CORTLAND, NY – The University of Rochester volleyball team fell in a pair of close matchups on Saturday afternoon at the SUNY Cortland Red Dragon Classic, falling to Hartwick College 3-2 and host Cortland 3-0.
 
The five-set affair in the opener against Hartwick (3-3) saw the teams trade set wins in the match. The Hawks took the opener 25-13 before Rochester leveled the match with a 25-11 win in set two. In the third, Hartwick edged ahead 25-20, before the Yellowjackets stayed alive with a 25-17 win in set four.
 
In the race to 15 in the final set, Hartwick edged out URochester by two, winning 15-13 to seal the match win.
 
Myla Nover-Estes led all players with 17 kills in the match, with Sancia Williams and Rylee Bergeron finishing next with eight and seven kills, respectively. Bergeron added 14 digs on defense, while both Lydia Weeks and McKenzie McDonald added ten each. McDonald chipped in 15 assists and Lilly Kraemer posted five blocks at the net for the 'Jackets.
 
UR also had ten aces in the match, led by four from Weeks and three from Nover-Estes.
 
During the Cortland match to end Saturday's play, each set was decided by three points or less, with the Red Dragons (4-2) winning 25-23, 25-23 and 25-22.
 
The Yellowjackets (0-5) held late leads in each set, but saw Cortland rally each time. In set one, Rochester was up 23-22 following a Nover-Estes kill, but three straight Red Dragon kills, one each by Kira Pirrera, Melissa O'Connor and Lauren Millspaugh, allowed the hosts to take the 1-0 lead.
 
In set two, Rochester held a slim lead throughout most of the set, eventually going up two, 23-21 with back-to-back kills from Karemer and Paige Stephenson. Again, Cortland rallied, finishing off the set with four straight points, aided by an ace, kill by Emalee Ballou and two 'Jacket attack errors.
 
Late in the third set, a three-point spurt featuring two aces by Weeks gave Rochester a 22-20 advantage. Two kills, two blocks and a Rochester attack error gave Cortland a five-point flurry to finish off the match, winning 25-22 in the final set.
 
Nover-Estes again led all players, finishing with 15 kills, while Bergeron had a double-double with 13 kills and 13 digs. Weeks picked up 23 digs and had three aces. McDonald, Iliana Balaskas and Juliette Azzariti shared setting duties, dishing out a combined 34 assists.
 
URochester finishes its weekend at the Red Dragon Classic with a Sunday matchup against Bowdoin College at 11 am.