Greenville, Ill., Sept. 2, 2015 – The No. 9-ranked Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team began its 2015 campaign with a 3-0 win at Greenville College Wednesday evening.

The first set was back and forth between the two teams and WashU called a timeout after a block by Greenville tied the score at 10-10. The Bears then went on a 5-1 run, including a pair of kills by senior Nkiru Udenze and an ace on the back line by senior Anna Bryniarski, to build a 15-11 advantage. The Panthers pulled to within 16-14, but WashU extended its lead before holding on for a 25-20 win.

The teams traded runs in the second set to a 15-15 tie. Udenze and junior Caroline Dupont got back-to-back kills before teaming up for a block to spark a 10-2 run that gave WashU the 25-17 win in set two. In set three, WashU used an early 7-1 run to build a 10-4 lead and force a Greenville timeout. Another 5-0 run for WashU pushed the Bears' lead to 16-8, before finishing the match with a 25-17 win in the third set.

WashU hit .356 as a team, while limiting Greenville to .152 attacking. Junior Rexi Sheredy led the Bears with 12 kills, while Dupont (11) and Udenze (10) each finished in double digits as well. Bryniarski had a team-high 12 digs, while junior Amanda Palucki finished with eight kills and a career-high 10 digs. Senior Allison Zastrow equaled her career-high with 41 assists, five kills and five digs.

WashU (1-0) returns to action with five home matches Friday and Saturday as part of the 10-team ASICS Invite. The Bears will take on Rhodes College at 4 p.m. Friday in the home opener at the WU Field House, before facing University of Dallas at 8 p.m. WashU is scheduled to play Knox College (9:30 a.m.), Hanover College (11:30 a.m.) and University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (3:30 p.m.) Saturday.

Bear Notebook: The Bears have won each of their last 15 season openers … WashU leads the all-time series against Greenville 14-12.