ST. LOUIS, Mo. – 12 different members of the No. 8 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team recorded a kill as the Bears picked up a 3-1 win over visiting Webster on Wednesday evening. With the win, the Bears improve to 13-2 overall before starting UAA conference play this weekend.
It was a bit of a slow start for WashU in the first set with the Gorloks taking a 6-4 lead. A 4-1 run gave the Bears a one-point advantage before Webster tied the score at 9-9. Another run by WashU, this time a 6-1 run, extended their lead to 15-10. A late run by the Gorloks saw them pull within just two at 23-21. A kill by senior Zoe Foster and Webster attack error allowed the Bears to take the first set 25-21 and a 1-0 match lead.
After the Gorloks opened the second set with the first two points, a 10-0 run by WashU forced a visitor timeout. After Webster pulled within 11-4, the Bears doubled their score with an 11-0 run. A kill by the Gorloks stopped the run by kills by graduate Isabella Lipacis, senior Jasmine Sells, and a setting error by Webster put WashU up 2-0 with a 25-5 set two win.
The Gorloks prevented the sweep with a win in set three. The teams battled back and forth until a late 5-1 run by Webster closed out the set 25-18.
The momentum continued for the visitors with the first few points of the fourth set. However, a 6-0 run by WashU gave them the five-point lead, 8-3. Still ahead 12-7, the Bears went on an 8-1 run midway through the set for the 20-8 advantage. Not going away quietly, the Gorloks used a 7-1 run to pull within six at 21-15. The teams then traded points with the Bears getting a kill by Lapacis to close out the set, 25-17 and the match 3-1.
Lapacis had the match-high in kills with 11. Junior Anna Freeman also reached double-digit kills with 10. Two Bears also reached double-figure assists with junior Sam Buckley recording 38 and first-year Eileen Chavez dishing out 11 assists.
Both Buckley and sophomore Ellie Laird reached the two-figure mark in digs with 16 and 11, respectively.
WashU travels to New York City this weekend for the first of three UAA Round Robins. The Bears begin with a match against No. 7 Emory on Saturday at 11 a.m. ET before taking on No. 21 Case Western Reserve at 3 p.m. ET. WashU closes out the weekend with a 10 a.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 29 against Rochester.
