ST. LOUIS, Mo. – After a midweek win on Wednesday, the No. 8 Washington University volleyball team hosted a tri-match on Saturday against two teams that are receiving votes in the latest national poll. The Bears opened with a 3-0 sweep of North Park before closing out the weekend with a 3-1 win over Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
WashU 3, North Park 0
The Bears took an early lead against the Vikings in the first set by as many as six, 8-2. The teams then traded points and small runs back and forth with NPU pulling within four at 19-15. However, a 6-0 run by WashU, capped by a block from graduate Lauren McCurley and sophomore Leah Oyewole, gave the Bears the 25-15 set one win.
The second set was much closer in the early goings as WashU was able to stretch their lead to just three at 12-9. A quick run by the Vikings saw them take a one-point lead at 13-12. Trailing 17-16, the Bears scored five of the next six points to take a three-point lead. They closed out the set with a pair of kills by Oyewole.
NPU maintained a lead through most of the third set and stretched that advantage out to five at 21-16. Not wanting to go to another set, the Bears scored six of the next seven points to tie it up at 22-22. WashU would get its first match point at 24-23, but the Vikings responded for their first set point of the match at 25-24. The Bears once again had a match point at 26-25 before the teams traded points back and forth for the next six points with WashU leading 29-28. A kill by senior Jasmine Sells closed out the match 30-28 in the third.
Oyewole led the Bears with 11 kills on a .429 hitting percentage. Junior Sam Buckley dished out 31 of the 34 assists in the match. Both teams finished with 40 digs.
One of the keys for the WashU was taking advantage of 17 service errors by the Vikings at key moments to get the sweep.
WashU 3, UW-Stevens Point 1
Neither team was able to pull away throughout the first set in the final match of the day. WashU had a slim 21-20 lead over the Pointers late before scoring four of the next five points to open the match with a 25-21 set one win.
The second set saw WashU maintain control of the scoreboard. Extending their lead to as many as 20-13 late in the set, the Bears took a 2-0 match lead claiming the final five points, capped by a block from graduate Lily Steinbach and junior Anna Freeman, 25-14 for the 2-0 match lead.
UWSP responded in the fourth, stretching a lead midway through the set to 17-12. WashU responded with a 6-0 before the Pointers reclaimed the lead at 21-20. After the Bears tied the score at 21-21, UWSP took four of the final five points to claim the third set, 25-22.
WashU built a seven-point lead early in the last set, 11-4 before the Pointers chipped it down to just two at 12-10. Leading 14-11, the Bears did not ease up on the visitors, claiming 11 of the next 13 points to take the fourth, 25-13 and the match 3-1.
Freeman and Sells each tallied a match-high 17 kills. Buckley out assisted the entire Pointers team with 52 assists to just 43 total for UWSP. Four different Bears reached double-figure digs led by Sells' 25. Senior Elise Gilroy finished with 16 while sophomore Ellie Laird and Buckley tallied 12 and 10 digs, respectively.
WashU is back on the court next Sunday, Oct. 27 when they travel to Pittsburgh for the final two conference matches of the regular season at the UAA Round Robin #3. The one-day event is being hosted by Carnegie Mellon. The Bears face off against Chicago at 12 p.m. ET and follow up immediately with the host Tartans at 2 p.m. ET.
