University of Rochester women's volleyball fell to the Wheaton (MA) College Lyons, 3-1, in their first match of the 2025 UR Invitational on Friday evening inside the Louis Alexander Palestra.
 
All four sets would be closely contested, with the visiting Lyons winning three straight after dropping the opening set. Wheaton notched the first points of the contest on an attack error before Rochester scored its first points of the match on a service error and then rattled off two service aces.
 
McKenzie McDonald's two aces were two of 17 on the evening for the Yellowjackets, tied for the fourth-most in a single match in UR program history.
 
The two sides traded runs in the early goings of the first set, with Rochester leading 7-4 after another ace, this one from Lilly Kraemer, while Wheaton answered back with six-straight points to pull ahead, 9-7.
 
Following ties at 9-9, 10-10, 11-11, 12-12 and 13-all, Wheaton pushed ahead by two and forced Rochester to take a timeout. Down 14-13, the Lyons went up 15-13 out of the timeout, and led 16-4 following Sydney Lyon's kill, but a 4-0 run, highlighted by back-to-back Kraemer aces, put URochester up by two, 18-16.
 
An attack error briefly slowed Rochester's run, but behind fourth-straight aces from Isis Pribble, the Yellowjackets built a 24-17 advantage and ended the set on an 11-2 run to go up 1-0 in the match with a 25-18, set-one victory.
 
Pribble's fourth-straight aces highlighted the run, while Rylee Bergeron sandwiched a pair of kills around the first-year's aces, finishing off the set, 25-18, for UR.
 
The Yellowjackets led early on in set two, with kills from Bergeron and Stephenson, as well as another Pribble ace, helping give URochester a 7-5 advantage. The 'Jackets led by as many as five, as they scored four of five out of a Wheaton timeout, with a block from Sancia Williams and Paige Stephenson making it an 11-6 lead.
 
However, Wheaton quickly climbed back into the set, pulling within two on Jackie Hochberg's ace, and then one, 15-14, on a kill from Lyon. And while Rochester answered with three straight to go back up four, notching points on kills from McDonald and Stephenson, the Lyons scored the next 11 points to force set points.
 
Down 18-14, Wheaton notched three-in-a-row to cut the deficit to one, and then after Rochester took a timeout, rallied for five more to open a 22-18 lead and force another UR timeout. Two more made it a 24-18 Wheaton advantage, and while the 'Jackets twice held off set point with a service error and ace, Julia Winger's kill knotted up the match at one, with a 25-20 set-two win.
 
In set three, Rochester would again lead throughout the early going, holding a 14-9 lead following Kraemer's kill, which capped off a 7-2 Rochester run.  
 
UR notched four of the next six points to go up seven, 18-11, with Pribble's kill making it a six-point lead, while a Lyons' attack error out of a timeout queued up a seven-point URochester advantage.
 
Once again, though, Wheaton rallied, scoring seven of the next eight to pull within one. Pribble's block put the 'Jackets back up two, 20-18, while Bergeron's kill a point later made it 21-19, but the Lyons answered with three-straight of their own to take their first lead since early on in the set.
 
Stephenson answered Celina Henn's kill to level the score at 22-all, but Henn and Mary Carol Mazzanti notched back-to-back kills to put Wheaton up 24-22. Kraemer came up with a kill from Iliana Balaskas to hold off set point, but Lyon notched the set point for the Lyons, to give Wheaton a 25-23 set-three victory, and a 2-1 match lead.
 
Kills by Bergeron and Ellen Porter helped Rochester out to a 5-2 lead to start the fourth set, as the 'Jackets looked to push the match to five. The Yellowjackets again led early before a 7-1 run put Wheaton ahead, capped off by back-to-back aces by Lyon that forced UR to spend a timeout.
 
Trailing 10-8, Bergeron smashed another kill, one of a career-high 22 for the senior, out of the timeout to make it a one-point game, jumpstarting an 8-3 Yellowjacket run. Two Kraemer kills, sandwiched around Porter's block, put Rochester in front, while a pair of kills from Maren Smith made it a 16-13 lead.
 
Though Wheaton crept back within one, UR remained in front with help from another Bergeron kill, and led 21-18 after Kraemer came up with a block. However, another late Lyons' run would prove to be the difference, as the visitors scored six-straight down 21-18 to turn a three-point deficit into a three-point lead.
 
Mazzanti's kill capped off the 6-0 run, bringing up set and match point with Wheaton leading, 24-21. And while Pribble notched a kill to make it 24-22, the Lyons would take the set and match on a kill from Henn, giving Wheaton a 25-22 set-four win, and 3-1 match victory.
 
With the win, Wheaton moves to 4-4 on the year, while Rochester drops to 0-7.
 
Bergeron led all players with a game-high 22 kills, tying with Lydia Weeks for a team-high nine digs.
 
McDonald led UR with 32 assists, while Pribble notched a team-high six aces, with McDonald tallying five, Kraemer totaling four and Bergeron adding two. Defensively, Kraemer, Porter and Pribble each tallied a block, while Stephenson and Williams combined for one, each netting a block assist.
 
As a team, Rochester hit .188 for the match, compared to .279 for Wheaton, tallying 47 kills, 17 aces, four blocks, 46 assists and 44 digs.
 
The Yellowjackets will host Keuka College to open day two of the UR Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 13, at 11:00 a.m. inside the Louis Alexander Palestra, before facing SUNY Geneseo at 3:00 p.m. to wrap up the invite.