St. Louis, Mo., October 11, 2019 –The Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team opened the 2019 Baden Invitational with a 3-1 (25-21 21-25, 25-12, 26-24) victory over the University of Dallas on Friday night at the WU Field House.

With the win, the Bears move to 14-6 on the season, while the Crusaders fall to 10-13 this year. The WashU offense had three in double figure kills with sophomore Michaela Bach posting 15 kills and 16 digs. Senior Hannah Turner chipped in 12 kills while freshman Alaina Bohrer tallied 10 putaways. 

The Bears also had four collect double figure digs. Senior Zoe Baxter tallied 15 digs, putting her within nine digs of collecting 2,000 digs for her career. Freshman Taryn Gurbach also tallied 10 digs, while junior setter Kirby Knapp collected 12 digs and 47 assists. 

In the first set, both squads came out slowly. The Bears were able to edge the Crusaders for the set win, capitalizing on their 15 errors. Senior Leila King also tallied a solo block and two block assists of the Bears' four total team blocks in the set (1 BS, 6 BA). 

Dallas evened the match after closing out a tight second set, despite only putting together a .111 hitting percentage (8 K, 5 E, 27 TA) with five service aces. WashU swung at a .200 clip (12 K, 6 E, 30 TA) with two aces.

WashU came out in the third set with a renewed energy to regain a 2-1 set lead. Junior Tricia Brown led the Bears with four kills while sophomore Caitlin Lorenz, Bach and Bohrer each chipped in three kills. The Bears swung at a .289 clip (15 K, 4 E, 38 TA) while holding the Crusaders to -.029 (6 K, 7 E, 35 TA). 

There were seven ties in the fourth set, after the Bears' battled back from a cold start. WashU was able to dig deep and take the set for the match win. Riding the hot hitter, Boher tallied the Bears' final four points in the set. 

The Bears are back in action on Saturday, Oct. 12, for the final day of the 2019 Baden Invitational. WashU will host Lakeland at 12 p.m. and Monmouth at 2 p.m. at the WU Field House. 

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