St. Louis, Mo., October 8, 2021 – The No. 23 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team fell at home on Friday night to No. 9 UW-Whitewater at the Field House in four sets (25-21, 17-25, 25-15, 25-22).

Friday's contest was Pride Night, marking the opening match of the WashU Invitational. With the victory, UW-Whitewater improves to 16-1 on the year and the Bears move to 10-6 overall. 

WashU notched 45 kills altogether as a team in the loss with Michaela Bach and Alaina Bohrer each collecting 12 kills apiece. Bohrer also finished with 11 digs. 

Additionally, Jasmine Sells added 11 kills with a solo block and a block assist. 

Chloe Emch led the Bears with a team-high 38 assists and Taryn Gurbach recorded 22 digs. 

Bach and Elise Gilroy tallied 9 digs and eight digs, respectively. 

Statistically, WashU had nine service aces, 60 digs, four block assists, and two solo blocks. 

In the opening set, the Bears led 13-7 as WashU was able to establish a strong presence at the net. 

With WashU ahead 17-13, Whitewater rallied back and tied things up at 18 apiece. The Warhawks finished the set strong, winning seven of the final nine points to win the set 25-21. 

The Bears had a complete performance in the second set, posting 16 kills and an excellent .519 hitting percentage. 

WashU had nine kills in the first 15 points of the set, as they had an overwhelming 12-3 lead. The Bears never trailed in the set and increased their lead out 12 at one point at 18-6. WU won the final three points of the set to tie things up at 1-1. 

In the third frame, the Bears had a tough go with a slow start, which included eight errors throughout the set. WW led 9-3 early on and had the Bears playing from behind. 

WashU cut the deficit down to 12-8 and seemed to find a spark of momentum, but Wisconsin-Whitewater pulled ahead quickly and led 20-9 moments later. 

During the fourth set, WashU played the Warhawks down to the wire. With four ties and two lead changes, the set went back and forth between both teams. 

Whitewater registered 13 kills in the set while WashU was held to eight, along with another set of eight unforced errors. 

Leading 13-12, WashU ripped off three straight points off back-to-back-to-back kills for a 16-12 lead. 

The set was tied at 19-19 later on, and the Warhawks won four straight points to pull away in the final moments of the set. WashU held off two match points before WW closed the set and match. 

WashU will matchup with Greenville and Illinois Wesleyan for the final two matches of the WashU Invite tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.