St. Louis, Mo. – The Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team collected its second straight 3-0 sweep on the year, defeating Dubuque (25-16, 29-27, 25-22) at the Field House on Wednesday evening.
The Bears improve to 5-0 on the year and are now 4-0 in matches at the Field House this year.
WashU completed the contest on Wednesday with 51 kills as a team and a .304 hitting percentage, marking the third match this year in which the Bears have compiled at least 50 kills.
Lane Bohrer posted a team-best and season-high 14 kills in the victory and fifth-year senior
Michaela Bach registered a double-double of a team-high 15 digs and 10 kills. Bach also added two service aces and a block in the win.
Jasmine Sells also tallied 10 kills, while
Taryn Gurbach notched 14 digs and
Elise Gilroy collected 11.
First-year
Sam Buckley had a big night as the primary setter, finishing the match with a game-high 42 assists, marking a new season-high.
The Bears came out swinging in the opening set with 21 kills as a team and an impressive .513 hitting clip.
After crawling back from an early 8-4 deficit, WashU knotted things up at 13-13 before a 7-1 scoring run sparked the Bears back in front at 20-14.
Altogether, WU closed out the first frame on a 12-3 scoring run and finished off the set with back-to-back kills from
Jasmine Sells.
In the second set, the Spartans finished with a team-high 16 kills, as they battled WashU in a back-and-forth battle. Dubuque led 15-12 and then extended its lead out to 23-17 putting pressure on the Bears.
However, WashU closed out the set in thrilling fashion. Facing six set points down 24-18, the Bears staved off all six set points and used a 7-0 scoring run to reclaim the lead at 25-24.
Later in the set, it was 27-27, and the Bears would claim the final two points off attack errors from the Spartans to take the set 29-27 for a 2-0 lead.
In the final set, WashU used a 10-4 run to break through from a 7-7 tie to take a 17-11 advantage. However, Dubuque continued to battle and reduced the gap down to just one point at 18-17.
The Bears would remain out in front the remainder of the set and held off the Spartans' final push and sealed the match off a service error to complete the 3-0 sweep.
WashU will next get set for the East-West Classic in Atlanta, Ga. on Friday and Saturday. The Bears will open up the classic against (RV) UT-Dallas at 6 PM EST.
