University of Rochester women's volleyball notched its first win of the 2025 campaign on the final day of the 2025 UR Invitational before falling in five sets to wrap up its weekend inside the Louis Alexander Palestra. URochester swept Keuka College, 3-0, to get its day started, and then rallied back to force a fifth set against SUNY Geneseo, but couldn't complete the comeback, falling to the Knights, 3-2.
 
With the split, Rochester now sits at 1-8 on the season, while Keuka moves to 1-9 following a pair of Saturday losses to the 'Jackets and Buffalo State and Geneseo moves to 5-5 after five-set wins over Wheaton (MA) and UR.
 
For her efforts across UR's three contests, Rylee Bergeron was named to the 2025 UR Invitational All-Tournament Team, leading all five squads with a 4.00 kills per set average, having totaled 48 kills over the weekend.
 
MATCH ONE: Rochester 3, Keuka 0
Rochester and Keuka went back-and-forth to get the first set started, with neither side able to build much of a lead. Ellen Porter's service ace gave URochester an 8-6 advantage, but the Wolves came right back with a pair of points to level the score at eight-all on Nina Scott's kill.
 
The 'Jackets slowly built a lead with five of the next seven points, going up three, 13-10, on Lydia Week's service ace, and then 15-11 on back-to-back errors by Keuka. Two straight UR errors again made it a two-point game, but the Yellowjackets would take advantage on a service error and extend their lead up to four, 18-14, on Porter's ace, forcing Keuka to take a timeout.
 
Out of the timeout, Rochester extended its lead to five, but the Wolves answered back with four-straight points, cutting UR's lead to one on Addisyn Chorney's kill. Three points later, Keuka tied the set on Gabby Rodriguez's service ace, capping off a 6-1 Wolves' run, but the Yellowjackets would finish off the set with five of the last six points.
 
With the score knotted at 20, Lilly Kraemer's kill gave URochester a one-point lead, while kills by Paige Stephenson and Sancia Williams stretched the advantage out to two after a UR service error.
 
Up two, Porter's block brought up set point, while Bergeron finished off the set with a kill, giving the 'Jackets the set, 25-21, and a 1-0 match lead.
 
Following another close early going in the second set, the 'Jackets went on a run, rallying for four-straight points and seven of nine to open an 11-7 advantage on Kraemer's kill. Four-straight kills from Bergeron highlighted the Yellowjacket run, but the Wolves would answer right back and keep things close, cutting the deficit to one, 13-12, on Lilah Cousins' kill.
 
Another Rochester run, though, put the Yellowjackets back up four, and following a Keuka timeout, UR would put the set out of reach. Up 16-13, Rochester scored five of the next seven to take a 21-15 lead, with Kraemer's kill and Porter's ace putting UR up six.
 
Keuka took another timeout, but Rochester kept on rolling, notching three straight after Scott's kill, with a block from Stephenson and Williams making it a 23-16 lead.
 
Stephenson then finished off the set with a kill from Iliana Balaskas, giving Rochester a 2-0 match lead with a 25-17 set-two win.
 
The Yellowjackets would take the lead with a 6-0 run early in set three, with five points coming on McKenzie McDonald's serve. Bergeron smashed a pair of kills and Porter added another, while back-to-back attack errors put URochester up four, 10-6.
 
Kueka came right back, though, scoring the next four to knot the score at 10, and the Wolves briefly jumped in front on Scott's ace, leading 13-12.
 
The two sides would trade barbs throughout the middle of the set, with ties at 16-16, 17-17 and 18-all, before the kills from Bergeron and Kraemer made it a 20-18 UR lead, and forced the Wolves to take a timeout.
 
Out of the timeout, Keuka pulled back within one on a Rochester attack error, but the 'Jackets would notch the next four, two on kills from Kraemer and Stephenson as well as another on another Porter ace.
 
Keuka twice held off match point, but they couldn't hold it off a third time, as an attack error gave UR the set, 25-21, and the match, 3-0, for their first victory of the year.
 
Offensively, Bergeron had a game-high 13 kills, while Juliette Azzariti dished out 23 assists. Porter had a team-high four aces, while added two solo blocks and six digs, with Weeks leading UR defensively with 10 digs.
 
As a team, Rochester hit .268, vs. a .140 hitting percentage for Keuka, notching 39 kills, as compared to 30 for the Wolves.
 
