ST. LOUIS, MO – University of Rochester women's volleyball bounced back from a morning defeat at UAA Round Robin #3 against host and sixth-ranked WashU, 3-0, to defeat the Brandeis University Judges, 3-2, on Sunday afternoon at the WashU Field House. With the win, Rochester's first regular-season conference victory since 2022, the Yellowjackets wrap up conference play at 10-13 (1-6 UAA), while the Judges fall to 10-14 (1-6 UAA).
MATCH ONE: #6 WashU 3, Rochester 0
The sixth-ranked Bears surged ahead early in the opening set, forcing
Ladi Iya to spend both of the Yellowjackets' timeouts during WashU's 10-0 run. The run, nine points of which came on Ellie Laird's serve, put the host Bears up 13-2 following Abby Krause and Emma McGough's block, before
Emelia Cruz sent over a kill to slow WashU's roll.
WashU would lead by as many as 15 in the opening set, though, and despite twice holding off set points on
Myla Nover-Estes' kill and an attack error, the Bears would take the first set, 25-10.
Rochester kept the second set closer over the first few serves, trimming the deficit to just one, 5-4, on
Lilly Kraemer's ace. However, another extended run from the Bears put WashU up eight, 13-5, before the Yellowjackets took a timeout.
And while the 'Jackets would score the next two points on
Emilyn Dienger's kill and
Valeria Berrios Puig's ace, the Bears would tally the next six points to go up 19-7.
A trio of kills from Nover-Estes helped cut WashU's lead back down to 10, but the Bears scored the final four points of the set to take a 2-0 match lead with a 25-11, set-two win on back-to-back Naya Ohuabunwa kills.
The third set would prove to be much closer, as URochester answered an early WashU run with one of its own, scoring five straight and eight-of-nine points to take an 11-10 lead on Nover-Estes' kill. Berrios Puig's serve keyed the 'Jackets' rally, as the sophomore sent over an ace, while Dienger and Nover-Estes each tallied kills.
WashU snatched the lead right back with the next two points, but a pair of attack errors put the Yellowjackets back in front. Following ties at 15 and 16-all, the Bears tallied the next three points, forcing Rochester to spend a timeout, but the 'Jackets kept things close, cutting the deficit to two, 20-18, over the next three serves.
Trailing 23-18 after another three WashU points,
Paige Stephenson and Nover-Estes sent over kills to pull the 'Jackets back within three, but though Nover-Estes would hold off match point following Leah Oyewole's kill, another Bears' kill, this one from Anya Mikhailenko, finished off the set, 25-21, and the match in favor of No. 6 WashU.
Individually, Nover-Estes led the 'Jackets with 10 kills, while
Iliana Balaskas tallied a team-high 11 assists. Berrios Puig sent over a pair of aces while
Lydia Weeks led the 'Jackets defensively with 12 digs.
MATCH TWO: Rochester 3, Brandeis 2
The Yellowjackets had the early advantage in the opening set, rattling off nine of 11 points to take a 16-9 lead on back-to-back service aces from
Juliette Azzariti.
Lilly Kraemer also sent over a pair of aces during the 9-2 run, as Rochester turned a tie at 7-all into a seven-point lead.
Kills by Nover-Estes and
Ellen Porter helped stretch URochester's lead to 18-11, and the 'Jackets led, 21-15, after another kill from Nover-Estes, forcing Brandeis to take a timeout.
However, the Judges would storm back, holding the Yellowjackets to just three points the rest of the way. Brandeis wrapped up the set with an 11-3 run, turning a six-point deficit into a two-point advantage when Madison Haft-Abromovitch closed out the set, 26-24, with a kill.
Then, despite trailing by five midway through the second set again, the Judges took control with a 9-0 run, taking a 20-16 lead after trailing 15-11 on another Haft-Abromovitch kill. Four in a row from the 'Jackets tied things up at 20-all, with
Emilyn Dienger contributing one of her 11 kills, but Brandeis went back up by a pair on two more Haft-Abromovitch kills, and then finished off the set, 25-22, with a block from Katy Belyakova and Talia Celotto on Nover-Estes' attack.
But the Yellowjackets wouldn't go away quietly, and surged ahead midway through the third set. Trailing 8-5, Rochester took advantage of a pair of errors to get on a run, with kills from Nover-Estes and Stephenson helping the 'Jackets open a 12-10 lead.
Rochester kept things rolling out of a Brandeis timeout, stretching its lead to as many as 10, with Dienger, Kraemer, Nover-Estes and Porter all contributing kills, while Berrios Puig and Nover-Estes also added aces. Kraemer also tallied a pair of blocks over the run, combining with Dienger to put the Yellowjackets up seven, 17-12, and then again with Nover-Estes to make it a 21-13 Rochester advantage.
Back-to-back Nover-Estes kills would give the 'Jackets the set, 25-15, and Rochester would keep things rolling into the fourth, as they looked to tie up the match and force a decisive fifth set.
After the Judges scored four straight to take a 12-8 lead, URochester made its way back, pulling within one on Azzariti's ace, and then again on three-straight kills from Porter, Kraemer and Nover-Estes to cut the deficit to 15-14.
Four straight, including three on Berrios Puig's serve, put the 'Jackets up 21-19, but the Judges answered and took a 24-23 lead of their own as Brandeis looked to close out the match. However, an attack error tied the set at 24-all, and Nover-Estes smashed another kill to make it 25-24 UR.
Kennedy Hilson tied things up at 25, but Nover-Estes put Rochester up again, 26-25, with another kill, before a Brandeis attack error ended the set, 27-25, in favor of UR, and sent the match to a decisive fifth set.
In the fifth set, Rochester jumped ahead early, with Nover-Estes again keying Rochester's attack with a trio of kills. Nover-Estes' third kill of the set gave the 'Jackets an 8-3 advantage, but the Judges would answer back and pull within one, 8-7, on a URochester attack error.
Out of a timeout, though, the Yellowjackets regrouped and scored the next three points, with
Ellen Porter's kill starting things off. A service error then made it 12-8 before the Judges called a timeout, while Kraemer sent over a kill and an attack error brought up match point, with Rochester leading, 14-9.
Brandeis twice held off set point, but Nover-Estes finished off the match with her 21st kill of the game to give Rochester its first UAA since 2022 with a 3-2 victory, and 15-11, fifth-set win to finish off the reverse sweep.
Nover-Estes led Rochester in the win with a double-double, tallying 21 kills, including her 1,000th career kill, and 14 digs, becoming just the 12th Yellowjacket in program history to reach 1,000 career kills. Dienger joined Nover-Estes in double figures with 11 kills, while Kraemer fell just short of double digits with nine, and added a team-high three aces and five blocks.
Azzariti also had a team-high three aces and led Rochester in the assists column with 21, while Weeks had a game-high 23 digs, and Berrios Puig added 15.
As a team, Rochester outhit Brandeis, .132 to .059, tallying 52 kills compared to 49 for the Judges. The Yellowjackets turned things around in the third set, sending over 12 kills with a .391 hitting percentage in the set, and then hit .130 in the final frame to finish off the reverse sweep.
The Yellowjackets next return home to wrap up the regular season on Thursday, Nov. 5, with a matchup against Utica University inside the Louis Alexander Palestra at 7:00 p.m.
