From Washington University Athletics
The No. 4-ranked Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team picked up its 10th straight win with a 25-20, 25-19, 25-21 win at Webster University Wednesday evening.
Junior Allison Zastrow led the Bears with six kills on seven attacks in the first set as Washington U. hit .310 (18-5-42) to win 25-20. Webster took the early lead in the set, building a 10-6 lead. After a timeout by the Bears, sophomore Amanda Palucki hammered a kill down the line and freshman Emily Richardson followed with a kill to cut the lead to 10-8. After a side-out by the Gorloks, Zastrow and sophomore Caroline Dupont teamed up for a block to start a 4-0 run for the Bears to take the lead. The teams traded points to a 20-19 lead for Washington U., before kills by Dupont and sophomore Alex Sheredy pushed the lead to 22-19. Back-to-back kills by Zastrow finished the set for the Bears.
The Bears' came out firing offensively in the second set, and finished with a .400 (16-4-30) attack percentage in the set. Kills by junior Jackie Nelligan and Richardson gave the Bears an early 6-3 lead, and another kill by Richardson a few plays later extended the lead to 12-4. Washington U. continued to control the set, and a block by Zastrow and Dupont made it 22-14 in favor of the Bears. Webster rallied to cut the lead to 22-18, but Dupont got a kill after a timeout and the Bears held on for the 25-19 win to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Washington U. held a 6-5 lead in the third set before kills by Richardson and Palucki, and an ace serve by Kalehua Katagiri made it 9-5. Junior Cassie Wang served six straight points in the Bears' 7-0 run that extended their lead to 16-6. After Washington U. took an 18-9 lead, Webster answered with its own 6-0 run to pull to within 18-15. A kill by Zastrow ended the Gorloks' run, and Washington U. went on to win 25-21 on a kill by Dupont.
Washington U. finished with a .297 (50-15-118) attack percentage in the match. Dupont equaled her season-high with 14 kills on .480 attacking (14-2-25), while also tallying five digs and two blocks. Zastrow added 10 kills, and Richardson had a season-best eight kills while hitting .615 (8-0-13) in the match. Palucki chipped in with seven kills and four digs. Wang recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 27 assists and 14 digs, and senior Lindsay Juriga added 16 assists and four digs. Katagiri led the Bears defensively with 15 digs, including eight in the third set.
Washington U. improved to 18-2 with the win, while Webster fell to 9-8 on the season.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. leads the all-time series against Webster 23-0 … The Bears have now posted double-digit win streaks in each of the last 28 seasons, dating to 1986 … Washington U. is 14-0 this season when taking a 2-0 lead in the match.