ST. LOUIS, Mo. –It might have been a slower start than what they would have liked, but the No. 9 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team won the final three sets for a 3-1 win over No. 15 Gustavus Adolphus on Friday evening. The match was the first for the WashU as part of the 2024 Bear Invite.
The Gusties quickly took over the opening set, racing out to a 9-3 lead. The Bears attempted to chip away at the lead but could not get any closer than four points on several occasions, including 24-20 in favor of GAC. However, a Gusties kill gave them a 1-0 set lead, 25-20.
After WashU went ahead 3-1 to start the second set on a kill by senior Lucy Davis, GAC responded with a 4-0 run and would keep the lead until the Bears took a one-point advantage at 13-12. The teams traded pairs of points with the Gusties leading 18-17. Kills by senior Jasmine Sells, graduate Isabella Lipacis, and senior Zoe Foster put the Bears ahead 20-18.
A WashU attack error gave GAC the first set point, but the Bears would trade the next six points. It would be kills by Sells and sophomore Leah Oyewole that first gave WashU its first set point at 28-27. After the Gusties tied it up at 28-28 another kill by Davis and a GAC attack error leveled the match at 1-1 with a set two win for the Bears, 30-28.
The early portion of the third set saw both teams use runs with WashU taking a 10-8 lead after a 5-0. Despite the visitors getting back within one, as late as 21-20, it was the Bears scoring four of the final five points for the 25-21 set three win and a 2-1 match lead.
Like most of the preceding sets, the fourth set saw both teams have early leads with the Gusties leading by as many as three at 11-8 and 13-10. A quick 3-0 run by the Bears tied it up before back-and-forth points saw the score even at both 16-16 and 17-17. With WashU ahead 19-18, Sells scored three-straight kills, including two off the assist from junior Sam Buckley, that saw the Bears just three points from the win. Still ahead by three, kills from Oyewole and Davis closed out the set 25-20 and the match 3-1 in favor of WashU.
Sells finished with a season-high 22 kills while also getting up 20 digs for her sixth double-double of the season and her first career 20+ kills/20+ digs match. Davis and Foster also both reached double-figure kills with 14 and 12, respectively.
Buckley's 53 assists was a new career-high in four-set matches. Her highest ever has happened twice with 56, but both were in five sets. She also finished with her fourth double-double of the season.
Senior Elise Gilroy had the team-high in digs for the match with 23. Graduate Lily Steinbach had the match high with seven total blocks, one more than the Gusties had a team.
The Bears are now 4-0 all-time against GAC, dating back to a 3-0 sweep in September 2000. It was also the first match in the series that took place on a home court, with the three previous meetings taking place on neutral courts.
WashU will be right back at it on Saturday with a pair of matches with No. 7 La Verne and RV Cornell College to finish action at the Bear Invite. The match with La Verne gets started at 10:30 a.m. while the Cornell match is scheduled for 1 p.m.; both are being played in the Varsity Gym.
