If there is one word that is synonymous with UR Athletics, it’s w-i-n-n-i-n-g. And the UR women’s volleyball team is no different; the Yellowjackets are coming off of two solid victories in the past two weeks against Medaille and Ithaca Colleges. The Yellowjackets improve to 13-3 and are firmly in third place in the UAA, only two games back from division-leading Washington University.
The first game on Sept. 21st was nothing short of a beat-down of the Medaille College Mavericks. The Yellowjackets traveled to Buffalo with an 11-3 record and no thoughts of coming home with anything less than a win.
Senior outside hitter Susan Johnson led the team with 13 kills as the Yellowjackets rolled to a victory in straight sets 30-15, 30-8, 30-17. Doing her job to a fault, senior setter Samantha Carr sparked the offense with her 25 assists and was second on the team in digs with 12. In addition to eight blocks on the defensive side, it took the Yellowjackets only 75 minutes to send the Mavericks to their third straight loss against Rochester.
The second game against Ithaca wasn’t as easy. The Yellowjackets went head to head with the Bombers but were able to diffuse them in five sets and prevailed on the road 24-30, 30-24, 22-30, 30-27, 15-13. The Bombers were ranked No. 2 in the New York State coaches poll (Rochester is ranked No. 7) and gave the Yellowjackets all they could handle. Once again, it was Johnson and Carr that led the Rochester offense. Johnson had 39 kills, 30 digs and four blocks,while Carr added 52 assists, 16 digs and two service aces to lead the Yellowjackets. Ithaca was led by junior outside hitter Amanda Hubbard with a team-leading 24 kills and freshman setter Corinna Doctor had 66 of the team’s 67 assists with 17 digs. The game came down to the wire but the Yellowjackets inched out a tough victory on the road.
The two victories over the past week boosted UR’s record to 13-3 as they head into UAA divisional play on Friday against Brandies and then Carnegie Mellon and Emory in Atlanta.
Wang can be reached at wang@campustimes.org.
