NEW YORK, NY – University of Rochester women's volleyball dropped a pair of conference clashes against No. 19 NYU and No. 21 Emory on Sunday at the University Athletic Association's (UAA) Round Robin #2, hosted by New York University inside the John A. Paulson Center. The 'Jackets fell to the 21st-ranked Eagles, 3-1, to open their Sunday in NYC, before falling to No. 19 NYU in straight sets, 3-0.
Following the round robin, the Yellowjackets now stand at 9-10 (0-5 UAA) on the year, while No. 19 NYU remains unbeaten in UAA play at 14-4 (5-0 UAA), and the Eagles move to 10-4 (3-2 UAA) with wins over the Yellowjackets and No. 3 Carnegie Mellon.
MATCH ONE: #21 Emory 3, Rochester 1
Rochester and the 21st-ranked Eagles traded runs early on in the opening set, with four straight and four-of-five from Emory followed by three-straight points from the 'Jackets to knot the set at 10-all.
Myla Nover-Estes sent over two of her game-high 13 kills to help URochester tie things up at 10-10, and the Yellowjackets would keep things close over the next few points against the Eagles, again leveling the set at 16-all on
Lilly Kraemer's solo block.
Kraemer again helped the 'Jackets knot things up, this time at 17-17, with a kill, but three-straight from Emory forced
Ladi Iya to take a timeout, while five of the final six points out of the timeout for the Eagles gave Emory a 25-18, set-one victory.
Emory then took the early lead with four-straight points early on in the second set, and then a 7-0 run to take a 12-6 advantage after Emily Dienger capped off a 4-0 'Jacket spurt.
However, Rochester answered with a run of its own, scoring the next five points, including four on
Valeria Berrios Puig's serve, and capped by a block from Kraemer and Nover-Estes to pull within a point, 12-11.
Four points later, the Yellowjackets tied it up at 14-all on back-to-back Nover-Estes kills, then took their first lead of the set, 15-14, on
Paige Stephenson's smash.
Emory again jumped ahead, but the 'Jackets countered on
Emma McCrann's serve, taking the lead again on McCrann's service ace.
Following two more ties at 18-18 and 20-all, Rochester would take control of the set with the next three points, taking a 21-20 lead on
Ellen Porter's kill, and adding another on
Iliana Balaskas' service ace before Emory took a timeout, down 23-20.
Out of the Eagles' timeout, Rochester finished off the set with two more points to cap off the 5-0 run, with another Balaskas' ace giving UR the set, 25-20, and tying the match up at one set apiece.
In the third set, URochester jumped ahead on Kraemer's serve, as the senior sent over a pair of aces, sandwiched in between kills from Stephenson and Nover-Estes to take a 10-9 advantage.
Emory struck back with six of the next eight points to take a three-point lead of their own on Maeve Stevenson's block, and stretched its lead out to five, 21-16, with its next few serves.
Down 22-17 following another Emory kill from Ella Moore, the 'Jackets mounted another rally, scoring the next five points to tie the third set up at 22-all. Nover-Estes and
Emelia Cruz came through with clutch blocks, while Nover-Estes smashed a pair of kills to even the set, and then came up with another block to knot the score again at 23.
However, Sophia Luo put Emory ahead, 24-23, with a kill and forced Rochester to use its final timeout, before Stevenson's finished off the set, 25-23, in favor of the Eagles.
Emory then put things away quickly in the fourth set to finish off the match, hitting .471 in the final frame, and .264 for the match. The Eagles stretched their lead out to 10 as the 'Jackets were forced to spend both of their timeouts in the early going, and led by as many as 15 in the final set.
Down 24-8, Rochester twice held off match point with an attack error and Kraemer's kill, but a service error gave Emory the set, 25-10, and the match, 3-1.
Nover-Estes turned in a stellar performance, despite the loss, with a team-high 13 kills and three blocks, in addition to four digs, hitting .222 in the contest. Kraemer and Balaskas each led URochester with two service aces, while Balaskas also had a team-high 20 digs.
Defensively, Berrios Puig and
Lydia Weeks each had a team-high eight digs, while Stephenson and Porter contributed two blocks apiece.
MATCH TWO: #19 NYU 3, Rochester 0
The Violets surged ahead early in the first set against URochester, scoring four-straight points up 11-9 to turn a three-point advantage into a six-point lead.
Despite the NYU run, Rochester regrouped out of a timeout and rallied for three in a row, with Kraemer and Porter combining for a block, before Kraemer sent over a kill. But the Violets pushed ahead with another extended run, scoring six of the next eight points to go up 22-15 and force Iya to take the 'Jackets' final timeout.
Kills from Kraemer and Nover-Estes, as well as a block from
Claire Feczko and Stephenson, helped the Yellowjackets cut the Violets' lead in half out of the timeout, but NYU would finish off the set with the final three points to take the opener, 25-18.
Then in set two, the Violets raced out to a 9-1 lead, and used an 8-0 run midway through the second set to put things out of reach. Trailing 9-1, the 'Jackets fought back with the next four points, as Porter sent over back-to-back kills, before
Emilyn Dienger combined with Cruz for a block and also sent over a kill.
Rochester cut NYU's lead down to three before the Violets went on their 8-0 run, extending a three-point lead to 12. The Yellowjackets fought back, cutting the 12-point deficit down to seven over the next seven serves, but it proved to be too little, too late.
Back-to-back blocks from Kraemer and Porter capped off URochester's 6-1 run, but Sarah Beville slowed the 'Jackets' roll with a kill, and then sent over another kill three points later to finish off the set, 25-18, in favor of the host Violets.
Then in set three, the two sides went back and forth, with NYU maintaining a slight advantage early on. Kills from Nover-Estes and Porter pulled Rochester within two, 11-9, while Dienger and Kraemer contributed kills down the stretch to prevent the Violets from pulling away.
Trailing 20-16, Rochester scored three straight to cut the deficit to one, with Cruz's kill making it a 20-19 game. The Yellowjackets and Violets twice traded service errors over the next six points, till Nover-Estes pulled the 'Jackets again within one, 23-22, with a kill out of URochester's timeout.
But Lucianna Welles set up match point for NYU with a kill, while Welles and Kylie Emma Obeto blocked Nover-Estes to give the Violets the next point, the set, 25-22, and the match, 3-0.
Nover-Estes again led both squads with 12 kills, while Azzariti had a team-high nine assists. Defensively, Weeks led the 'Jackets with seven digs, while Kraemer and Porter each had a team-high three blocks.
As a team, Rochester hit .238, with 34 kills, but the Violets hit .386 with 42 kills.
The Yellowjackets will be back in action next Saturday, Oct. 17, when they travel to Ithaca, NY, for a tri-match against Ithaca and Vassar, beginning at 3:00 p.m.
