The Case Western Reserve University volleyball team lost to a pair of ranked opponents at the third and final University Athletic Association Round Robin on Sunday at the WashU Field House on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis.

CWRU lost to 11th-ranked NYU in five sets (25-22, 25-22, 21-25, 23-25, 8-15) and fell to 20th-ranked Emory in three sets (17-25, 22-25, 22-25). The Spartans fell to 9-14 this season and finished UAA play with a 1-6 record, tying for sixth in the league standings. The Eagles finished the day at 13-6 and 4-3 in the UAA, while the went 7-0 in conference play and are 19-4 overall.

Stats and Standouts

• Junior Madeline Halter had a team-high 21 kills across the two matches with first-year Maya Zarow adding 16 kills
• Junior Elena Esquivel finished the day with 40 assists and 16 digs, while junior Avery Basinger had 15 assists and three aces
• Junior Sophia Datto led the team with 23 digs in two matches and senior Sude Naz Item added 14 digs and three aces
• At the net, sophomore Kate Williams had seven total blocks

CWRU 2, #11 NYU 3 (25-22, 25-22, 21-25, 23-25, 8-15)

First Set (25-22)

• After holding an early three-point lead, CWRU trailed 16-15 in the opening stanza
• An NYU service error tied the score at 16, and the Spartans won eight consecutive points on the service of first-year Marisa Guan
• The Violets fought off six consecutive set points before Halter finally finished the set with a kill

Second Set (25-22)

• The Spartans began the second set with a 6-1 run, which included a pair of service aces
• A 7-1 run by the Violets gave NYU a 10-9 lead, before team extended its edge to three at 16-13
• The Spartans won the next four points, reclaiming the advantage on an ace by Item
• New York responded with a 4-1 run to take back the lead, before four errors in a row swung the advantage to CWRU
• Zarow put down a kill to give the Spartans a 24-22 lead and Halter ended the set with a kill for the second time in a row

Third Set (21-25)

• Case Western Reserve led 5-1 before NYU tied the score at five
• Trailing 11-9, the Spartans used the service of Williams to win seven points in a row and take a 16-11 lead
• Down by five, 18-13, NYU scored eight consecutive points with the streak interrupted by a service error
•  The Violets followed with three more points to take a 24-19 lead
• CWRU fought off a pair of set points before falling in the set on a service error

Fourth Set (23-25)

• After battling early in the fourth set, NYU took a four-point lead, 10-6
• Behind 12-10, the Spartans won six points in a row on the service of Basinger to gain a four-point edge
• NYU cut the deficit to one at tied the score at 18 with three kills in a row
• After a service error stopped the run, the Violets scored four consecutive points to take a 22-19 lead
• Kills by Basinger and Halter cut the deficit to one, 22-22, but an NYU kill and service ace had the Violets serving for the set
• Halter put down two kills in a row, bringing the Spartans within one, but the Violets forced a fifth set with a kill

Fifth Set (8-15)

• Halter tied the score at six in the decisive fifth set with a kill
• New York then won seven of the next eight points to take an insurmountable 13-7 edge, eventually winning the set 15-8 and taking the match

CWRU 0, #20 Emory 3 (17-25, 22-25, 22-25)

First Set (17-25)

• Emory jumped out to a 7-2 lead to start the match
• Still leading by five, 13-8, the Eagles scored five points in a row to double their lead
• Junior Sienna Olson stopped the run with a kill before back-to-back service aces by Basinger cut the deficit to seven
• The Spartans were able to narrow their disadvantage to six, but could not get any closer to tying the score as Emory claimed the first set

Second Set (22-25)

• The teams traded the lead five times early in the second period before a 6-2 CWRU run put the Spartans ahead 20-17
• Emory then scored seven points in a row to serve for the set
• After a pair of errors, the Eagles closed the stanza with a kill

Third Set (22-25)

• Emory used a 10-2 run in the middle of the third set to turn a 9-8 deficit into an 18-11 lead
• After trading the next four points, first-year Ava Felgar put down a kill, followed by a block by Williams and junior Colleen Nudd
• Emory won a pair of points
• CWRU responded with a 6-0 run on the service of Esquivel which included a service ace, a pair of kills by Williams and a kill by Nudd
• Emory ended the run to take a 23-21 lead, followed with a kill, and ended the set and match on a block

Spartan Notes

• The Spartans dropped to 15-18 against the Violets since 2002, though CWRU has two wins in the last five matchups
• Case Western Reserve fell to 2-4 in five-set matches this season

Up Next

The Spartans will return home for their final four matches of the regular season, beginning with a tri-match against William Smith and 12th-ranked Calvin on Halloween. CWRU faces the Herons at 11 a.m. and will take on the Knights at 3 p.m. inside Horsburgh Gymnasium.