No. 13 WashU Upsets No. 3 Trinity
The No. 13 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team closed out its Texas trip with a big five-set win over No. 3 Trinity, 3-2, on Saturday. The Bears return to St. Louis with an 8-2 record as they ready for the first of three UAA round robin next weekend.
WashU won the match 20-25, 25-23, 25-12, 18-25, 15-8.
The first set started with the teams exchanging points back-and-forth. After tying it at 5-5, the Bears put up the next two points for a 7-5 edge over the Tigers.
Trinity pulled it even again at 7-7 and the set went on to be tied up eight more times. Tied at 18, Trinity scored the next four points for a 22-18 advantage before closing it out with two kills to take the first set 25-20.
The Tigers went up 8-2 to open up the second set and were up by as many as 12-5 before the Bears stormed back, starting with three points in a row on kills from sophomore Abby Krause, sophomore Nia Jones and first-year Anya Mikhailenko.
Down 23-18, the Bears closed out the set in a big way, going on a 7-0 run for the win. That run included three kills from senior Leah Oyewole, an ace from senior Ellie Laird and blocks from senior Anaia Montaque-Harrison and Jones.
After exchanging points to open the third set, the Bears went on a 6-0 run to take an 11-4 lead. In the run, Oyewole had three aces in a row. Another three points from WashU extended the Bears lead to 14-5.
The Tigers made it an 18-11 set before WashU scored six-straight including two kills from Oyewole. It was Oyewole who scored the final point, laying down a kill for the 25-12 set win.
Trinity went on a 6-0 run to open the fourth set before the Bears scored three in a row on kills from first-year Saoirse Henderson, Mikhailenko and Oyeweole. Another two points from WashU made it a two-point, 8-6 set.
The Tigers continued to hold a multi-point lead, going up by as many as seven. The Bears pulled within four, 18-14, but Trinity ended up pulling out the set 25-18 to force a fifth and final set.
Mikhailenko opened the fifth set with back-to-back aces to give WashU an early lead. The Tigers tied it up 2-2 before the Bears posted three-straight points for a 5-2 edge. A kill from Oyewole and an ace from Laird extended it to 7-3.
After Trinity scored two in a row to make it a two-point set (7-5), the Bears scored the next three for a 10-5 lead.
Up 13-8, WashU scored two points in a row to close things out, ending on a kill from Krause.
Oyewole finished with 19 kills while Krause had 12. Jones recorded seven blocks on the day. Mihailenko had a double-double of 41 assists and 16 digs, while also adding four blocks.