BUFFALO, NY – The University of Rochester women's volleyball finished off its weekend in Buffalo at the Buffalo State Sports Arena with a sweep of SUNY Geneseo and a 3-0 loss to John Carroll on Saturday at the Bengal Challenge. With the split, the Yellowjackets now stand at 7-5 on the season, while SUNY Geneseo moves to 5-6 following its split of two matches, and John Carroll moves to 10-2 on the year.
For her efforts across the three matches,
Myla Nover-Estes was named to the Bengal Challenge All-Tournament Team. The senior appeared in all 10 sets across URochester's three matches, tallying 50 kills on a .295 hitting percentage, adding 12 digs, a block, an ace and two assists.
MATCH ONE: Rochester 3, SUNY Geneseo 0
After SUNY Geneseo got the scoring started in the opening set, the Yellowjackets would take the early lead on kills by Nover-Estes and
Ellen Porter, eventually opening up an early 9-4 advantage.
Iliana Balaskas' kill made it a five-point URochester lead, as the 'Jackets led by five, and eventually six following Nover-Estes' service ace, giving the 'Jackets a 14-8 lead before Geneseo took a timeout.
The Knights, though, would battle back, with four-straight service aces on Gianna Lucchi's serve pulling Geneseo within a point before
Ladi Iya used one of Rochester's two timeouts.
Rochester would answer back out of the timeout and extend its lead back to five, taking advantage of four Geneseo errors over the 5-1 run, but again, the Knights wouldn't go away quietly. Geneseo climbed all the way back to pull within one, 23-22, on Cory Elder's kill and twice held off set point, tying the opening set on Zooey Gagnier's ace.
But Rochester won the service back on another Porter kill, while
Lilly Kraemer sent over a kill of her own to finish off the set, 26-24, in favor of UR.
The second set would prove to be close as well, with neither side able to build much of an advantage. Rochester went up three, 12-9, behind
Emelia Cruz's kill and
Juliette Azzariti's service ace, but the Knights came back to take a 14-13 lead of their own, before the set saw ties at 14-14, 15-15, 16-16 and 17-all.
Out of a timeout, though, the Yellowjackets would rattle off five-straight points, four of which came on
Valeria Berrios Puig's serve, to take a 21-17 lead, and then after the Knights again pulled within one, UR scored the last four points of the set to take it, 25-20.
A service error kept Geneseo from taking the lead, while Nover-Estes hit back-to-back kills to bring up set point before an attack error gave Rochester a 2-0 match lead.
Then in set three, after early back-and-forth play, the Knights would surge ahead, breaking a 15-15 tie with six of the next seven points to go up 21-16, looking to force a fourth set. However, the 'Jackets answered back with a run of their own, scoring seven of the next eight.
Kraemer helped URochester win the serve back, with kills on two of the next three, while
Claire Feczko and Nover-Estes contributed kills to key the run, in addition to a pair of Kraemer aces.
Leading 23-22, Geneseo would tie the set on a service error, but Nover-Estes finished things off with back-to-back kills to give Rochester the sweep with a 25-23 set-three win.
Nover-Estes notched double-digit kills for the eighth-straight match, leading URochester with 16, while Balaskas and Azzariti dished out 14 and 11 assists apiece. Defensively,
Lydia Weeks had a team-high 15 digs, while Porter, Kraemer and
Maren Smith each tallied a block.
MATCH TWO: John Carroll 3, Rochester 0
Cruz got the Yellowjackets' second match of the day started with a kill, but the Blue Streaks would answer with a run and never look back in the opening set. John Carroll rattled off the next seven points of the set, forcing Rochester to spend a timeout.
UR would close the gap, pulling within three on a pair of Blue Streak errors, and then cutting the deficit to two, 14-12, on Nover-Estes' kill. But John Carroll would rattle off another run, this one coming on Khloe Trivoli's serve, turning a two-point lead into a nine-point advantage with nine-straight points.
A service error briefly slowed the Blue Streaks' roll, while kills from Kraemer and Feczko held off set point, before Natalie Glowe gave John Carroll the opening set with a kill, 25-15.
Set two would feature more of the same, as three early points from UR were answered by six straight from the Blue Streaks on Trivoli's serve. And while this time, the Yellowjackets would respond and tie the set at nine-all on Nover-Estes' kill, a 7-0 spurt would give John Carroll a commanding 16-9 set-two lead.
Kills from Smith and Porter briefly slowed the Blue Streaks' run, while Feczko sent over a pair to hold off John Carroll for a point, but after three-straight points from UR cut the deficit to eight, 24-16, Ava Valenta gave the Blue Streaks a 2-0 match lead with a 25-16 set-two win.
Another Blue Streak run midway through the third set would do more of the same, as John Carroll turned a 7-5 deficit into a six-point, 15-9 lead with a 10-2 run. Four more from the Blue Streaks, including three on Trivoli's serve, a few points later would make it a 20-11 game, and though the 'Jackets would close the gap to six late, John Carroll would finish off the sweep and 25-17 set-three victory.
Porter and Feczko helped key the spurt that made it 23-17, but an attack error gave John Carroll the serve back and brought up match point, where Lauren Khoenle finished things off for the Blue Streaks.
Individually, Nover-Estes had eight kills and Feczko tallied seven to lead URochester offensively, while Berrios Puig sent over a pair of aces.
Weeks again turned in double-digit digs on defense with 13, while Porter, Nover-Estes and
Paige Stephenson each had a block.
The Yellowjackets next open University Athletic Association (UAA) conference play on Saturday, Sept. 26, hosting UAA Round Robin #1. The 'Jackets' conference opener will feature the University of Chicago on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 11:00 a.m., with another matchup against Carnegie Mellon University to follow at 1:00 p.m. inside the Louis Alexander Palestra.