MATCH TWO: SUNY Geneseo 3, Rochester 2
The Knights took the lead with the first points of the opening set on McKenna Callari's service ace and never trailed, opening a four-point lead on back-to-back aces by Daphne Paul-LaRonca. Three in a row from UR, capped off by Balaskas' kill, made it a one-point game, but a 5-0 Geneseo run put the visitors up five.
 
Cory Elder's ace capped off the run after an early Rochester timeout, and while back-to-back Kraemer kills cut the deficit to three, the Knights would go back up five on Kathryn Barba's kill and then six on Carolyn Mack's ace over the next few serves.
 
Geneseo led by as many as eight down the stretch, 23-15, following a pair of UR attack errors, and while three-straight from the 'Jackets forced the Knights to take a timeout, Geneseo came out of the timeout to finish off the set with a pair of points, taking the set, 25-18, to go up 1-0 in the match.
 
The Knights again surged ahead early in set two, scoring five-straight points on Barba's serve to open a 9-3 lead following a Yellowjacket timeout. Mack and Sydney Leigh-Manuell contributed kills over the run, as Geneseo stretched its lead to as large as seven, 14-7, early in set two.
 
Down 14-8, Kraemer notched a kill and Balaskas sent over an ace, but the Knights pushed ahead, opening up a 20-11 advantage on Elder's kill from Mack to cap off a 6-2 run.
 
And while the 'Jackets would regroup out of a timeout and cut the deficit to five on Bergeron's kill and then again on Maren Smith's kill, three-straight points from the Knights brought up set point and three serves later, Leigh-Manuell smashed another kill to give SUNY Geneseo a 2-0 match lead.
 
Looking to avoid the sweep, Rochester jumped ahead early in set three, notching the first point of the set on Stephenson's kill, before five-straight points, four coming on McDonald's serve, opened up an 8-2 URochester lead.
 
Bergeron smashed a pair of kills to help force Geneseo to spend an early timeout, and the Yellowjackets would answer the Knights' next few points, keeping Geneseo from closing the gap. Katie Westerheim's service ace made it a 14-7 lead, while kills from Bergeron and Smith helped stretch the lead to six, 17-11.
 
Three in a row from the Knights prompted UR to take a timeout, while three more from Geneseo made it a one-point game, and Ladi Iya spent another timeout. Whatever Iya said in the timeout must've worked, as Rochester finished off the set with seven of the final eight points, going back up four, 22-18, on Stephenson and Williams' block, before kills from Williams and Balaskas gave UR a 25-18 set-three win.
 
Looking to force a decisive fifth set, Rochester then opened a 7-3 lead in the fourth set with a 5-0 run, capped off by three-straight aces from Weeks. Geneseo answered back with an extended run of their own, turning that five-point deficit into a three-point lead, but the Yellowjackets came back with another run of their own.
 
Trailing 11-8, Porter hit back-to-back kills to slow the Knights' run and pull UR back within a point, while Pribble's kill made it a one-point UR lead. Claire Feczko, who subbed in just prior to the run, then sent over an ace, as three of Rochester's first-years helped Rochester jump ahead in the fourth.
 
Another first-year in Williams notched a kill to make it 15-13, while after the Knights tied it at 15-all, UR raced ahead with five of the next six points. Feczko notched two kills and a block to help put Rochester up 20-16, and after Peyton Cole cut the deficit to three, the Yellowjackets would finish the set on a 5-0 to force a fifth set.
 
Smith's block got the run started, while McDonald sent over an ace and Feczko added another two kills to help Rochester take the set, 25-17, and level the match at two-all.
 
But the Knights would open an early lead in the fifth set and never look back, starting the set on a 7-1 run. Rochester closed the gap to four on a kill from Bergeron late, cutting Geneseo's lead to 12-8, but the Knights finished off the match with three-straight kills to take the fifth set, 15-8, and the match, 3-2.
 
Bergeron again led Rochester offensively with 13 kills, adding 12 digs for a double-double. Balaskas and McDonald both contributed offensively with 21 and 16 assists apiece, while McDonald and Weeks tied for a team-high four aces.
 
Defensively, Porter and Smith each had two blocks, while Weeks had a team-high 21 digs.
 
Geneseo out-hit Rochester, .169 to .112, but the 'Jackets tallied one more kill, 49-48.
 
Rochester continues its home stretch on Tuesday, Sept. 16 with a matchup against Nazareth University at 6:00 p.m. inside the Louis Alexander Palestra.