The University of Rochester volleyball team vaulted out to an early lead in the opening set and carried that momentum throughout a 3-0 sweep over SUNY Brockport on Wednesday evening at the Louis Alexander Palestra.
Rochester's victory moves the Yellowjackets to 17-8 on the season, extending the teams non-conference win streak to 17 straight matches dating back to September 2. Brockport falls to 14-12 with the loss, its first against Rochester since 2015, a stretch of six straight matches.
Six players paced the Yellowjacket attack, ending with four or more kills. Myla Nover-Estes led the group with 13, finishing the night with a .500 hitting percentage on 24 attempts. Ruby Moore did not have an error and ended with seven kills on 18 swings, while Areti Tsirikaki added seven kills.
Ashley Cook finished with six kills while Sonia McGaffigan and Bri Jones had four apiece. McGaffigan added a team-high four blocks on the night while Lydia Weeks and La'i Yuen led the back line with 13 and 10 digs, respectively. McKenzie McDonald dished out 36 assists in the win.
Overall as a team, Rochester hit .274 on the night, compared to just .077 for the visiting Golden Eagles.
UR jumped ahead early in the opening set, leading 5-0 after the opening five points. Before Brockport could adjust, the Yellowjackets were ahead 8-1, led by early kills from Moore, Nover-Estes and a McDonald service ace.
Brockport won back-to-back points to reach 8-3, but Rochester rattled off another string of points, seven straight, to balloon the lead to double-digits. A stuff block from Nover-Estes and McGaffigan made the score 15-3. Rochester would cruise the rest of the set, winning 25-14.
Set two was a back-and-forth affair throughout. Tied 9-9, Brockport scored three straight on kills from Jordan Thompson and Kaia Hubbard, but Rochester responded with a 6-point surge aided by a couple Brockport errors to jump ahead 15-12.
Brockport eventual clawed back to 18-all, but saw Rochester edge back ahead by three with kills from Cook and Tsirikaki and another block. After a timeout, Brockport went on a mini-run, regaining the lead after four straight points a McGaffigan kill pulled the Yellowjackets back even at 22-all.
The two teams traded two service errors with Thompson getting a kill for Brockport setting up match point. Rochester got that point right back though as the serve was into the net, sending the set to extra points. Kills from Cook and Nover-Estes allowed the Yellowjackets to escape with a 26-24 win in the set.
Rochester fell behind 6-1 early in set three, but quickly responded with a key run on Lilly Kraemer's service turn. Nover-Estes, Moore and Cook had kills and Kraemer added an ace as the 'Jackets pulled in front 7-6.
Brockport won five of the next seven points to go up 11-9, but another UR run, this time on Moore's serve put Rochester in control. The Yellowjackets won nine points in a row to go up 18-11, aided by two kills from Jones and one each from Tsirikaki and Nover-Estes along with a host of Brockport errors. Rochester eventually closed it out on a kill from Tsirikaki, completing the sweep with a 25-17 third set win.
Rochester continues its late season home stand on Friday with a 6 pm matchup against Oswego State. UR's Yuen, the team's lone senior will be honored with a Senior Day ceremony prior to the start of the match.