OSHKOSH, Wis. – The No. 10 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team hit the road for the first time this season and traveled north to Oshkosh, Wis. for the Marty Petersen Invitational. The Bears opened with a single match on Friday afternoon against the host No. 6 Titans, 3-1.
The first set saw WashU take a quick 4-1 lead before UWO tied the score and went on to take a 9-7 lead of its own. The Bears responded with a quick four-straight points including a service ace from senior
Eva Boling and a solo block from classmate
Sam Buckley.
WashU extended their lead up to five at 17-12 on a pair of errors from the Titans. Leading 18-15, the Bears used another 4-0 run to jump ahead by seven at 22-15. UWO closed to within four at 24-20 but a kill by junior
Leah Oyewole, from Buckley, sealed the first set in favor of WashU.
Much like the first set, the early part of the second went back and forth with the Titans holding a slim 11-10 lead. However, they went on a 13-1 run to pull away before leveling the match at 1-1 with a 25-13 set win.
The third set saw neither team lead by more than three the entire way. WashU earned a set point at 24-21, but UWO scored five-straight points for the comeback set win 26-24, taking a 2-1 lead over the Bears.
The fourth set was very similar to the third as only one time did a team lead by three (UWO led 9-6). Once again WashU had a set point at 24-23, but a 3-0 run sealed the match win, 3-1, in favor of the Titans.
Oyewole led the offense for the Bears with 15 kills with a .424 hitting percentage. Buckley dished out a team-high 39 assists while junior
Ellie Laird doubled her career-high in digs with 32.
WashU will close the weekend with a pair of matches on Saturday, Sept. 6 beginning with a 12:30 p.m. contest with No. 14 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps before taking on Wis.-Stevens Point at 3 p.m.
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