CORTLAND, NY – The University of Rochester women's volleyball fell to the Bowdoin College Polar Bears, 3-0, on Sunday morning to close out their weekend at SUNY Cortland's Red Dragon Classic, inside the Whitney T. Corey Gymnasium.
 
Bowdoin jumped ahead early in set one, scoring three of the first points of the match on a trio of kills, before opening up an 8-3 lead on a kill from Zoe Ryu. The Yellowjackets countered with a run of their own, though on Isis Pribble's service, coming back from down five to knot the score at eight-all on Rylee Bergeron's kill.
 
The Polar Bears quickly retook the lead on a service error and block, but the 'Jackets held serve and kept things close, knotting the score at 12-all before surging ahead, taking advantage of a pair of Bowdoin errors.
 
Following two more ties at 14 and 15-all, the Yellowjackets fired off three-straight points on kills from Ellen Porter and Bergeron, as well as a Pribble ace, forcing Bowdoin to spend its first timeout.
 
Rochester, though, kept their advantage out of the timeout, and remained up three, 23-20, when the Polar Bears used another timeout. Out of the timeout, an attack error set up set point for the 'Jackets, but Bowdoin scored the next three points to pull within one and force UR to take a timeout.
 
Bowdoin then leveled the score at 24-all on a block by Ryu out of the timeout, but Sancia Williams and Porter combined for a block to put URochester back in front, 25-24. The Polar Bears again tied it, and UR again answered with a Bergeron kill, before Alison Smith scored the next two for Bowdoin, making it a 27-26 Polar Bears' lead.
 
Lilly Kraemer's kill re-tied the score at 27, but the Polar Bears finished off the set with a kill and block, taking the opening set, 29-27, to open a 1-0 match lead.
 
Rochester and Bowdoin would again keep things close in set two, with the 'Jackets answering the Polar Bears' 5-0 run with two quick points to cut the deficit to one.
 
Pribble's service ace made it an 8-7 Bowdoin lead, and after the Polar Bears again surged ahead, the Yellowjackets would rally over the middle part of the set. Down 16-11, Pribble smashed a kill from Juliette Azzariti, before four-in-a-row, three coming on Lydia Weeks' serve, pulled the 'Jackets within a point, 17-16.
 
Bergeron, Paige Stephenson and Pribble all notched kills over the run before another Pribble ace leveled the score at 18-all.
 
However, the Polar Bears answered with the next two points to take a 22-19 lead and force Rochester to take a timeout, and then scored two of the next three out of the timeout to bring up set point, up 24-20.
 
Down four, Azzariti sent over a pair of aces to pull the 'Jackets back within a point, but Hannah Woolley again ended the set with a block, giving Bowdoin a 25-23, set-two win, and a 2-0 match lead.
 
Williams notched the first points of set three, as UR looked to push the match to a fourth set, keeping things close throughout the early going. But a 6-1 run put Bowdoin up 10-7, before three more made it a 13-9 Polar Bears' lead and forced Rochester to take a timeout.
 
Another Williams kill pulled URochester within three, but that'd be as close as the 'Jackets would get the rest of the way. Bowdoin scored the next six points of the set to open a 20-11 advantage, and led by as many as 10, 22-12, before finishing off the set and match, 25-15, with an ace from Anna Yeh.
 
Rochester falls to 0-6 with the loss, while the Polar Bears move to 2-2 with the win.
 
Individually, Bergeron led UR with 16 kills, while Pribble added five aces. McKenzie McDonald and Azzariti each dished out double-digit assists, with McDonald tallying a team-high 15, while Azzariti added 12.
 
Defensively, Porter and Williams combined for UR's lone block, while Weeks had a team-high 18 digs, and Bergeron added 13.
 
Rochester next hosts the 2025 UR Invitational, beginning on Friday, Sept. 12, with a matchup against Wheaton (MA) inside the Louis Alexander Palestra at 6:00 p.m.