Down in numbers and still working its way back to 100-percent form, volleyball squared off against some of the toughest competition in DIII at the first UAA Round Robin hosted this weekend in New York. The Maroons put up some hard numbers but dropped each of their matches to fall into a 0–3 hole in conference play and 3–13 overall.

A long-fought battle with Case (8–11, 1–2) opened the tournament for Chicago in the squad’s only action slated for Saturday. Going the full five sets, the Maroons grabbed the first round 30–18 but couldn’t come up with a way to close the deal against the Spartans, who forced a deciding set and took it 15–8.

Back on the court early Sunday morning, the South Siders again started strong, outlasting Carnegie Mellon (9–8, 2–1) 30–24. The Maroons couldn’t repeat the trick, however, making it a close call but ultimately letting the Tartans pull away with the next three by slim margins of 30–20, 30–28, and 30–26.

But the toughest test was yet to come for Chicago. The squad had to face seventh-ranked Wash U in its final matchup of the tourney. Completing a 30–20, 30–12, 30–22 sweep over the Maroons, the Bears matched fourth-ranked Emory (16–3, 3–0) as the only undefeated team on the weekend and pushed their season record to 11–4.

League play has been particularly hard for the Maroons, who have posted a 10–28 mark against the UAA since 2004. They have a home game against an imposing Benedictine team (18–2, 5–1) Wednesday and the Wisconsin Lutheran Triangular this weekend to help prep for the second Round Robin held in Cleveland October 13–14.