ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Union College women's volleyball team was defeated by Rochester Institute of Technology by a 3-0 (25-20, 30-28, 25-15) score in Liberty League action on Saturday afternoon.
 
RIT (7-8, 1-1 Liberty League) hit well on the afternoon, finishing at .390 with 55 kills and only nine errors, while Union (7-7, 0-2 Liberty League) recorded 14 kills in each of the first two sets but finished the day hitting .163.
 
Junior Gillian Gore led the Dutchwomen with a double-double of 14 kills (on .333 hitting) and 16 digs, followed by 12 kills from classmate Lara Atalay. Fellow junior Kaylee Velasquez chipped in 11 digs as well for the visitors.
 
Neither team gained much of an advantage in the opening set, with the lead rarely growing to more than two points on either side. The 10th tie of the frame came at 19-all after an Atalay put down, but RIT closed on a 6-1 run to take the all-important first set.
 
The second stanza was a marathon, featuring 16 ties and eight lead changes. The visitors were unable to close out the Tigers and even the match, however, squandering three set points at 24-23, 25-24 and 28-27. Trailing by one at 28-27, RIT came back with three straight kills to end the frame, with Taylor Higgins putting down the Tigers' 23rd kill of set.
 
The teams traded long runs at the start of the third set, but an 8-2 run for RIT opened up a 20-12 lead and the home team was able to trade points the rest of the way to complete the sweep.
 
Union will look to get back on track Wednesday, when the Dutchwomen head to Saratoga to face off with Skidmore College starting at 7 p.m.