Chicago, Ill., Nov. 9, 2019 –The Washington University volleyball team defeated No. 19 Carnegie Mellon, 3-1 (25-19, 25-20, 17-27, 25-22) on Saturday at Ratner Athletics Center to finish third in the 2019 University Athletic Association Volleyball Championship, hosted by the University of Chicago. 

The Bears offense was led by senior Hannah Turner who tallied a season-high 16 kills with two errors in 38 attempts to hit at a .368. Junior Tricia Brown chipped in 14 putaways and seven digs while senior Leila King chipped in 10 kills and six total blocks. Junior setter Kirby Knapp had 41 assists and 11 digs while senior libero Zoe Baxter had 25 digs, eight assists and three service aces. 

WashU held the advantage over Carnegie Mellon in blocks (19.0 to 12.0) and out hit them .197 (53 kills, 22 errors, 157 attempts) to .167 (47 kills, 22 errors, 150 attempts). 

In the first set, the Bears used a six-point run midway through the set to break away from the Tartans. Brown tallied two kills while King and sophomore Caitlin Lorenz both chipped in a putaway and a block assist for the Bears. Carnegie Mellon put together a mini run late but a kill by Turner sealed the set victory, 25-19. 

After 17 ties in the second set, WashU put together a five-point swing to win the set, 25-20. Baxter tallied a service ace while King collected a kill after a block assist by Turner and Lorenz and two Tartans miscues.

Carnegie Mellon rallied in the third set, opening with a five-point lead. WashU put together a five-point run late in the set but were unable to stop the Tartans offensive momentum. 

After the Tartans tied the fourth set at 22-all, Turner stepped up for the Bears and collected two big kills while King and sophomore Michaela Bach recorded a huge block assist for the set and match victory. 

WashU improves to 24-8 on the season while Carnegie Mellon falls to 22-7. The Bears wait to find out if they will receive an at-large bid on Monday, November 11 to the NCAA Tournament.