ITHACA, NY – University of Rochester volleyball dropped both ends of its tri-match at Ithaca College on Saturday afternoon, falling to the Vassar College Brewers, 3-1, before wrapping up the evening with a 3-0 loss to the 9th-ranked Bombers at Ben Light Gymnasium. With the two losses, the Yellowjackets fall to 9-12 on the year, while the Bombers move to 18-3, and Vassar now stands at 10-9.
MATCH ONE: Vassar 3, Rochester 1
The Yellowjackets and Brewers went back-and-forth early in the opening set, with Vassar taking 3-1 and 6-3 leads, before Rochester jumped in front, 8-7, on three-straight kills from
Myla Nover-Estes,
Claire Feczko and
Emelia Cruz.
Vassar retook the lead with the next two points, before URochester went on a run, opening a 13-9 lead with the next five points, with three coming on aces sent over by
Juliette Azzariti.
But the Brewers won the serve back on an attack error and proceeded to go on an extended run of their own, turning the four-point deficit into a three-point lead. And while the Yellowjackets would make their way back, tying the set at 21-all on a pair of Nover-Estes' kills, as well as
Lilly Kraemer's service ace, Vassar notched four of the next five points to take the first set, 25-22.
Set two would play out similarly, with the 'Jackets and Brewers trading spurts early on, before another run keyed by three Azzariti aces put Rochester up a pair, 14-12, and forced Vassar to spend a timeout.
Kills from
Ellen Porter and
Emilyn Dienger helped keep the Yellowjackets in front before the Brewers surged ahead with a run of their own, scoring seven straight to open a 21-16 advantage.
Cruz's notched a block and a kill, while
Lydia Weeks sent over a service ace to pull URochester within three, but Vassar again notched the final three points of the set to go up 2-0 with a 25-19, set-two victory.
Trailing for much of the third set, the Yellowjackets again made a run, trimming a 9-3 deficit to just one with kills from Cruz and Dienger, as well as
Iliana Balaskas' service ace. Then down two, 12-10, Rochester raced ahead with four of the next five points, going up 15-13 on Porter's kill, and stretched its lead to three, 17-14, on another Kraemer ace to force Vassar to take a timeout.
Vassar responded, pulling within two, but this time, Rochester had an answer, with kills from Cruz and Nover-Estes, as well as
Emma McCrann's ace, putting Rochester up six, 22-16. In total, the Yellowjackets sent over 16 aces, tied for the ninth-most in a single match in program history, while Azzariti led UR with eight, tied for the third-most in a single match in program history.
Up 22-16, the 'Jackets and Brewers traded points before Rochester took the set on a setting error, 25-18, to pull within a set, 2-1.
However, and despite leading by six midway through the fourth set, Vassar clawed their way back to take the fourth set, using an 11-2 run to turn a 17-11 deficit into a 22-19 advantage.
Trailing by three, Rochester twice pulled within a point, with two Nover-Estes' kills making it 22-21 and then 23-22, by Holland Kaplan sent over a kill to bring up match point before Gina O'Connell and Erin Lovett combined for a block to give Vassar the set, 25-22, and the match, 3-1.
Individually, Nover-Estes had a game-high 20 kills, while Azzariti had a game-high eight service aces. Balaskas dished out a team-high 18 assists and Azzariti had 15, while Weeks led URochester defensively with 12 digs, and Kraemer had a team-high three blocks.
As a team, Rochester hit .143 and tallied 47 kills, while the Brewers totaled 48 kills on a .266 hitting percentage.
MATCH TWO: #9 Ithaca 3, Rochester 0
Ithaca jumped ahead early and kept its lead over the Yellowjackets at a few points for much of the early going in set one, before four-of-five forced Rochester to take a timeout down 14-9.
Out of the timeout, the 'Jackets pulled back within three, with their spurt keyed by Porter's kill, but the Bombers answered back with an 8-0 run, taking a 23-12 lead on Amaya Parnell's serve.
Two Nover-Estes' kills helped Rochester hold off set point before an attack error gave the Bombers the opening set, 25-15.
The Yellowjackets would keep things closer throughout the second set and take a 12-11 advantage on Nover-Estes and
Paige Stephenson's block, leading by three, 15-12, before the Bombers took a timeout.
Weeks sent over another ace while Kraemer notched a solo block to give URochester a 15-12 lead, but out of the timeout, Ithaca answered with another big run, turning the three-point deficit into a 19-16, three-point lead.
Three straight from Rochester on kills from Nover-Estes and
Maren Smith, as well as
Valeria Berrios Puig's ace, tied things up at 19-all, while Kraemer's kill a point later again knotted things up, this time at 20-20.
But the Bombers scored the next three points to force Rochester to take a timeout, though the 'Jackets came back with the next two on kills from Porter and Smith to force Ithaca to use another timeout.
Up 23-22 though, the Bombers finished off the set with the final two points, taking a 2-0 match lead on Addison Leadbetter's service ace to take the set, 25-22.
URochester again led early in the third set, looking to avoid a sweep, as a 3-0 spurt put the 'Jackets up 7-5 on Berrios Puig's service ace, while another three straight extended the Yellowjackets' lead to 11-7 on Nover-Estes' kill.
The Bombers answered back, tying things up and taking a 12-11 lead with the next five points, and slowly pulling away over the next few serves. Ithaca led 16-14 after a 3-0 spurt, and then 19-16 after a UR attack error.
Rochester answered back with another two kills from Nover-Estes, pulling within a point, 20-19, but the Bombers took a timeout and then rallied off the final five points of the match, taking the set, 25-19, and the match, 3-0, on Gabriela Gonzalez-Abreu's service ace.
Nover-Estes again led all players with 16 kills, while Balaskas and Azzariti had 13 and 12 assists apiece. Berrios Puig sent over a team-high three service aces, and Azzariti and Weeks each had two.
Defensively, Weeks had a game-high 16 digs, while Kraemer again led Rochester with two blocks.
The Yellowjackets next travel to St. Louis, MO, for UAA Round Robin #3, wrapping up conference play with matchups against WashU and Brandeis on Sunday, Oct. 25, beginning at 10:00 a.m. CT.
