WHITEWATER, Wis. – What started off as a close match for the No. 10 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team turned into a command performance as the Bears opened the 2024 NCAA Tournament with a 3-0 sweep of Saint Benedict on Thursday afternoon.
With the win, WashU improves to 29-6 on the season.
The first set started off like most of the Bears' matches this year with small leads and small runs by both teams. WashU used its first time out when the Bennies took an 8-7 lead. It proved to be a useful break as the Bears would retake the lead and stretch it to 15-10.
A pair of CSB attack errors later stretched the WashU lead up to eight points at 21-13. The Bennies would get within five at 23-18 but kills from senior Jasmine Sells and junior Sam Buckley would close out the first set 25-18.
It was nearly point-for-point to start the second set before the Bears, leading 6-5, went on a 10-2 run to jump out in front by nine. The teams traded points back and forth once again with WashU still maintaining an 18-10 lead.
A kill by CSB to get within seven at 18-11 was the last points the Bennies would score in the set as the Bears scored the next seven points, capped by a block by senior Zoe Foster and sophomore Leah Oyewole, 25-11. The set win gave WashU a 2-0 match lead.
WashU would start off the third set with the first three points and forced CSB into a time out with the Bears leading 4-1. Once again, both teams traded points with WashU holding the 7-4 lead before stretching it out to 11-4 with a 4-0 run.
The next six points went back-and-forth that saw WashU leading now by eight, 18-10. Two more points, including a block from Foster and Sells, for the Bears saw the lead pushed up to 10.
With the score at 23-13, a kill from graduate Lauren McCurley got WashU to match points. A block from Oyewole and McCurley sealed the match with a 25-13 set three win.
The victory avenged a loss to the Bennies from last season in a tournament in Whitewater.
The Bears finished the three sets with 40 kills, improving their hitting percentage each set from .250 (1st) to .257 (2nd) to .333 (3rd). WashU finished with just 11 errors over the entire match for a .276 overall hitting percentage.
Meanwhile the WashU defense forced the Bennies into 30 errors while collecting only 28 kills for a -.016 attack percentage in the match.
Senior Lucy Davis and Oyewole each led the Bears with nine kills while Foster was right behind with seven.
Both Foster and Steinbach had the match-high in total blocks for WashU with six each.
Buckley dished out 34 assists on the 40 Bear kills. She also added 10 digs for her 12th double-double of the season.
However, it was sophomore Ellie Laird who led WashU in digs with 13. Senior Elise Gilroy also reached double-figures in digs with 12.
WashU advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament where it will take on Wisconsin-Platteville on Friday, Nov. 22 at 4:30 p.m. The Bears own a 6-0 record all-time against the Pioneers, but have not faced since Oct. 25, 2019 when WashU came away with a 3-1 win.
