University of Rochester Athletics

University of Rochester women's volleyball hosted the University Athletic Association's (UAA) Round Robin #1 to open UAA conference play, squaring off with the 18th-ranked University of Chicago Maroons and the 7th-ranked Carnegie Mellon University Tartans in its first two of three matches this weekend inside the Louis Alexander Palestra.
 
The Yellowjackets fell in both contests, 3-0, to move to 7-7 (0-2 UAA) on the year, while the Maroons and Tartans each picked up two wins to move to 14-0 (2-0 UAA) and 13-1 (2-0 UAA), respectively.
 
MATCH ONE: #18 Chicago 3, Rochester 0
The Maroons outhit the Yellowjackets across the three sets, .369 to .186, and tallied 46 kills compared to just 32 for URochester.
 
In the opening set, Rochester answered an early, five-point Chicago lead with five of the next six points, cutting into the Maroons' lead with kills from Myla Nover-Estes and Emelia Cruz, as well as an ace off Iliana Balaskas' serve.
 
Nover-Estes' second of two kills cut Chicago's lead to 8-7, but the Maroons would answer back and take a commanding 23-14 lead, more than doubling up the 'Jackets over the next 22 points.
 
Trailing 24-15, the Yellowjackets would hold off set point four times, taking advantage of a pair of Chicago errors before Nover-Estes and Lilly Kraemer sent over kills, but a service error would end the 'Jackets' run and give the Maroons the set, 25-19.
 
Chicago again led early in the second set, scoring six of seven points after tying things up on Gabi Spellings kill. Rochester would keep things closer throughout the second set, three times pulling within two, 17-15 and again at 18-16 and 19-17, on Nover-Estes' kills.
 
But a service error and ace pushed the Maroons' lead back out to four, while another Spellings kill made it a five-point game. Emily Dienger and Paige Stephenson combined for a block to make it 23-19, but the Maroons would take the next two points to finish off the set, again by the score of 25-19.
 
Then in the third set, the Yellowjackets kept things close until a 7-0 Chicago run turned a 9-7 advantage into a nine-point, 16-7 lead. Kraemer briefly slowed the run with a kill, but Spellings and Ellie Maxwell kept the Maroons rolling, stretching Chicago's lead to nine.
 
Following two late kills from Ellen Porter, Claire Feczko held off match point with a kill of her own, but Madeline Lambros would send over the next one to give the Maroons the set, 25-17, and the match, 3-0.
 
Nover-Estes had a game-high 14 kills and 16 digs for a double-double, while Porter fell just shy of double-digit kills with nine. Iliana Balaskas dished out a team-high 16 assists and also had the Yellowjackets' lone service ace.
 
Defensively, Nover-Estes' 16 digs were a team-high, while Balaskas added 10 and Lydia weeks had eight.
 
For Chicago, Olivia Zamis had a team-high 13 kills, while Maxwell had a game-high 33 assists.
 
MATCH TWO: #7 Carnegie Mellon 3, Rochester 0
The Yellowjackets put together an impressive opening set against the Tartans, pushing Carnegie Mellon past the 25-point mark, and turning in 12 kills on a .128 hitting percentage in the opening set.
 
Trailing 11-7, Nover-Estes and Maren Smith reeled off kills, while Kraemer's ace pulled URochester within a point. Three points later, the 'Jackets would tie things up on another Nover-Estes kill, but Carnegie Mellon scored the next four points to take a 16-12 lead.
 
However, the Yellowjackets took the serve back and scored the next five, taking their first lead of the opening set on Emma McCrann's serve, with the first-year's service ace knotting the score at 16-all, before back-to-back kills from Porter gave Rochester an 18-16 advantage.
 
Logan Devereux briefly slowed Rochester's roll, but another two points on kills from Feczko and Kraemer put the 'Jackets up 20-17, while another Feczko kill four points later kept the Yellowjackets up by two, 22-20.
 
A 4-0 spurt, keyed by back-to-back Kate Giang kills, put Carnegie Mellon back in front, 24-22, but the 'Jackets responded and tied things up at 24 on Nover-Estes' kill.
 
Sophie Pan scored the next point for the Tartans with a kill, though, and Carnegie Mellon would pull out the opening set, 26-24, eking things out on a setting error by UR.
 
The 'Jackets' kept things close in the second set, trailing by two following Feczko's kill and Valeria Berrios Puig's ace, and again after Kraemer's ace and a kill from Nover-Estes.
 
Carnegie Mellon pulled ahead with an 8-2 run, extending its lead from two to seven over the next several serves. Two service errors helped slow the Tartans' run, while Berrios Puig sent over another ace, but Carnegie Mellon would tally the final four points of the set to take a 2-0 match lead with a 25-16 set-two win.
 
And then in set three, the Tartans surged ahead early and never looked back, stretching a four-point lead to 12 with a 9-0 run on Dani Lee's serve, and finishing off the set with four-straight points on Neha Tummala's serve.
 
In-between, Cruz, Dienger and Nover-Estes sent over kills, while Kraemer tallied another ace, but the Tartans would take the set, 25-10, to sweep the match.
 
Offensively, Porter scored eight kills to lead the 'Jackets, while Juliette Azzariti tallied 11 assists. Kraemer had a team-high three aces, while Berrios Puig, McCrann and Weeks each had a pair.
 
Weeks led the 'Jackets' defensively with 15 digs, while Berrios Puig was also in double figures with 11.
 
Devereux and Giang each had 10 kills to lead the Maroons, who hit .330 for the contest with 40 kills.
 
The Yellowjackets will wrap up the Round Robin on Sunday, Sept. 27 with a matchup against Case Western Reserve University at 10:00 a.m. inside the Louis Alexander Palestra.