Rochester, N.Y. – The No. 4 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team split its two Sunday matches at the UAA Round Robin #3, sweeping UChicago to start the day, before falling in a tough five-set thriller to Case Western Reserve. 
 
WU defeated the Maroons 25-20, 25-23, 25-22, but dropped the final match with the Spartans by a score of 25-18, 20-25, 22-25, 25-18, 13-15. 
 
After Sunday, WashU sits at 22-3 overall with a 5-2 record in league play, which sits in second overall in the standings. 
 
The Bears will next return to the Field House on Friday evening at 7 p.m. against Cornell for Cancer Awareness Night. 
 
WashU vs Chicago 
For the 11th time this season, WashU collected a 3-0 sweep for its 22nd win of the year. The Bears came out firing on Sunday, producing 52 team kills in the victory for a .298 hitting clip.
 
After falling behind 3-0 early on in the first set, the Bears used an 11-4 run to claim an 11-7 advantage before extending their lead out to 15-10. 
 
Chicago reduced the lead down to 16-14, but WU answered with another critical run, this time winning seven of the next 11 points to take a 23-18 lead. 
 
A kill from Lane Bohrer on set point pushed the Bears over the edge for a 1-0 lead. 
 
In the second frame, the Bears tallied 18 kills and took the opening 7-4 lead. However, UChicago found some momentum of its own and went on a 7-1 scoring run to take an 11-8 lead. 
 
Later in the set, WU was trailing 19-16 but quickly fought its way back into the set using big kills from both Jasmine Sells and Michaela Bach to pace a 7-1 run to put the Bears back on top 23-20. 
 
WashU held on to a 24-23 lead and on its second set point of the set, took a 2-0 lead after a big kill up front from Paris Nix. 
 
The third set was a grind back-and-forth to start with five different lead changes through the first 16 points. 
 
Knotted even at 8-8, WashU took over the frame with dominant play across the board, which led to a 13-5 scoring run giving the Bears its largest lead of the day at 21-13. 
The Maroons did not go down without a fight, cutting the lead back down to 23-21 following an 8-2 run.
 
Sells notched her 17th kill of the day on match point at 24-22 to seal the victory for WU. 
 
Sells recorded a match-high 17 kills, marking her 12th match this season in double figures kills, as she hit .368 for the match. 
 
Two other Bears also posted double figures kills, as Bach registered 12 and Zoe Foster finished with 10. 
 
Sam Buckley led the Bears in assists with 44 and also collected seven digs. 
 
Defensively, Taryn Gurbach totaled a team-high 17 digs, while Lane Bohrer finished with 13 digs and nine kills, respectively. 
 
WashU vs CWRU 
In Sunday's finale, the Bears got off to a great start, taking the opening set 25-18. WashU recorded 12 kills in the set, with Bach posting six to pace the Bears' attack. 
 
WashU led 9-5 in the opening stages of the first set before extending its lead out to 15-7. Case Western closed the gap down to 17-13, but could not get closer as the Bears held firm and closed out the set on an 8-5 run. 
 
CWRU took the second set, as WashU got off to a shaky start. The Bears battled back from a 4-0 deficit to reclaim a 9-7 lead, but the Spartans' 13-5 scoring run found WU trailing again at 20-14. 
 
WashU could not cut the lead down any closer than four points and dropped the set 25-20. 
 
In the third frame, the margin for error was thin, as both teams continued to duke it out. Tied at 13-13, the Spartans again pulled away with a 9-4 run to take a 22-17 lead. 
 
WashU faced six set points trailing 24-18 and fought off four straight, but the Spartans would take the next point to win the set 25-22. 
 
Bohrer and Bach had big fourth sets for WashU, combining for 12 of the Bears' 16 kills. After trailing 2-0, WU won the next four points and would hold on to the lead for the remainder of the set. 
 
CWRU closed down the lead multiple times and got within one point midway through the set, but WashU fought hard and forced a fifth set, taking the fourth frame 25-18. 
 
In the final set of play, it was another fight to the finish. Case took an early 5-2 lead and later extended the lead out to 10-6, putting the Bears on the brink. 
 
However, WashU was determined to battle back yet again, this time using a 7-3 scoring run to tie up the set at 13-13. 
 
The final two points would go to CWRU on back-to-back kills to end the match. 
 
WashU completed the contest with 63 total kills, marking a season-high. In addition, it's the third time this year WU has posted at least 60 kills in a single match. 
 
Statistically, Bach led the way with 21 kills and nine digs, while Bohrer added a double-double of 14 kills and 11 digs. 
 
Foster registered her second consecutive match in double figures kills with 12, while Abby Li added eight kills and a team-best four blocks. 
 
Buckley finished with a new season-high 56 assists and also had eight digs in the loss. 
 
Defensively, Gurbach produced 31 digs, a team-best, while Elise Gilroy recorded 12 digs.