WALTHAM, Mass. – A year after reaching the final, the No. 17 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team is making a return trip to the championship match with another chance to claim a UAA title after picking up a pair of 3-0 shutouts on Saturday in the 2025 UAA Tournament.
WashU 3, Brandeis 0
The Bears looked to get another 3-0 sweep of the Judges after claiming the regular-season matchup without dropping a set. And that is exactly what they did to open the UAA tournament.
After WashU took an early lead in the first set, Brandeis was able to pull within one at 7-6. A string of two points for the Bears saw their lead expand to four before the Judges got back within one at 16-15. However, that was the closest they would get after WashU pulled away and claimed the first set on its first set point with a block by seniors
Sam Buckley and
Eva Boling, 25-19.
Brandeis would take a quick 6-3 lead to start the second, but a 7-1 run by the Bears saw WashU jump ahead 10-7. The teams then traded the next five points before the Bears used two 6-0 runs to get their first set point. The Judges were able to save two before a kill by junior
Naya Ohuabunwa put the Bears ahead 2-0 with a 25-13 set two win.
With WashU leading 8-5 in the third, Brandeis used a quick 4-0 run to take their first and only lead of the set. The Bears responded with their own 4-0 run and four points later secured their second 4-0 run to pull ahead 17-11. Eventually extending the lead to 10 on a match point at 24-14, the Bears closed out the match on a kill by Buckley, 25-17.
Buckley finished the match with a double-double (31 assists, 10 digs). Ohuabunwa led all with 10 kills.
WashU 3, NYU 0
It was back and forth to start the first set with the Violets before it became a set of runs midway through. With the set tied up at 11-11 after the teams traded 4-0 runs, it was WashU who pulled ahead 17-11 with another run, this one of a 6-0 nature. It was just enough before the two teams decided to go back to trading points before the Bears closed out the set 25-18 on an NYU attack error.
The second set saw the Bears score early and often, taking a 16-10 lead. However, the Violets answered with an 8-0 run to take the lead 18-16. But much like they had all day, WashU answered with their own 6-1 lead to jump back ahead 22-19. The teams traded points once again with NYU getting within two at 23-21. A Violet service error and a kill by first-year
Nia Jones, however, gave the Bears a 2-0 lead as the teams headed to the third set, 25-21.
The early portion of the third set once again saw WashU take an early lead. This time the Bears would not give up a large run to the Violets but instead went back to trading points that eventually saw NYU pull within one at 22-21. However, a Violet attack error, a kill by first-year
Abby Krause, and a service ace from Laird sealed the second 3-0 sweep of the day, 25-21.
Both Ohuabunwa and Krause finished in double-digit kills with 10 each. Buckley finished the match with 30 assists, totaling 61 on the day. Junior
Ellie Laird (24) and first-year
Avery Reed (10) each had double-figure digs.
With the wins, WashU advances to the UAA Championship match against No. 4 seed Carnegie Mellon on Sunday, Nov. 16. The Tartans defeated top-seeded Chicago in the other semifinal, 3-0, to earn the right to take on the Bears. The title match is set for a 12:30 p.m. ET first serve.
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