St. Louis, Mo., October 20, 2021 – The Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team defeated Illinois College in four sets (25-16, 25-11, 15-25, 25-19) at the Field House on Wednesday evening for its third consecutive win.

The Bears improve to 14-7 and also move to 6-3 in games at the Field House this year.

WashU recorded 55 kills altogether as a team and showed their depth on Wednesday as several different players saw significant playing time throughout the match.

Lily Steinbach notched a career-best seven kills and Alaiana Bohrer and Jasmine Sells each tallied seven kills apiece to lead the Bears' attack.

Michaela Bach and Lucy Davis both added six kills, while Paris Nix and Sophia Ayubi added five kills, respectively.

The Bears' defense logged 12 block assists as Zoe Foster, Anita Prybell, and Nix all collected two block assists on the night.

Faith Phillips, who was named UAA Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, led WashU with a team-high 33 assists. The Houston, Texas native also recorded nine digs.

Elise Gilroy notched 14 digs, marking the fourth time in the past five contests with at least 10 digs. Alden Standley registered 11 assists in the victory.

Illinois College finished the match with 32 kills and a .094 hitting percentage.

In the opening set, WashU held a .297 hitting percentage and posted 15 kills. The Bears jumped ahead 10-5 and then extended their lead out to 17-6 after a flurry of kills from Bach and Nix.

It was the largest lead of the set for the Bears and a kill from Bohrer would finish off the set at 25-16.

After trailing 7-3 in the opening stages of the second set, WashU quickly rebounded as they won 10 of the next 11 points for a sizable 13-8 lead. The Bears had their best hitting percentage of the night in the second set, holding a .378 hitting clip with 18 total kills.

WashU continued their great play at the net and won the final nine points of the set for a dominating 25-11 set victory.

The Bears trailed for a majority of the third frame and could not get into a groove. WashU had only nine kills in the set and accounted for seven unforced errors as the Lady Blues pulled away late to take the set 25-15. 

However, the Bears turned things around in the fourth to win the match. WashU won the first five opening points and never looked back. Illinois College put together a late rally and cut the deficit down to two points at three sperate times, but the Bears regrouped nicely. After a timeout from WashU at 16-16, the Bears finished the set in impressive fashion and recorded nine of the next 12 points, including the final four points for a 25-19 edge. 

WashU is back in action on Friday evening and will look for their fourth straight victory as they travel to Greenville at 7 p.m.