MORRISVILLE, NY – Despite dropping the first two sets and trailing by as many as five points in the decisive fifth set, the University of Rochester women's volleyball came from behind to defeat the SUNY Morrisville Mustangs, 3-2, on Wednesday evening inside Morrisville's Student Activities Center.
 
Down 2-0, the Yellowjackets twice defeated the Mustangs, 25-15, in sets three and four, holding SUNY Morrisville to a .000 hitting percentage in both sets to force the match to five. And then, despite trailing throughout much of the fifth set, Rochester ended the match on an 8-0 run, turning a five-point, 13-8 deficit into a two-point lead and set victory to complete the comeback and take the match, 3-2.
 
11 hitting errors would prove to be the difference in set one, as Rochester dropped the opener against the Mustangs, 25-20. Neither team hit well to start the set, with SUNY Morrisville hitting -0.107 in the first set, while the 'Jackets hit just -0.051.
 
The two sides traded runs to start the match, with Rochester taking an 8-6 lead after Morrisville jumped out to a 5-1 advantage, before the Mustangs answered back and went up 14-8 on a block by Samantha Siedlecki and Cassandra Bellmore to cap off an 8-0 Morrisville run.
 
Rochester wouldn't get any closer than five the rest of the way, as Morrisville matched UR, point for point down the stretch, taking the set on a service error to go up 1-0 in the match.
 
The Mustangs would lead much of the early going of set two, opening their early lead with a 5-0 run, before Rochester pulled back within two on Juliette Azzariti's ace, and then five points later, cut the deficit to one, 10-9, on Shanya Alvarez' kill from Azzariti.
 
A service error would prevent the Yellowjackets from tying things up, though, while two quick points from Morrisville extended the home side's lead back to four. The two sides then went back and forth for much of the second set, until Rochester managed to tie things up at 17-all following Sancia Williams' kill and a bad set by Morrisville.
 
Following another tie at 18-all, the Mustangs rallied for a quick three points to force Rochester to take a timeout, and the Yellowjackets answered back with two out of the timeout, the first coming on Ellen Porter's kill.
 
Two more from the Mustangs forced another Yellowjacket timeout, and SUNY Morrisville would match Rochester point for point down the stretch to keep in front and take the set, 25-22.
 
Then in the third set, after some back-and-forth play, URochester jumped ahead of the Mustangs, going up 10-7 on Paige Stephenson's kill. Morrisville would keep things close until three straight from UR made it a 14-10 advantage, and out of a Mustangs' timeout, the Yellowjackets would surge ahead.
 
Morrisville cut the deficit to three, 14-11, out of their timeout, but the Yellowjackets would rally for the next six points, eight of the next nine and 10 of the next 12. Kills from Porter, Isis Pribble and Williams, as well as a pair of blocks from Porter and Pribble, highlighted the 6-0 run to put Rochester up 20-11. While McKenzie McDonald's kill made it 22-12, and Stephenson's block helped give the Yellowjackets a double-digit advantage.
 
Morrisville twice held off set point before another Pribbe kill gave Rochester the set, 25-15, to hold off a potential Mustang sweep and push things to the fourth set.
 
And despite the Mustangs notching the first two points of the fourth set, UR would answer back with kills from Stephenson and Williams, before jumping ahead five points later, 5-4, on Iliana Balaskas' ace.
 
Following a tie at 8-8, the Yellowjackets went on another run, opening a 14-9 advantage before the Mustangs took a timeout, and extending their lead out to 15-9 with another Williams' kill out of the timeout.
 
SUNY Morrisville would battle back to force UR to take a timeout with the deficit cut down to three, 16-13, but Rochester scored four of five out of the timeout to solidify their advantage.
 
Then, looking to push things to a decisive fifth set, Rochester scored the final five points of the set, taking advantage of five-straight errors by the Mustangs to take the set, 25-15, and tie the match at two-all.
 
But despite heading into the fifth set with the momentum, SUNY Morrisville would jump ahead early in the fifth set, forcing Rochester to spend both of its timeouts down 6-3 and 11-7.
 
Two Keely Shearer aces sandwiched around UR's second timeout made it a 12-7 Mustang advantage, while an attack error extended Morrisville's lead to 13-7.
 
However, with Morrisville needing just two points to finish off the fifth set, the Yellowjackets would roar back and hold the Mustangs scoreless the rest of the way, ending the fifth set on an 8-0 run to take the set, 15-13, and the match, 3-2, completing the reverse sweep.
 
Down 13-7, a service error gave Rochester the serve, and the Mustangs wouldn't be able to break Lydia Weeks' serve the rest of the way. Williams got UR's run started with a kill, one of a game and career-high 20 for the first year, while Porter's block, after a bad set by Shearer, made it a two-point game and forced Morrisville to take a timeout.
 
Porter came out of the timeout with a kill to put Rochester within a point, before Williams tallied her 20th kill to tie the set at 13. An attack error then gave Rochester the lead, before another bad set finished the match off, giving the Yellowjackets the 3-2 victory with a 15-13 set-five victory.
 
With the win, Rochester moves to 3-8 on the year, while the Mustangs fall to 8-5.
 
Offensively, Williams led UR with 20 kills, hitting a team-best .366. Azzariti had a team-high 17 aces, while Balaskas tallied 16, and McDonald had a team-high two aces.
 
Defensively, six Yellowjackets tallied seven-plug digs, led by Bergeron's 12, while Balaskas and Weeks each had nine. Porter had a team-high two blocks, while Pribble and Stephenson each added another.
 
As a team, Rochester hit .107, compared to .044 for SUNY Morrisville, while the Yellowjackets smashed 48 kills, compared to just 31 for the home squad.
 
The Yellowjackets next travel to Atlanta, GA, to open University Athletic Association (UAA) conference play at UAA Round Robin #1, hosted by Emory University, beginning on Saturday, Sept. 27. Rochester will play a trio of conference foes, starting with a matchup against the University of Chicago on Sept. 27 at 1:00 p.m.