BUFFALO, NY – The University of Rochester volleyball team ended up splitting two matches on Saturday to complete play at the Buffalo State Bengal Challenge.
 
Rochester defeated John Carroll University 3-1 in the opening match of the day before falling in a five-set match against Fredonia State later in the afternoon.  The 1-1 record moves UR to 8-3 overall on the season.
 
In the match against JCU, John Carroll took the opening set 25-15, before Rochester took over, winning three straight to take the match, closing with 25-20, 25-18 and 25-21 wins.
 
Alara Kocak led UR with 15 kills in 46 attempts while Clara Martinez added 12 kills and three blocks.  Renae Lapins had 32 assists and eight digs while Courtney Vidovich added 29 digs and three aces.  Overall as a team, UR recorded nine service aces.  Other kill leaders in the JCU match were Kate Korslund with seven and Beth Ghyzel with six, also chipping in 12 digs.  Allie DeRubertis also handled 15 digs.
 
Against Fredonia, the Blue Devils ended up taking the opening set 25-19, before Rochester answered with two straight wins, 25-19 and 25-20.  In the fourth, Fredonia edged out a tight win 25-23, sending the match to a tie-breaking fifth game, which Fredonia won 15-12.
 
Martinez and Kocak were the kill leaders again, with 14 apiece.  Martinez added six blocks, including three solo while the team as a whole had 11 blocks, with Kocak adding three.  Lapins handled 42 assists, Vidovich 23 digs while DeRubertis had nine kills and 10 digs.  Ghyzel had a great all around match, having eight kills, four aces, six digs and three blocks.
 
Rochester returns to action next weekend traveling to Union College for a tri-match on Saturday (1 and 3 pm) with the host Dutchwomen and Kean University.