From Washington University Athletics
The No. 10-ranked Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team earned a four-set win over Otterbein University (25-21, 30-28, 21-25, 25-20) and a sweep of Heidelberg University (25-18, 25-22, 25-12) Saturday afternoon on the second day of the Wittenberg Fall Classic.
Junior Allison Zastrow was named to the all-tournament team for the Bears. She finished the weekend with 43 kills, 11 blocks, 18 digs and 12 assists in the Bears' four matches. Washington U. (11-2) returns to action at Greenville College Tuesday, Sept. 16. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Greenville, Ill.
#10 Washington U. 3, Otterbein 1
The Bears got off to a strong start in the match, building a 10-5 lead on an attacking error by the Cardinals. A serving error by the Bears brought Otterbein to within 13-10, but Washington U. took advantage of a service error and three attacking errors by Otterbein to extend the lead to 17-11. The Cardinals got to within three at 21-18 and again at 23-20, but a kill by Zastrow gave the Bears a set-point opportunity. The Cardinals got a side-out, but followed with a ball-handling error to end the set as Washington U. won 25-21 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Otterbein took the early lead in set two, but Washington U. got a kill from junior Jackie Nelligan and an attacking error by the Cardinals to make the score 6-5 in favor of Otterbein. The Cardinals then went on an 8-2 run with two blocks, two aces and four kills to extend their lead to 14-7. After a timeout by the Bears, sophomore Caroline Dupont and junior Nkiru Udenze put away back-to-back kills to spark a 4-1 run that pulled Washington U. to within 15-11. Otterbein maintained its aggressiveness and extended its lead to as much as seven at 22-15. A kill by Nelligan off a quick set by senior Lindsay Juriga, followed by an attacking error by Otterbein made it 22-17 in favor of the Cardinals. Washington U. was whistled for being in the net, but sophomore Amanda Palucki tooled the block for a kill and junior Cassie Wang followed with an ace serve to make it 23-19. The Cardinals responded with a kill to make it 24-19. Washington U. battled through five set-point opportunities for the Cardinals to tie the score at 24-24 after back-to-back attacking errors by Otterbein, but a serving error by the Bears gave Otterbein another shot at set-point. Zastrow got a kill and the teams traded points until an attacking error by Otterbein gave the Bears their first set-point opportunity at 28-27. After a kill by Otterbein tied the score again, Nelligan got a kill off an overpass by the Cardinals and an attacking error on the following point gave the Bears the 30-28 win to go ahead 2-0 in the match.
In set three, Washington U. got an early lead and a solo block by Nelligan made it 9-7 in favor of the Bears. Otterbein went on a 9-0 run to turn the two-point deficit into a 16-9 lead. The Bears got as close as three at 23-20, but the Cardinals held on for a 25-21 win to send the match to a fourth set. Kills by Dupont and Zastrow, and an ace by Wang gave the Bears a quick 3-0 lead in the fourth set. Otterbein came back to tie at 5-5 and the teams played point-for-point until an attack by the Bears went long to give Otterbein a 17-16 lead. A serving error and back-to-back attacks into the net by Otterbein made the score 19-17 in favor of the Bears. The Cardinals cut the lead to 20-19 with a kill, but Udenze sliced a kill across the court and Dupont followed with a block to make it 22-19 Washington U. After a timeout by the Cardinals, Zastrow and Dupont teamed up for a block and Wang got her fifth ace serve of the match to give the Bears a match-point opportunity. A serve into the net gave Otterbein a side-out, but Zastrow ended the set with a kill to give the Bears a 25-20 win as Washington U. sealed its 10th match win of the season.
Washington U. finished with a .222 attacking percentage (52-20-144), while limiting Otterbein to .139 attacking (52-29-166) in the match. Nelligan led the Bears' offensive attack with 12 kills. Zastrow finished with 11 kills while hitting .364, and Dupont added 10 kills and five blocks while hitting .381. Wang tallied 28 kills to go with her season-high five aces, and Juriga added 15 assists and seven digs. Sophomore Kalehua Katagiri had a team-high 21 digs, while junior Alex Sheredy had 20 digs and nine kills, and senior Lauren Yung equaled her season-high with 14 digs.
#10 Washington U. 3, Heidelberg 0
Heidelberg jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the first set, but Washington U. began to chip away at the lead. A setter dump by Heidelberg made the score 15-12 in favor of the Student Princes, but Dupont slammed a kill off an overpass by Heidelberg to give the Bears a side-out. After an attacking error by Heidelberg, Zastrow got a pair of kills to put the Bears ahead 16-15. Heidelberg got a side-out after taking its first timeout, but a quick kill by Nelligan gave the Bears the lead back at 17-16. Two kills by Sheredy, along with a pair of blocks by the Bears made it five straight points for the Bears and gave them a 21-16 lead. The Student Princes got to within 22-18, but the Bears scored the final three points of the set, including an ace by Katagiri to win 25-18.
The teams played back-and-forth to a 15-15 tie in the second set before Washington U went on a 4-1 run to take a 19-16 lead. Udenze tipped around the block for a kill to make it 20-17 in favor of the Bears, but Heidelberg scored three straight points to tie the score at 20-20. After trading points to a 22-22 tie, Palucki put away a kill. An attacking error by Heidelberg, followed by a kill by Zastrow finished the set as the Bears won 25-22 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Washington U. took an early 5-3 lead, then scored four straight points to make it 9-3. The Student Princes rallied to cut the Bears' lead to 12-8. A kill by Palucki down the line ended Heidelberg's run, and Washington U. stretched the lead to 15-8 after a kill by Udenze and an attacking error by Heidelberg. A kill by the Student Princes made the score 17-11 in favor of Washington U., but the Bears got six kills, a block and an attacking error by Heidelberg to score eight of the final nine points to win the set 25-12 and finish the match.
Washington U. hit a season-best .390 (49-10-100) in the match, including .433 (14-1-30) in the third set. Udenze led the Bears with 11 kills on 16 attacks, while hitting .625. Nelligan added 10 kills and four blocks, while hitting .444, and Zastrow hit .471 on her way to nine kills. Dupont (seven kills, .417) and Palucki (four kills, .444) also hit above .400 in the match for the Bears. Wang finished with 25 assists, while Juriga added 12. Katagiri led the Bears defensively with 13 digs, and Sheredy tallied 10.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. leads the all-time series against Otterbein 2-0 … The Bears lead the all-time series against Heidelberg 3-0 … WUSTL improved to 4-0 in four-set matches with the win over Otterbein.