ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The No. 3 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team came back from two sets down to complete the reverse sweep of Illinois College on Wednesday evening inside the Field House.
With the win, WashU improves to 21-3 overall heading into the final weekend of the regular season.
The Lady Blues jumped out early on the Bears, taking a quick 4-1 lead. But after WashU tied it at 4-4, IC would go right back up by three, 7-4. The Bears would stay within three to four points until late in the set. The Lady Blues led 19-17 and then scored six of the next eight points to take the first set, 25-19.
IC continued its momentum to start the second with a 5-1 lead. WashU responded with a 6-2 stretch to tie the game at 7-7. The Lady Blues responded with a 10-2 run of their own to expand their lead to 17-9. The Bears tried to chip away, getting within five at 20-15, but IC took a 2-0 match lead on its second set point, 25-18.
The third set was more of a reversal of the first two, with WashU going up 5-2 with a quick 5-0 run, capped by a kill from senior
Naya Ohuabunwa. After the Lady Blues got one point back, the Bears used an 8-0 run to put the set out of reach, 13-3.
A 6-0 run by WashU midway through the set put them up 21-6. Still up by 14, the Bears closed out the third set with a kill from first-year
Anya Mikhailenko and a service ace from senior
Ellie Laird, 25-9.
The fourth set saw the teams keep everything close and within two points of each other until WashU went up 8-4. IC pulled within one at 8-7 and again at 10-9. Leading 14-12, the Bears used a 3-0 stretch and a 5-0 run to go up by nine, putting the set out of reach once again.
WashU got back-to-back kills from senior
Leah Oyewole and
Anaia Montaque-Harrison to close out the set 25-15 and tie the match at 2-2.
The start of the fifth set was similar to the fourth, with neither team able to pull ahead by more than two until WashU went up 7-4. The teams then went point-for-point over the next eight points as the Bears maintained a three-point lead at 11-8.
The Lady Blues got back within one at 11-10, and WashU responded with two quick points of its own. A kill by IC was followed by a kill from Montaque-Harrison, and a Lady Blue error on match point completed the reverse sweep, 15-11, and the match 3-2.
Montaque-Harrison led all players with 12 kills. Mikhailenko finished with 35 assists, while sophomore
Nia Jones had eight total blocks and nearly had a double-double with nine kills.
Three Bears finished in double-figure digs, led by Laird's 21. Sophomores
Abby Krause and
Isabel Campie finished with 17 and 10 digs, respectively.
WashU is back on the road to close out the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 7, when it plays a tri-match at DePauw. The Bears first play Millikin at 1 p.m. ET before taking on host DePauw at 3 p.m. ET.
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