Post-Match Interview
MOUNT VERNON, Iowa - For the second consecutive season, the Washington University in St. Louis volleyball advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. This time, the No. 14 Bears (three-seed) swept St. Olaf College (six-seed) (25-15, 27-25, 25-23), Thursday, November 16 in Mount Vernon, Iowa.
WashU held the statistical advantages in aces (5-1), blocks (6-5), and hitting percentage (.228-.158).
Buckley dished out a match-high 36 assists.
Junior
Zoe Foster tallied a match-high five rejections in the contest.
The Bears raced out to the quick 7-2 advantage as the Oles signaled for a timeout. With the score in favor of WashU, 3-2, the Bears earned the next four points on a Steinbach kill, a Gilroy ace, a block by Foster and first-year
Leah Oyewole, and a St. Olaf attack error.
Davis recorded a powerful kill that landed in the back left corner of the court to extend WashU's advantage to seven, 10-3. The Bears then doubled-up the Oles, 14-7, with a well-placed push kill by Sells. Davis, on a Buckley assist, earned a kill off the St. Olaf block as the Oles took their second timeout of the set, with WashU ahead by eight, 16-8.
However, the pause in action did little to slow down the potent WashU offense as Davis landed another kill to put WashU in front, 17-8. Davis and Foster then teamed up for a rejection to extend the Bears' lead to nine, 19-10. A St. Olaf attack error gave WashU the first set, 25-15, victory.
In the second, Gilroy earned an ace to give WashU the early, four-point, 5-1 advantage. Foster, continuing her solid contest, utilized a slide kill to produce the 7-3 WashU lead. However, the Oles evened the set at 8-8 on a kill. With back-and-forth action ensuing, the score stood knotted at 11-all. St. Olaf registered back-to-back points to grab the 13-11 lead as head coach
Vanessa Walby called a timeout.
A St. Olaf net violation ended their run as WashU found themselves trailing by three, 15-12. St. Olaf widened their lead to five, 18-13. The Bears then went on a three-point run to trim the deficit to a pair, 18-16, as the Oles called for a timeout.
A few points after the timeout, Steinbach notched a kill to even the score at 20-20. The Oles generated the next two points to grab the 22-20 advantage to warrant another WashU timeout. After the pause in action, Steinbach produced another kill to trim the deficit to one, 23-22.
With St. Olaf at set point, 24-22, the Bears were able to fend off the set point and evened the score at 24-24. Oyewole and Foster nailed pressure packed kills to take the set to extra points as St. Olaf took a timeout.
In thrilling fashion, WashU erased the earlier five-point deficit in the set and stole the second set, 27-25. With the Bears trailing by one, 25-24, WashU recorded three straight points on a Foster kill, a St. Olaf attack error, and a Sells kill to seal the set.
After trailing by two, 6-4, in the early goings of the third, the Bears then landed the next three tallies to take the 7-6 lead. The small run was highlighted by a Foster and Davis rejection. Steinbach stuffed a St. Olaf attack attempt to open up the 11-8 lead as the Oles burned a timeout.
With back-and-forth action, the score stood even at 16-16. WashU then welcomed three straight points to take the 19-16 lead as St. Olaf took their second timeout of the set. The run saw kills by Davis and Foster and rejection by Buckley and Foster.
WashU manufactured a four-point, 23-19, cushion on a Steinbach kill. However, St. Olaf turned in three straight points to trim WashU's lead to one, 23-22, as the Bears took a timeout. The timeout worked to perfection as the Oles serve fell short to push the Bears to match point, 24-22.
Steinbach grabbed the match-ending kill, with a third set score of 25-23, to advance the Bears to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
WashU will take on the winner of No. 4 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and Coe College in the Round of 32, tomorrow, Friday, November 17. First serve is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. inside of Small Athletic and Wellness Center.
