From Washington University Athletics
Junior Caroline Dupont accounted for 25 kills and a .649 attacking percentage to lead the No. 2-ranked Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team to a pair of three-set victories against New York University and University of Rochester at the first University Athletic Association (UAA) Round Robin Saturday afternoon at NYU.
WashU improved to 16-1 on the season and 2-0 in UAA play with the wins. The Bears finish the first UAA Round Robin by facing No. 16 University of Chicago at Noon (ET) Sunday in New York.
#2 WashU def. NYU 25-20, 25-17, 25-14
WashU used back-to-back blocks to cap a 5-1 run midway through the first set that opened up a 16-10 lead for the Bears. NYU got to within four at 21-17, but junior Amanda Palucki got a pair of kills to make it 23-18 in favor of WashU. An attacking error by the Violets gave WashU set-point. NYU was able to fight through two set points before senior Nkiru Udenzetooled the block for a kill to end the set with a 25-20 victory for WashU. Palucki and Udenze led the Bears with four kills each in the opening set.
In set two, the Bears built an early 12-8 lead on an ace by senior Allison Zastrow, only to have NYU cut the deficit to one at 12-11. The Bears then went on a 5-1 run to extend the lead to 17-12. An ace by the Violets brought them to within 17-15, but Dupont got a kill to spark an 8-2 run as the Bears finished with the 25-17 win. The third set was all WashU as the Bears hit .457 (18-2-35) as a team. Dupont's seventh kill gave the Bears match point, and freshman Ifeoma Ufondu ended the match with a kill as the Bears won 25-14 to get the sweep.
As a team, WashU finished with .295 attacking (45-14-105) in the match, compared with .089 attacking (27-18-101) for the Violets. The Bears also finished with a 5-0 block advantage in the match. Dupont led WashU with 13 kills while hitting .632 (13-1-19). Udenze and Palucki finished with eight kills each, and Udenze also accounted for three of WashU's six ace serves in the match. Zastrow notched a double-double with 38 assists and 10 digs. Sophomore Lauren Fournier led the Bears defensively with 13 digs, while junior Rexi Sheredy tallied 12 digs and six kills.
#2 WashU def. Rochester 25-23, 25-9, 25-11
The Yellowjackets played evenly with the Bears in the opening set as both teams started strong offensively. WashU never trailed, but Rochester played point-for-point from 16-16 to 23-23. The Bears finally got back-to-back points on a pair of kills by Sheredy to end the set with a 25-23 win. WashU finished with a .447 attacking percentage (19-2-38) in the opening set, while Rochester hit .375 (19-4-40).
WashU dominated the remainder of the match, limiting Rochester to negative attacking percentages in both the second and third sets. The Bears scored the first seven points of set two behind Zastrow's serving and extended the lead to 12-3 on another serving run by Sheredy. WashU had its first set-point opportunity at 24-7 before finishing with the 25-9 win. In the third set, the Yellowjackets tallied 10 attacking errors, and Palucki recorded five kills as the Bears won 25-11 to end the match.
The Bears finished with a season-best .380 attacking (45-7-100), while Rochester hit .085 (27-19-94). Dupont led the Bears with a .667 attacking percentage, tallying 12 kills on 18 swings without an error. Sheredy also had a big match offensively, finishing with 10 kills and a .500 attacking percentage (10-1-18), while also tallying seven digs and two aces. Palucki added nine kills, while Udenze finished with seven kills and a team-high nine digs. Zastrow finished with 40 assists and six digs in the win.
Bear Notebook: WashU improved to 301-18 (.944) all-time in UAA play, including 185-9 (.954) in Round Robins … The Bears are 44-2 all-time against NYU … WashU is now 49-1 all-time against Rochester and has won each of the last 47 meetings between the two teams … Dupont's 25 kills on the day brought her career total to 900.