WALTHAM, Mass. – The No. 17 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team made the finals of the UAA Tournament for the second straight season; however, it was stopped by RV Carnegie Mellon in the title match.
The Bears reached the final after sweeping both host Brandeis, 3-0, and NYU, 3-0. The Tartans made the championship after winning 3-2 over Case Western Reserve and top-seeded Chicago, 3-0.
CMU jumped out early in the first set, using a 7-1 run to take an 8-3 lead. A quick 3-0 run by the Bears brought it back within two before the teams began trading points back and forth. WashU managed to get a few 3-0 runs in the middle of the set to eventually take the lead 18-17. The Bears carried this until 21-20 before CMU would score five of the last six points of the set to take the 1-0 match lead, 25-22.
The second set saw WashU control the early portion, responding to a 3-0 run by CMU with its own to take a 9-6 lead. The Tartans trailed until a 6-0 run pushed them ahead by four, 17-13. The Bears answered with a 5-1 run to tie the score at 19-19. Back-to-back kills by junior
Leah Oyewole and first-year
Nia Jones got WashU within one point at 23-22 before the Tartans scored the final two points to take the 2-0 match lead, 25-22.
An early push by CMU saw them take a 5-1 lead to start the third set. The Bears made quick work and pulled within one at 7-6. The Tartans responded with a 3-0 run before, a few points later, going on a 5-0 stretch to distance themselves at 16-8. The Bears were able to pull within six at 20-14 on a kill by first-year
Abby Krause and a Tartan attack error before CMU closed out the match with a 25-15 set three win.
Both Oyewole and Krause finished in double figures for kills with 12 and 11, respectively. First-year
Avery Reed led the Bears with 16 digs while junior
Ellie Laird added 13.
WashU will now wait until Monday, Nov. 17 at 12 p.m. CT when the NCAA announces the tournament selections.
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