St. Louis, Mo. -- The No. 20 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team earned two big victories on Saturday at the UAA Round Robin #1 at the WU Field House and Varsity Gym.

The Bears fought past No. 6 NYU (13-25, 25-18, 33-35, 25-23, 15-13) and later defeated Carnegie Mellon (25-23, 25-20, 19-25, 25-21) to close out the day 2-0.

With the two victories, WashU improves to an impressive 11-0, as the Bears will host Brandeis tomorrow at 10 AM at the Field House.

WashU vs NYU

In a matchup of top-20 teams, the first contest of the day for the Bears went the distance.

NYU came out with a strong effort in the opening set, posting 11 kills and a .450 hitting percentage, while the Bears struggled and had only eight kills and seven errors.

Washington U. never led in the opening frame as the Violets surged ahead 16-12. NYU would win the opening set 25-13, claiming a 9-1 scoring run to close out the set.

In the second, WashU came out with a strong start and led 10-4 in the opening stages of the set.

NYU cut the deficit down to 12-10, but the Bears answered right back with a 5-0 run for a 17-10 advantage.

WU won five of the final six points in the set to win the frame 25-18, following a kill from Jasmine Sells to even up the match.

The third set was a wild, back-and-forth ride, with both teams combining for 43 kills alone in the set.

The score was tied at 14 separate times throughout the set, as neither team could gain momentum or separation from each other.

Despite neither team leading by more than three points, it was NYU who came away with the set victory after taking the final three points to win 35-33.

WashU found itself in an 8-3 hole early in the fourth set but regrouped and used a 9-4 run to even the set back up at 12-12.

Later in the contest, NYU remained ahead 19-18, but the Bears' 4-1 scoring run snatched the lead back at 22-20.

The Violets would claim the next three points for a 23-22 lead, but the Bears roared back with the final three points to force a fifth and final set at 25-23.

After NYU won the first three points of the fifth and increased the lead out to 7-2, WashU netted the next six points for an 8-7 lead.

NYU bounced back from an 11-8 deficit by winning the next five points, as they inched closer to victory at 13-11.

However, WashU once again showed its toughness and resilience, battling back by winning the final four points, as a kill from Sells sealed the hard-fought win.

WashU finished the match with a season-high 60 kills. Four Bears finished in double figures in the kills column, as Michaela Bach finished with 17.

Lane Bohrer collected 12 and Jasmine Sells and Zoe Foster notched 11 and 10 kills each.

Bach also totaled 10 digs in the win and Bohrer finished with eight.

Elise Gilroy led Washington U. with 12 digs and Sam Buckley posted a new season-high 51 assists.


WashU vs Carnegie Mellon

Against the Tartans, WashU came out swinging in the opening set, compiling 18 kills with a .325 hitting percentage.

WashU never trailed in the set and jumped ahead early with a 9-4 advantage after the Bears won six of their nine points off kills.

Later in the set, WU extended its lead out to 19-12, as the Bears continued to stay aggressive.

Carnegie Mellon responded with a 9-4 run and reduced the lead down to 23-21. Following a Michaela Bach kill, the Bears had three set points. After two failed attempts to close out the set, Bohrer got the job done on a kill from Buckley to give WU a 1-0 lead.

The Bears stayed aggressive in the second set and shook off a 7-4 deficit with an 8-0 scoring run for a 12-7 lead.

WU pushed ahead 19-12 and closed out the set 25-20, as Jasmine Sells registered eight kills in the frame.

Looking to close out the match in the third, the Bears battled back from an early 11-7 deficit and tied the set at 17-17. WashU struck even again at 19-19 after a kill from Lucy Davis, but CMU would close out the set on a 6-0 scoring run.

In the fourth set, WashU notched 14 kills as a team, and marched ahead with a 16-9 lead using solid, sound play.

With the momentum back in its favor, WU led 20-15 later in the set and after a 4-2 run the Bears had match point.

CMU held off four straight match points before Sells tabbed her 18th kill of the day to clinch the win.

The Bears notched 56 kills altogether as a team, as Jasmine Sells led WU with a team-high 18.

Washington U. also had a huge game up front at the net, totaling nine blocks.

Lane Bohrer registered a double-double of 15 digs and 10 kills and also added four blocks.

Michaela Bach and Abby Li each tabbed nine kills apiece, while Zoe Foster chipped in with seven. Both Li and Foster finished with four blocks each.

Bach also recorded 11 digs, and Taryn Gurbach posted 13.

Sam Buckley tabbed 46 assists in the victory.