace, but following another Golden Knights' timeout, Clarkson again surged ahead.
 
The Golden Knights led 20-19 before a Rochester timeout, and the 'Jackets would again go ahead, taking a 23-22 lead on back-to-back blocks by Kraemer and Sancia Williams. But a service error tied up the set and gave the service back to Clarkson, who never relinquished it the rest of the way, taking the first set, 25-23.
 
Set two would again prove to be close, and while the Yellowjackets notched five of the first six points of the set, Clarkson would respond and led, 12-10, before a URochester timeout. The Golden Knights led by as many as six midway through the set, 19-13, and had set point, up 24-19, before the 'Jackets roared back, holding off set point six times, with five coming on Rylee Bergeron's serve.
 
Bergeron sent over three aces and notched a kill to help the Yellowjackets tie the set at 24-all, but the Golden Knights answered with back-to-back kills to take the set, 26-24, and a 2-0 match lead.
 
And while the Golden Knights again opened a sizeable lead midway through the third set, looking to finish off the match, the Yellowjackets again found an answer and went on a huge run.
 
Trailing 17-10, Rochester scored the next eight points of the match, as Bergeron sent over another three aces as part of an 8-0 run. The two sides would then trade points before three straight from URochester gave the 'Jackets a lead they'd never relinquish.
 
Kills from Bergeron and Ellen Porter put Rochester up 24-21, and after a service error, Bergeron notched another kill, one of a career-high 25 on the day, to give the 'Jackets the set, 25-22.
 
The Yellowjackets would again need a comeback in set four, as UR turned an early 8-4 deficit into an 11-9 lead with a 7-1 run, forcing Clarkson to spend a timeout.
 
And despite several rallies by the Golden Knights, URochester would never trail the rest of the way. Kills from Bergeron and Nover-Estes made it 14-11, while a Porter kill out of a Yellowjacket timeout extended the lead back to two.
 
Bergeron and Williams helped key a 3-0 spurt to give the 'Jackets a 22-18 lead, while Porter and Williams combined for a block to give Rochester the set, 25-22, and force a fifth set to decide the match.
 
And while the Yellowjackets would keep things close throughout the fifth set, trailing 7-6 following Bergeron and Porter kills, and again, 9-8, after Kraemer notched a solo block, the Golden Knights pulled away late. Jordyn Leader tallied a pair of blocks down the stretch, before Clarkson finished off the set, 15-11, on a kill from Conley Burns to take the match, 3-2.
 
Offensively, Bergeron led the 'Jackets with a career-high 25 kills, while Nover-Estes and Williams joined the senior in double figures with 17 and 10 kills apiece, respectively. Balaskas also notched a career-high with 52 assists, while Bergeron sent over seven aces.
 
Defensively, four 'Jackets tallied double-digit digs, led by Lydia Weeks with 31, followed by Balaskas with 24, Bergeron with 23 and Valeria Berrios Puig with 14. Kraemer had a team-high 3.5 blocks, while Williams notched 2.5.
 
MATCH TWO: Rochester 3, RIT 1
The Yellowjackets would bounce back from their five-set defeat against the Golden Knights to take down the host-Tigers in four. After outlasting RIT in the opening set, the 'Jackets took sets three and four to notch the win and wrap up Saturday's tri-match.
 
URochester scored the first four points of the match in set one to get rolling, and clawed their way back from a 22-14 deficit. Trailing by eight after a 6-1 Tiger run, the Yellowjackets went on a run of their own, holding off set point eight times before coming away with the victory.
 
Trailing 24-17, Rochester scored four in a row to force the Tigers to take their first timeout, and then added two more, capped off by a Kraemer kill, to make it a one-point game and force the Tigers to take their second timeout.
 
A bad set then tied the set at 24-all, before Bergeron gave UR its first lead since the 'Jackets led 7-4. Then, after ties at 25-25 and 26-26, Rochester won the set with the final two points on kills by Bergeron and Kraemer, going up 1-0 with a 28-26 set-one win.
 
RIT would answer back in the second set, using an early 6-0 run to open a five-point lead. And while the Yellowjackets made their way back, pulling within one on Claire Feczko's kill, the Tigers would pull ahead and eventually run away with the second set.
 
Up 20-15, RIT finished the second set on a 5-0 run to tie the match at one with a 25-15 set-two win.
 
However, the Yellowjackets would bounce right back and earn a 25-15 set-win of their own, taking control of the third set with a 10-0 run to finish things off.
 
With the score all tied at 15, Rochester scored 10 straight to take the set, with the Tigers unable to break Weeks' serve. The junior sent over a trio of aces while Bergeron, Feczko and Kramer all tallied kills, as the Yellowjackets went up 2-1 with the 25-15 set-three victory.
 
And with a chance to finish things off and take the fourth set, the 'Jackets did exactly that. Trailing 14-9, Rochester scored five straight to tie the set at 14-all, and used an 8-1 run to take the lead.
 
Up 17-15 following an RIT timeout, the Tigers briefly tied the fourth set at 17-all, before another 3-0 spurt by the 'Jackets forced RIT to take another timeout, trailing 20-17 following another Williams kill and block along with Kraemer.
 
Down the final stretch, the Tigers pulled within one before Rochester finished off the set, with Kraemer notching a trio of aces as part of a 5-0 run to take the set, 25-19, and the match, 3-1.
 
Bergeron again led Rochester offensively with 23 kills, while Feczko added 10. Balaskas tallied a game-high 44 assists, while Weeks led UR with both four aces and 11 digs.