ATLANTA, Ga. – They might have switched courts, but the No. 5 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team did not let it affect them as they picked up a pair of wins on day one of the UAA Round Robin #1 on Saturday.
The Bears opened with a 3-2 win over RV New York University before cruising to a 3-0 sweep of Rochester in the afternoon contest.

WashU 3, NYU 2

WashU opened up the weekend with their first ranked UAA opponent of the season and came away with the 26-24, 14-25, 25-22, 26-28, 15-11 win.

The first set saw the teams keep close with one another, with NYU holding a slim 11-10 lead. However, a 5-0 run by the Bears, started by a kill from first-year Nia Jones and capped by a kill from senior Anna Freeman, saw WashU ahead by four. Later, trailing by four at 20-16, the Violets used a 5-1 run of their own to even the set at 21-21. NYU would deny the first two set points by WashU before a kill by Freeman and a Violet attacking error got WashU to 26-24 for the lead, 1-0.

NYU answered to start the second set and took a 9-2 lead early and slowly pulled away for a 21-10 lead. The teams went back and forth for the next eight points before the Violets leveled the match with a 25-14 set two win.

In a reversal to start the third, WashU took a 14-4 lead over NYU. The Bears kept NYU at bay at 21-12 before a 4-0 and 5-0 run pulled the Violets back within just two at 24-22. An NYU attack error once again closed out the set in favor of the Bears 25-22, putting WashU just one set away from the win at 2-1.

Small runs controlled most of the fourth set with WashU and NYU going back and forth as the Violets led by two at 14-12. WashU eventually retook the lead on a 3-0 run at 21-20, capped by a kill from junior Anaia Montaque-Harrison. NYU gathered a set point at 24-23 and over the next six points had two more; each time the Bears spoiled it. Ultimately, NYU was able to tie the match with the 28-26 set four win.

Forcing a deciding fifth set, the Violets took a quick 6-3 lead to start the final set. However, a 5-1 stretch by WashU gave them back the lead at 8-7. NYU regained their lead at 10-9 after the teams had switched ends of the court, and the game was tied at 11-11; essentially a race to four for the win.

Montaque-Harrison took over at that point, scoring the final four points of the set with three kills and a block, along with Jones, giving WashU the 15-11 set five win.

Freeman led the Bears with 16 kills and nearly had a double-double with eight digs. Montaque-Harrison also reached double-figure kills with 12.

Senior Sam Buckley finished with 49 assists and seven digs, while both junior Ellie Laird and first-year Isabel Campie reached double-figure digs with 22 and 14, respectively.

WashU 3, Rochester 0

Despite a close first set, WashU controlled most of the match against the Yellowjackets.

The teams traded points early in the first set with the contest tied at 4-4. That is when the Bears used a small run to jump ahead by three and eventually extended their lead up to six at 16-10. UR responded with a 4-0 run to pull back within two, but WashU responded with a 5-0 run to take their biggest lead to that point at 21-14. The Bears earned a set point off a block by Freeman and Jones, but the Yellowjackets rattled off five points to get back within three at 24-21. However, a kill by Freeman sealed the first set 25-21.

UR took a very early lead in the second set over WashU at 3-2, but a 6-1 run gave the Bears an 8-4 lead that they never gave up. Now leading 12-9, an 8-0 run by WashU, started by a kill from Freeman and capped by a pair of UR attack errors, put the Bears ahead 20-9.

The Yellowjackets staved off one match point before a service error put the Bears in front 2-0 with a 25-12 set two win.

The third set saw WashU lead from a 4-0 start until the Bears capitalized on their first match point for a 25-16 set three win, giving WashU the sweep 3-0. In the set, UR trailed by as many as 10 and never got any closer than eight late in the set (24-16).

As a team, WashU led in kills (38-30), aces (7-4), blocks (4-1), and assists (35-24).

Junior Leah Oyewole reached double-digit kills for the Bears with 11. Buckley finished the sweep with 31 assists, while Laird had 12 digs to lead the defensive effort.

WashU will be back on the court tomorrow, Sunday, Sept. 28, when they take on Chicago in the final contest of the weekend. Match time with the Maroons is scheduled for 12 p.m. ET.

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