ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The No. 8 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team hosted the second of three University Athletic Association (UAA) Round Robins on Sunday, welcoming all seven other conference opponents to the Field House. Each team played a pair of contests with the Bears picking up two wins over Brandeis (3-1) and No. 23 NYU (3-1). The win improves WashU to 18-4 on the season and 3-2 in the UAA.
No. 8 WashU 3, Brandeis 1
The first set with the Judges was a close one with Brandeis holding onto a slim lead until late in the set. Tied up at 18-18, the Bears ran through the rest of the set (25-18) with seven-straight points including kills by senior Lucy Davis, a block by Davis and classmate Zoe Foster, a Foster service ace, a kill by junior Sam Buckley, a kill by senior Jasmine Sells, a solo block by graduate Lauren McCurley and a bad set by the Judges.
Like several matches before, the second set was one of runs by the Bears. Leading 10-7, WashU went on a 4-0 and a 3-0 runs to jump ahead 17-8. Brandeis answered with a 7-1 run to get back within three at 18-15. Once again, not to be outdone, the Bears got within two points of the set at 23-15 with a 5-0 stretch. The teams traded pairs of scores with a Judges service error and another bad set by Brandeis that gave WashU the set 25-17, and a 2-0 match advantage.
With the Bears leading 13-11 midway through the third, the Judges used long runs of their own to pull even at 14-14 and 18-18. After a pair of WashU points, Brandeis took the lead 21-20. After the Bears reclaimed the lead 23-21, four-straight points by the Judges gave them the third set 25-23.
The fourth set saw WashU get up to a seven-point lead early at 10-3 before settling in and maintaining a four-to-five point lead until it was ahead 15-11. Six points in a row saw kills by sophomore Leah Oyewole, Sells, a block by senior McKenzie Washington and Foster, and three service aces from sophomore Ellie Laird. Now ahead by 10, the Bears went point-for-point the rest of the way with Brandeis for the 25-15 set four win, claiming the match 3-1.
Sells had the match-high with 18 kills to lead three WashU players with double-figure kills; Oyewole finished with 12 kills and Foster finished with 11 kills.
Buckley tallied 39 of the 44 assists while senior Elise Gilroy led the Bears with 14 digs.
WashU 3, NYU 1
The Violets jumped on the scoreboard early, taking a 9-2 to start the opening set with WashU. A few back and forth points allowed NYU to still have a 13-6 lead. However, the Bears went on an 8-0 run to take their first lead of the match. With WashU leading 19-17, the Violets called a time out and then scored the next four points, with the Bears calling their own timeout, trailing 21-19. The teams traded the next four points with NYU clinging to a 23-21 lead. A Violet attack error, a kill from Sells, a block from McCurley, and kill by Oyewole added up to four-straight points for WashU, earning them the 25-23 set one win.
The second set saw the Bears take control early and maintain a slim lead up to 13-12. Four points in a row extended the home lead to five before a 6-1 run pushed it even further in favor of WashU 23-16. An NYU service error and a block by Buckley and Foster put the Bears ahead in the ranked match up 2-0 with a 25-17 set two win.
Despite having a lead early, WashU could not maintain it this time with the Violets in the third set. NYU would take control and build up to a 20-13 lead. They would also take four of the final five points of the set for the 25-16 set four win, pulling within 2-1 in the match.
The fourth set resembled the first set for most of the points. NYU had a late lead at 19-18, but a pair of points from the Bears saw WashU take flip the lead in its favor. A kill by Foster would give the home team its first match point, 24-22. The Bears closed out the match with a kill from McCurley, 25-23, and 3-1 overall.
The win marked the fourth win over a nationally ranked opponent this season.
Foster added 11 kills while Sells tallied 10 kills on the day. The pair hit a .385 and a .321, respectively, against the Violets.
Buckley dished out all 41 assists for WashU. Four Bears reached double-figures in digs, led by Sells' 21. Gilroy scooped up 17, Laird finished with 14, and Buckley added 10 digs.
WashU will play its final home mid-week contest on Oct. 16 when Rose-Hulman visits the Field House. First serve with the Fightin' Engineers is scheduled for 7 p.m. The Bears will celebrate its Pride Game as well as Student Appreciation Night against Rose-Hulman.
