Women's Volleyball | 9/18/2012 9:36:00 PM

Box Score Click here for match stats

ROCHESTER, NY - The RIT volleyball team (9-4) had its six-match winning streak snapped by host University of Rochester (11-3) in a five-set thriller at the Louis Alexander Palestra on Tuesday evening. RIT won the first set 25-21, then Rochester came roaring back to win the second set, 25-10 and set three, 25-22. RIT rebounded to win the fourth set 25-19, but the hosts proved to be to strong in the decisive set, winning 15-9.

After RIT won the first set, Rochester scored the first seven points, and led by scores of 10-1 and 17-2 in the second set romp. In set three, RIT held an 18-12 advantage before Rochester came roaring back scoring 11 of the next 12 points en route to the win. RIT jumped out to leads of 9-2 and 13-5 in the fourth set and held off the Yellowjackets to force the fifth and final set. In set five, RIT led 8-7 before Rochester rattled off six straight points to pull away and win.

RIT hit just .097 as a team, as Rochester's blocking game kept RIT off balance for a majority of the match. Offensively, senior middle hitter Cat Sullivan (Lehman, PA/Lake-Lehman) hit .500 for the Tigers, slamming 12 kills to go along with six service aces. Sullivan had four consecutive aces early in the fourth set.

Senior setter Christina Worth (Valencia, CA/Valencia) dished out 34 assists, while hitting .500 with seven kills. She also added eight digs. Amanda White (Watertown, NY/Watertown), Sara Martin (Rochester, NY/West Irondequoit), Arielle Pariente (Twinsburg, OH/Twinsburg), and Katie Cooper (New Canaan, CT/New Canaan) combined for 27 kills, but all hit under .100. White and Cooper added six and four blocks, respectively. Sophomore libero Bethany Davis (Blasdell, NY/Frontier) recorded a season-high 23 digs.

For Rochester, Kelly Mulrey slammed 20 kills and added 16 digs, hitting .400. Xiaoyi Li added 42 assists and 14 digs, while Savannah Benton slammed 11 kills and added eight blocks. Alma Guevara had a big fifth set for the Yellowjackets and also recorded 11 kills.

Both RIT and Rochester finished 4-0 at the RIT Invitational last weekend to share the team title.

RIT is right back in action this weekend, as they host the first Liberty League Crossover Weekend of the season. On Friday, RIT plays Clarkson at 5 p.m. and Vassar at 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, the Tigers host St. Lawrence at 11 a.m. and Bard at 1:30 p.m.