The Case Western Reserve University volleyball team fell to a pair of ranked opponents in three sets to begin play at the first University Athletic Association Round Robin hosted by the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York, on Saturday.
The Spartans fell to 7-7 and 0-2 in UAA play this season, while the eighth-ranked Carnegie Mellon University Tartans improved to 13-1 and 2-0 in league play and the 24th-ranked University of Chicago Maroons improved to 14-0 and 2-0 in conference matches.
Stats and Standouts
CWRU 0, #8 Carnegie Mellon 3 (19-25, 20-25, 18-25)
First Set
- After Zarow tied the score at 10 in the opening stanza, a bad CMU set gave the Spartans their first lead of the match
- The teams split the next six points, resulting in a 14-13 CWRU edge
- The Tartans went on a 7-1 run to claim a five-point lead, 20-15, and followed with a 4-1 run to serve for the set
- Case Western Reserve fought off a pair of set points before the Tartans ended the period with a kill
Second Set
- Trailing 11-7 in the second set, CWRU won five consecutive points on the service of Basinger with the junior setter acing a pair of serves during the run
- Carnegie Mellon responded with a 4-1 run to claim a three-point edge before kills by first-year Ava Felgar and sophomore Isabel Haytayan closed the deficit to one
- The Spartans kept the score close, trailing by just one at 19-18 after a Tartan service error
- CMU finished the set on a 6-2 run to take a two-set lead in the match
Third Set
- The teams battled early in the third set with eight tied scores in the first 22 points
- Carnegie Mellon led by just three points, 19-16, late in the stanza
- The Tartans won five points in a row to take an eight-point lead and serve for the match
- Halter fought off set point with a kill and a CMU attacking error cut into the deficit
- However, Carnegie Mellon finished the match on the next rally
CWRU 0, #24 Chicago 3 (12-25, 19-25, 22-25)
First Set
- Trailing 8-7 in the first set, Chicago won nine points in a row to take a commanding 16-8 lead
- CWRU won two of the next three points, but Chicago finished the set with an 8-2 run to win the first stanza
Second Set
- In the second set, Case Western Reserve won four consecutive points to turn a 6-5 deficit into a 9-6 lead
- The Spartans led by four points before the Maroons took a 16-15 lead on a kill
- A bad Chicago set quickly tied the score at 16, and senior Katie Yanni put her team ahead with a kill
- Chicago once again finished the set with a long run, ending the second period by winning nine of the final 11 points
Third Set
- CWRU tied the score in the third set at 10 on a block by Halter and sophomore Kate Williams
- Williams put the team ahead with a kill on the next rally, and the Spartans led by two points, 21-19, later in the period
- Chicago took a 22-21 lead with a kill, attacking error, and service ace, before Zarow tied the score at 22
- The Maroons took the lead on a kill, followed with a block, and won the match on a kill to end Case Western Reserve's day
Spartan Notes
- CWRU dropped to 9-25 against Carnegie Mellon since 2002 and 2-4 against the Tartans since 2022
- The Spartans fell to 14-25 against Chicago since 2002, including a 2-4 record against the Maroons over the past four seasons
- Case Western Reserve last played at Rochester in the UAA Championship in 2024, placing fourth after advancing to the third-place match
- In the last round robin hosted by the Yellowjackets, the Spartans went 2-0 with five-set wins over the Tartans and WashU
Up Next
CWRU will wrap up the first round robin by playing the host Yellowjackets on Sunday at 10 a.m.
