CHICAGO - In a top-20 non-conference showdown, the No. 12 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team made quick work of No. 20 North Park University, Friday, October 6. The Bears swept the Vikings (27-25, 25-15, 25- 20) in straight sets. The win ended NPU's 12-match win streak and marked the first home loss of the season for the Vikings. 

 

With the victory, the Bears' record jumped to 12-5, while NPU suffered just their second setback of the season as the Vikings sit at 15-2. 

 

The No. 12 Bears grabbed statistical advantages in kills (39-36), aces (6-3), assists (37-36), digs (60-56), and attack percentage (.235-.137). 

 

First-year Leah Oyewole assembled a match-high 11 kills. Junior Jasmine Sells notched nine kills, while junior Lucy Davis added six.  

 

Sophomore Sam Buckley generated a match-high 34 assists in the sweep. 

 

Defensively, junior Elise Gilroy was credited with 15 digs, which proved to be a match-high. Sells earned 15, while senior Alden Standley notched 12 digs. 

 

In the first set of the nationally-ranked battle, the score was tied at 4-4 in the early goings. A Buckley kill, a junior Zoe Foster kill, and a first-year Ellie Laird ace pushed WashU ahead by three, 7-4. With back-and-forth action ensuing, the Vikings assembled a four-point run to manufacture the slim, 13-11 lead. After the run, Oyewole deposited a kill, which was followed by a NPU miscue to knot the score at 13-all. With the score even, the Vikings went on a three-point rally to warrant a head coach Vanessa Walby timeout. 

 

After the pause in action, NPU expanded their cushion to 19-15. Two straight Viking attack errors cut the deficit to 19-17. After the two errors, the NPU bench signaled for their first time out of the set. With play resumed, WashU welcomed a three-point run to grab the one-point, 20-19, advantage. The final point of the run saw a rejection from Buckley and Foster. With no team having more than a one-point lead since NPU held the 19-17 advantage, WashU clung to the 23-22 lead. The Bears called their final timeout of the set with the score even at 23. After both teams faced set points, Foster and Davis generated back-to-back thunderous kills as the Bears secured the first set victory, 27-25. 

 

Carrying momentum from the set one win, WashU raced out to the quick, 4-1, advantage to warrant a Viking timeout. However, North Park fought back to trim the deficit to one, 6-5. The Bears then produced a four-point run to double-up the Vikings, 10-5, as NPU burned their final timeout of the set. The run featured three NPU miscues and a Foster ace. Later in the frame, WashU took the commanding, 15-7, lead. 

 

A Gilroy ace upped the cushion to 20-9. After two more points, the lengthy seven-point WashU run came to an end on a North Park kill with the score sitting at 22-9. In the end, WashU prevailed in the second set by a score of 25-15.  

 

In the third, the Bears garnered the early 6-3 lead, which led to a North Park timeout. The timeout did little to slow down WashU's tenacious offensive efforts as a Sells kill pushed the advantage to four, 10-6. Looking for a sweep, the Bears maintained their four-point cushion, 16-12. 

 

The Vikings showed some late life, but WashU's offense proved too much. In the end, the Bears defeated the 20th-ranked team in the nation, in straight sets, with a 25-20 set three victory. 

 

The Bears will stay in the Windy City to tackle the University Athletic Association Round Robin #2, Sunday, October 8. WashU is set to tangle with host, Chicago, at 12 p.m., followed by Carnegie Mellon University at 2 p.m. The UAA Round Robin #2 tournament central page can be found here.