OSHKOSH, Wis. – In a match that started off rough for both teams, the No. 21 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team eventually reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2016, when they were national runner-up, with a 3-0 sweep of No. 22 Dubuque on Friday afternoon in Oshkosh.
The win moves the Bears to 24-8 on the season, as WashU has yet to drop a set in the NCAA Tournament after sweeping Saint Benedict in the First Round on Thursday.
The Spartans opened the first set quickly with a 4-0 run. WashU slowly chipped away at the lead before eventually tying the score at 10-10. After trading points back and forth through the midpoint of the opening set, Dubuque took their largest lead at 22-17. The Bears answered with three straight points to pull within two before the Spartans earned a set point at 24-21.
This time, it was WashU that made a large run with five unanswered points, including a Spartan attack error, a service ace by first-year
Avery Reed, a block by junior
Naya Ohuabunwa and
Eva Boling, a kill from
Abby Krause, and a kill by Ohuabunwa to claim the first set 26-24.
After WashU took the first point of the second set, Dubuque once again started their scoring with four straight points to take a 4-1 lead. The teams traded points nearly point for point, neither being able to gather more than a two-point lead until the Bears went up 22-19 after a 5-0 run. This time, WashU got the first set point with the score at 24-21, but after a pair of Spartan points, a kill by junior
Leah Oyewole closed out the second set 25-23, giving the Bears a 2-0 match lead.
The third set was much kinder to WashU, as the Bears never trailed in the set. After going on a 5-1 run and taking a 9-4 lead, WashU forced Dubuque to take a timeout. When it looked like momentum might have shifted in favor of the team from Iowa, it went right back to the Bears. Maintaining a five-point lead, WashU eventually saw that lead grow to seven at 20-13. The Spartans were able to get back within five at 21-16, but WashU went on to score four of the final five points, including the kill by first-year
Nia Jones, to close out the set 25-17 and the match 3-0.
Both teams saw low attack percentages through the first two sets, with neither above .200. However, in the third set, WashU collected 17 kills on just three errors for a .341 percentage to close out the match. This was while holding Dubuque to just a .127 attack percentage for the match.
Ohuabunwa led the Bears with a match-high 14 kills, while Oyewole also reached double-digit kills with 12. Senior
Sam Buckley dished out assists on 33 of the 42 WashU kills on the day. Junior
Ellie Laird tied her season-high for digs in a three-set match with 24.
WashU will play the winner of No. 3 Wis.-Oshkosh and No. 25 Gustavus Adolphus in the Sweet 16 tomorrow, Saturday, November 22 at 5 p.m. The winner of that match will advance to the Elite 8 next weekend at the Shirk Center in Bloomington, Ill., hosted by Illinois Wesleyan.
The Bears dropped both regular-season matches against UWO and Gustavus Adolphus. WashU dropped a 3-1 match to the Titans while the Gusties took their match in five sets.
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