ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The No. 11 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team took one step closer to another UAA championship on Friday with a pair of wins over #6 seed NYU and No. 18 and No. 2 seed Case Western Reserve to open their tournament run. The No. 3 seeded Bears picked up two, 3-1 wins in the quarterfinals and semifinals to reach the championship match on Saturday.
WashU 3, NYU 1
The opening set with the Violets was a game of runs by both teams as WashU led 11-6 before NYU responded to take a 14-13 lead. The Bears answered to retake a five-point lead at 21-16. Small runs followed with WashU getting the first set point at 24-20. Three-straight points by the Violets got them within one, but a kill from senior Zoe Foster closed out the first set 25-23.
NYU leveled the match at a set apiece after coming on strong in the second half of the second set. The Violets had the first set point at 35-34, a kill by sophomore Leah Oyewole tied the score at 25-25 before two consecutive points tied the match at 1-1.
The Bears did not want to see themselves fall to the consolation bracket so they picked up identical 25-22 set three and set four wins to advance to the semifinals immediately following their match.
Foster led all with 20 kills while also recording five blocks. Oyewole also reached double-figure kills with 11. Junior Sam Buckley dished out an assist on 50 of the 58 WashU kills.
Senior Jasmine Sells (18), senior Elise Gilroy (15), and Buckley (12) all reached double-figure digs against the Violets.
WashU 3, CWRU 1
WashU took on the Spartans in the semifinals, looking to avenge an earlier season 3-2 loss to CWRU while having to play back-to-back matches.
The Bears jumped out to a 5-1 lead over CWRU in the first set, prompting a quick timeout before another four-straight points by WashU forced the Spartans to take the second and final timeout of the set.
With the Bears leading 11-2, the Spartans began to chip away, pulling within two at 14-12. However, WashU extended their lead back to seven before a kill by graduate Lily Steinbach closed out the set 25-21.
CWRU led the second set from start to finish, claiming the set 25-20 to level the match at one set apiece.
After the Spartans looked to repeat their success in the second set into the third, the Bears responded midway taking the lead, scoring 15 of the final 20 points. WashU retook the match lead with the 25-15 set three win.
The fourth set saw CWRU drop the first point before running off six in a row for an early five-point lead. While their lead would fluctuate, the Spartans would end up extending it one more with a 14-8 lead over the Bears.
WashU began to chip away with small runs of their own and would take their second lead of the set at 19-18 off a Spartan attack error. The Bears would push the score up and grab their first match point at 24-23. A pair of Spartan points gave CWRU a chance to tie the match, however, a kill by Oyewole and Steinbach gave WashU one more shot at match point. A solo block by Steinbach closed out the set 27-25 and the match 3-1.
Oyewole, Sells, Steinbach, and Foster each reached double-figure kills with 15, 14, 11, and 10, respectively.
Sells finished with her 12th double-double of the season with 11 digs in addition to her 14 kills. Gilroy led all with 21 digs against the Spartans.
WashU will face off against No. 6 ranked and top-seeded Emory on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET in the UAA Championship match, with the winner securing the UAA title and automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
