WashU Opens UAA Round Robin #1 With Wins Over NYU, Rochester
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.