From University of Rochester Athletics
Rochester split a pair of 3-0 decisions on day one of the University Athletic Association Round Robin #2 for women's volleyball.
The Yellowjackets opened with a 25-16, 25-19, 25-21 victory over New York University, then lost to Carnegie Mellon, 27-25, 25-17, 25-23. Rochester is 12-8 overall, 2-3 in the UAA. UR will play Washington (MO) and Case Western Reserve on Sunday to determine the final seedings for the UAA Championships in Atlanta on November 3-4.
Against NYU, Clara Martinez led the way with nine kills and hit .500. She had four total blocks – three block solos. Beth Ghyzel had seven kills, 11 assists, and three digs. Alara Kocak had six kills. Ranae Lapins had 18 assists, three aces, and five digs. Courtney Vidovich had 14 digs.
In the first set, UR earned three of its last four points on attack errors by the Violets around an ace by Lapins.
Rochester led by eight, 22-14, late in the second set. NYU posted three straight kills to get within 22-17. Kocak had a kill and NYU committed an attack error, getting Rochester within a point of a 2-0 lead in sets (24-17). A kill by NYU and an error by Rochester sliced it to 24-19 before an NYU serving error gave UR the 25-19 lead.
The Violets climbed out of an early hole in the third set. NYU drew within 20-18 before Rochester picked up two points on attack errors by NYU. The Yellowjackets stretched it to 24-19 after a bad NYU set. NYU closed to 24-21 but another attack error gave Rochester its last point and the match.
In the CMU match, the 10th-ranked Tartans couldn't pull away from the Yellowjackets early. UR trailed by five, but evened it at 21-all, helped by some CMU errors. Two more miscues, sandwiched around a kill by Allie DeRubertis helped UR knot it at 24. Another DeRubertis kill tied it at 25. CMU earned the set victory with back to back kills.
A big run early in the second set turned it in Carnegie's favor. The Tartans scored 14 of 15 points in one stretch to open a 17-7 lead. Rochester couldn't get any closer than seven.
The Yellowjackets built a 19-16 lead in set three before a 5-0 run put CMU up, 21-19. Ghyzel set up Elizabeth Thomas for a kill, then earned one herself for a 22-21 lead. A kill from Martinez put Rochester up, 23-22, before CMU ran off the last three points.
DeRubertis was the kill leader with nine. Martinez, Ghyzel, and Kocak had seven each. Lapins had 23 assists. Vidovich had 17 digs. Ghyzel had nine, Lapins and Lydia Barnard five each.