St. Louis, Mo., September 3, 2021 – The Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team split its matches on the first day of the 2021 Bear Invitational.

The Bears won their first match of the day, defeating Carroll (Wis.) in straight sets (27-25, 25-17, 25-19) before falling to Wisconsin-Eau Claire (25-17, 25-19, 25-13). WashU is now 2-1 on the season.

WashU vs. Carroll

Junior Alaina Bohrer and senior Michaela Bach each had a match-high 11 kills against the Pioneers. Junior Taryn Gurbach led the bears with 16 digs while first-year Chloe Emch had 14 assists.

The first set started off slow for the Bears, as Carroll took a 9-3 lead to open. Following a timeout, WashU went on to score the next five points on kills from Abby Li and Lucy Davis as well as two aces from Bohrer to cut Carroll's edge, 9-8.

It was more back-and-forth action and the set was tied four more times. Following a 25-25 tie, the Bears broke it with a block from Li and Bach and went on to win the set 27-25.

Things were reversed in the second set, as it was WashU that jumped out to a 9-3 start.

A kill from Carroll's Cathleen Flannery pulled the Pioneers within one point, 12-11, but the Bears followed up with four straight points. WashU went on another five-point run behind kills from Caitlin Lorenz, Bohrer and Bach en route to a 21-12 edge.

The Pioneers closed the gap to 24-17 but a kill from Bach finished the set out and gave the Bears a 2-0 match advantage.

WashU came out in the third set to score the first six points which included an ace from Elise Gilroy and kills from Bach and Bohrer.

Carroll slowly chipped away at the lead, eventually pulling within one point, 9-8.

A kill from Bach followed by a Gurbach ace and a block from Paris Nix gave the Bears a 17-11 cushion which they eventually expanded to 19-12.

The Pioneers did not go down quietly, cutting the Bears' lead down to three points, 22-19. WashU closed out the set and the match with three straight points which included kills from Jasmine Sells and Lorenz.

WashU vs. UW-Eau Claire

Eau Claire scored the first two points of the first set on a Charlie Nelson ace and a kill from Jordan Wetzel.

After the Bears tied it up, 2-2, on an Eau Claire error and a Bohrer kill, the Blugolds scored four-straight to go up 6-2. Eau Claire continued to push, adding three points in a row to take a 10-4 edge.

A block from Bohrer and Lorenz eventually drew the Bears within three points, 14-11.

Eau Claire, however, scored four of the last five points of the set to take it, 25-17.

The Blugolds came out to win the first four points of the second set and although WashU pulled within one point, the Bears would never regain the lead.

Back-to-back points on kills from Sells and a Eau Claire error cut down the Blugolds' lead to 12-11, but they went on to score five-straight to take a 17-11 edge.

The Bears, however, went on a run of their own, scoring four-straight to pull within two points, 17-15.

Eau Claire closed the set out with four of the last six points, including a kill from Wetzel which ended things.

In the third and final set, the opening points were close, and an ace from Julie Keener tied the game up, 3-3.

Eau Claire followed that with a 7-0 run to take the 10-3 lead over the Bears. Another four-point run pushed the Blugolds up to a double-digit lead, 14-4.

WashU cut it to seven points but Eau Claire went on to score five of the last seven points to take the set and the match.

WashU is back in action tomorrow for the second day of the Bear Invitational. The Bears will take on Lewis & Clark at 2:30 p.m. followed by UT-Dallas at 4:30 p.m., which is the final game of the tournament.