University of Rochester women's volleyball dropped its final contest of the weekend to the Case Western Reserve University Spartans, 3-0, on Sunday morning inside the Louis Alexander Palestra.
With the loss, the Yellowjackets fall to 7-8 (0-3 UAA) following their three matches as part of the University Athletic Association's (UAA) Round Robin #1, while the Spartans pick up their first conference win to move to 8-7 (1-2 UAA).
Rochester hung with the Spartans for all three sets, falling 25-19 in the first and third sets, and 25-21 in the second.
CWRU raced out to an early 11-2 advantage in the opening set, as the 'Jackets couldn't break Ava Felgar's serve.
Paige Stephenson finally stopped the run with a block, while
Myla Nover-Estes' first of a team-high 10 kills pulled the 'Jackets within six.
A 4-0 spurt, highlighted by
Valeria Berrios Puig's service ace, then made it a four-point game and forced the Spartans to use a timeout, and the Yellowjackets would keep clawing their way back from there.
Down 18-12 after CWRU kills from Katie Yanni and Sienna Olson, the Yellowjackets pulled all the way within one, with six of the next seven points.
Claire Feczko sent over a pair of kills, while
Lydia Weeks notched an ace.
But despite pulling within a point, the Spartans would rally for six of the next seven points to finish off the set, taking the opening set, 25-19, on Sude Naz Item's ace.
Set two would get off to more of a back-and-forth start, with neither side able to build up much of an advantage.
Ellen Porter's kill tied things up at seven-all in the early going, in a set which saw nine ties and six lead changes.
Following two more ties at 8-8 and 9-9, the Spartans briefly jumped ahead, before the Yellowjackets would notch three-straight points on kills from Nover-Estes and Porter to knot things up at 15-all.
Four of the next five points, though, went Case Western Reserve's way, as the Spartans went up 19-16. Porter's kill and
Iliana Balaskas' service ace made it a one-point game, but Yanni smashed a kill out of a timeout to force Rochester to take a timeout of its own.
Nover-Estes answered Yanni's kill, before the Spartans and Yellowjackets traded 2-0 spurts and the score stood at 22-21 in favor of CWRU, following a setting error by the Spartans.
However, Case Western Reserve would notch the next three points to again take the set, 25-21, and go up 2-0 in the match.
The Spartans then would go ahead early in the third set as they finished things off, leading by as many as nine, 20-11, following a pair of timeouts by the Yellowjackets.
URochester would make one last run, with Stephenson's block starting an 8-3 run that helped pull the 'Jackets within four. Stephenson added a kill to cut CWRU's lead to 21-15, while
Emelia Cruz and
Emilyn Dienger combined for a block to make it a five-point deficit.
Two more kills, both from Cruz, helped cut the Spartans' lead to four, 23-19, but out of a timeout, Madeline Halter sent over a kill, before Thea Beran's ace finished off the sweep for the Spartans.
Individually, Nover-Estes had a team-high 10 kills, while
McKenzie McDonald led Rochester with 11 assists. Defensively, Weeks had 18 digs, while Stephenson tallied a trio of blocks.
As a team, the 'Jackets hit .117 and tallied 30 kills, while the Spartans hit .189 and had 44 kills.
The Yellowjackets are back in action next Saturday, Oct. 3, when they host Fredonia and Neumann University for their Senior Day tri-match, beginning at 12:00 p.m. on Goergen Court A.
