Vanessa Walby Garners 400th Career Win as No. 12 WashU Volleyball Sweeps Webster
With tonight's victory, head coach Vanessa Walby secured her 400th career victory. Between two institutions, Walby now has a career record of 400-140 (.741 winning percentage). In her 16 collegiate seasons, Walby has registered five 30+ win seasons and has advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament 11 times.
Behind a balanced offensive effort, WashU took down the Gorloks in straight sets (25-5, 25-16, 25-17) to boost their record to 19-7. With the loss, Webster's record now stands at 13-12 on the year.
The match saw several career marks for WashU. First year Mallory Dills recorded her first collegiate assists and digs, first year Megan Manaj notched her first collegiate kill, while first year Naya Ohuabunwa saw her first collegiate set played.
Senior Paris Nix, junior McKenzie Washington, and junior Laura Brambilla led the offensive attack as they each garnered a match-high six kills.
Sophomore Sam Buckley dished out a match-high 25 assists in the straight set sweep and completed her 14th double-double of the season with 11 digs.
Defensively, junior Elise Gilroy earned a team-high 12 digs.
WashU held the statistical advantage in a majority of the categories, including kills (42-20), aces (6-1), blocks (4-3), assists (38-18), and attack percentage (.278-.020).
In the opening set, the Bears raced out to the early 5-0 advantage on kills by Sells, Washington, and first year Leah Oyewole. With WashU ahead by a pair, 7-5, the Bears did not allow the Gorloks to tally another point. WashU went on a set-ending 18-point run to grab the first set by a final score of 25-5. First-year Ellie Laird was on the service line for all 18 Bears points. Nix torched back-to-back kills to end the opening frame.
Just like the first set, WashU jumped out to the 5-0 second set cushion. The Bears later went on a five-point run to expand the advantage to 12, 14-2. The run featured kills by sophomore Eva Boling, Davis, and Brambilla. With a comfortable six-point, 20-14 lead, the Bears put the set out of reach by notching four-straight tallied to give WashU a 24-14 advantage. A Gorlok attack error pushed the Bears to the 25-16 second set victory.
Looking for a sweep, WashU utilized an early six-point run to secure the 8-3 cushion. As the third set progressed, Webster trimmed WashU's advantage to 21-16. A first year Clair Redmon kill, followed by two straight Gorlok miscues gave the Bears the commanding, 24-16, advantage. Manaj dialed up the match-ending kill to seal Walby's 400th career victory, 25-17.