ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The No. 14 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team swept its first two matches of the season, Friday, September 1, as host of the two-day Bear Invite, with victories against North Central College and No. 23 Otterbein College, respectively. With the pair of wins, WashU claimed a 2-0 record to begin the year. The Bears defeated NCC in four sets (25-19, 25-23, 19-25, 25-18), then defeated OC in straight sets (25-23, 25-21, 25-23).
In the opening match against North Central, WashU held the advantage in kills (50-47) and assists (48-47), while NCC claimed the upper hand in aces (8-6), blocks (7-5), and digs (84-76).
Sophomore
Sam Buckley secured a double-double with 39 assists and 16 digs.
Junior
Elise Gilroy and Sells registering four and three assists, respectively.
On the defensive side, Gilroy notched 22 digs, which led the team. Senior
Alden Standley secured 15 digs.
In the opening set, WashU charged out to a commanding cushion thanks to four NCC errors and two kills. However, the Cardinals were able to cut the deficit to one in the middle portion of the set as the score stood at 16-15, in favor of the home team. However, the Bears created separation in the latter half of the set with two kills by Sells and a Standley service ace to push the score to 23-17. With the Bears leading 23-19, a NCC service error and a thunderous kill from first-year
McKenzie Washington, propelled WashU to the 25-19 victory.
After dropping the first set, NCC utilized the intermission to their advantage by generating a quick 6-2 lead in the second. With the Cardinals clinging to the 13-11 advantage, WashU earned five-of-the-next six points to erase the deficit. After a WashU service error tied the set at 22-all, two Sells kills and a NCC attack error pushed the Bears to the 25-23 victory.
WashU was unable to complete the sweep of North Central as the Cardinals took the third set by a score of 25-19.
The beginning of the fourth set proved to be back-and-forth. However, with the score at 9-9, WashU went on an eight point run to create a 17-9 lead. With the Bears owning the slim, 19-18, advantage, back-to-back kills by Sells pushed the lead to 21-18. At the service line, Gilroy dialed up two straight aces to give the Bears five match points. In the end, WashU claimed the four-set victory, 25-18, on a NCC attack error.
In the night cap, WashU held the statistical advantage in kills (53-46), blocks (6-4), assists (47-45), hitting percentage (.306-.226), and digs (63-59) against Otterbein.
Picking up where she left off in the first match, Sells registered a double-double with 17 kills and 15 digs. Also securing a double-double, Buckley dished out 45 assists and earned 13 digs.
Defensively, Gilroy notched 17 digs to led WashU.
In the opening set, Otterbein enjoyed the 16-13 lead. With the score being 22-20, in favor of the visitors, WashU rattled off five-straight points to create the 24-22 lead. In the run, WashU utilized two kills, one ace, and one OC service error. Sells finished the set with a kill as WashU took the opening by a score of 25-23.
WashU manufactured a 16-13 lead in the second set and never relinquished the lead. An OC attack error ended the second set as WashU took the second, 25-21.
Back-to-back service aces off the hand of Standley gave the Bears a 21-15 cushion late in the third. However, Otterbein would not go down without a fight as the Cardinals made things interesting late by utilizing back-to-back kills to cut the deficit to 24-23. In the end, a Steinbach kill pushed the Bears past OC with a set score of 25-23 to take the match.
WashU will see a quick turnaround with a pair of matches scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday, September 2. The Bears will square off with Hendrix College and No. 6 Hope College at 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., respectively.
