After competing in a home tournament last weekend, women’s volleyball made the trek across town this past weekend for a tournament held at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).
On the first day, Friday, Sept. 13, the ‘Jackets faced off against St. John Fisher College and SUNY Potsdam, earning a win against Potsdam and a loss against Fisher. The following day, UR faced Fredonia State University and Keuka College and were defeated in both match ups.
In the first match of the tournament, Rochester lost 3-2 against St. John Fisher in a back and forth battle. The YellowJackets started slow, losing the opening set 25-21. However, they came back in the second set, claiming a strong 25-13 win. The pressure was on in the third set to gain the edge, with St. John Fisher rising to the occasion, edging out UR 25-18. However, the Yellowjackets came back strong in the fourth set with 25-19 win, forcing a fifth and final set. The Cardinals bested the YellowJackets, 15-10, earning them the 3-2 win. Despite the loss, UR played hard with strong performances by senior Savannah Benton, sophomore Emma Gira and sophomore Jennie Ford, each of whom had double figures in kills.
The ‘Jackets did not let this loss defeat their moral. Later that night, UR faced SUNY Potsdam and defeated three sets to one. UR came out strong, winning the first set, but were defeated by Potsdam in the second. The team stayed tough, though, and were able to win 27-25 in the third set. The YellowJackets put the final nail in the coffin by claiming a 25-16 victory in the fourth set, earning their first and only win of the RIT tournament.
“The difference in the games was probably our consistency, energy, and how supportive we were of each other,” said Ford. “For the game that we won we stayed playing our game the best we could the whole time, but in the games we lost we would allow the other teams to have runs which would bring down our energy levels and we would play worse because of it.”
The next day, Saturday, Sept. 14, the YellowJackets suffered two tough losses, the first against Fredonia State.
“Our toughest match was against Fredonia,” Ford remarked. “We played Fredonia earlier in the season and went to five games with them. We knew what they were capable of and it was a competitive match.” On this day, however, Fredonia rolled over the Jackets in three straight sets.
In the second match of the day, Rochester faced off against Keuka College and was defeated 2-3. The YellowJackets and the Storm went back and forth, with UR claiming the first and third sets and Keuka claiming the second and forth. It all came down to the fifth and final set, where the Storm earned the victory, taking out Rochester 15-12
Key players included sophomore Anna MacDonald with eight blocks, Ford with 15 kills and 11 digs, Benton with 11 kills, senior Paige Idziur with 25 digs and junior Xiaoyi Li with 38 assists. “This weekend was definitely a chance for us to gain more experience since the majority of our team are young, and for us to get used to playing with each other better,” Li said. “We worked very hard and had some really amazing plays.”
With this experience, the YellowJackets hope to improve upon their record in the Elizabethtown Tournament, held in Elizabethtown, Pa. on Sept. 20 and 21.
Cozen is a member of
the class of 2015.
