ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Hosting its second Invite of the season, the No. 9 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team picked up two more wins over No. 7 La Verne and RV Cornell College to finish action at the 2024 Bear Invite. The Bears got things started with a 3-0 sweep of the visiting Leopards before closing out the day with a 3-1 win over Rams.
WashU 3, La Verne 0
With the score tied up at 5-5 in the first set, WashU went on a 8-1 run, capped by a kill from graduate Lily Steinbach off the assist from junior Sam Buckley, to take a 13-6 lead. The Leopards would get within four at 15-11 but later runs by the Bears put the set out of reach before claiming the 25-16 set one win.
The Bears kept the momentum going in the second set until a 5-0 run by La Verne gave the visitors a 22-20 lead. A pair of kills by senior Zoe Foster tied the score up at 22-22 before the Leopards had a pair of set points at 24-22. Three-straight WashU additions to the scoreboard gave the Bears their first set point of the second set before La Verne got their second chance at 26-25. A kill by sophomore Leah Oyewole, coupled with a pair of Leopard attack errors gave WashU the second set 28-26 and a 2-0 match lead.
The early portion of the third set was a back-and-forth affair with the score tied up at 9-9. A 5-0 run by LVC gave them the lead, one they would keep until they were ahead 19-14. WashU then went on a 6-0 run with kills by Steinbach, Foster, senior Jasmine Sells, and finished with a service ace from senior Elise Gilroy, to go up 20-19. The Bears got the first set point at 24-23 before a Leopard kill. Steinbach answered right away with a pair of kills from Buckley for the 26-24 set three win and the sweep, 3-0.
Both Sells and senior Lucy Davis finished the match with 13 kills to lead WashU. Sells finished with a double-double with her 13 kills and 21 digs. Senior libero Elise Gilroy was second on the team with 13 digs in the quick 3-0 win.
WashU 3, Cornell College 1
Taking on its third ranked team of the weekend, WashU attempted to keep things going from their previous two matches. With the Bears leading 8-4, the Rams jumped on a 9-0 run to take a five-point lead midway through the opening set. Despite tying the score up at 17-17, WashU was not able to overcome the large run by Cornell College as the Rams took the set 25-21.
Looking like they were going to continue their run, Cornell College got out to a 13-6 lead to start the second set. However, a 9-2 run by the Bears tied the set up at 15-15 off a kill by Oyewole. Both teams would take two point leads late in the set with the Rams having a pair of set points at 24-22. That is when Sells added two more kills to her total followed by block assists from Foster and Sells then Oyewole and Foster for a 4-0 WashU run to tie the match up at one set a piece.
With some of their energy deflated, the Rams saw WashU take a quick 5-0 lead to start the fourth set. With the Bears ahead 14-9, Cornell College went on a 6-1 run to tie the score up at 15-15. WashU responded right away with a kill by Oyewole and a service ace by Zoe Foster, giving the Bears the lead they would not surrender the rest of the set. Ahead 22-21, kills by Sells, senior McKenzie Washington, and Foster gave the Bears the 25-21 set four win and the match 3-1.
Four Bears reached double-digit kills, led by Sells' 16 with Foster (12), Oyewole (11), and Steinbach (10) also reaching the two-figure mark. Four WashU players also reach double-digit digs led by graduate Isabella Lapacis' 15 with Gilroy scooping 13 and both Sells and sophomore Ellie Laird finishing with 12 each.
The Bears improved to 12-2 on the season with the three wins over the weekend. They return to the court on Wednesday, September 25 when they host the Gorloks of Webster on THO/Mental Health Awareness and Faculty/Staff Appreciation Night. The match will take place inside Sumers Rec Center with first serve scheduled for 7 p.m.
