ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Playing their first match in over a week, the No. 13 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team faced a tough task by hosting No. 6 Illinois Wesleyan on Tuesday evening. In the battle of top-15 teams, it was the Titans who were able to leave with a 3-0 win over WashU.
The match moves the Bears to 16-5 on the season.
Just when it looked like IWU would run away with the first set, leading 5-1 and 6-2, WashU responded with a 5-1 run, started by a kill from senior
Anna Freeman and capped by a block by first-year
Nia Jones and junior
Naya Ohuabunwa. The Titans then answered with a 6-1 run to retake a 13-8 lead over WashU.
Not giving up, the Bears used a 4-0 run and a 3-0 run to take their first lead at 16-15. The teams then traded small runs before WashU took a 20-18 lead over IWU. Eventually, the Titans were able to secure a set point at 24-22, but a block by Ohuabunwa and senior
Eva Boling along with a kill by junior
Leah Oyewole tied the score at 24-24. IWU then took the next two points to take a 1-0 match lead, 26-24.
The early portion of the second set went back and forth with IWU holding onto an 8-7 lead over the Bears. However, an 11-2 run by the Titans put them ahead 19-9. IWU went on to claim four of the final five points to take the set 25-13 and put themselves ahead 2-0 in the match.
The momentum that IWU had at the end of the second continued into the third, where the Titans jumped out to a 14-3 lead over WashU. The Bears got back within eight at 17-9, but the Titans won eight of the last nine points to sweep the match 3-0 with a 25-10 set three win.
Freeman led the Bears with nine kills while senior
Sam Buckley dished out 25 assists. Junior
Ellie Laird had the team-high in digs with 15 on the defensive side of the net. Boling, Freeman, Ohuabunwa, and Jones each had two block assists on the night.
WashU has a quick turnaround and will travel to North Central on Friday, Oct. 24 for a mid-day contest with the Cardinals at 12:30 p.m. The Bears will then stay in the area when they move over to Chicago for the UAA Round Robin #3 on Sunday, Oct. 26, where they will face Brandeis and No. 12 Emory.
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