From Washington University Athletics
The No. 19 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team showed a true tenacious effort refusing to let a discouraging 0-2 hole against No. 5 Juniata College ruin its day, rallying to secure an upset 3-2 victory over the Eagles at the Wittenberg Invitational. The Bears fell in its second match of the day to Elmhurst, ranked No. 22 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll.
WashU (6-6 Overall) has faced several nationally ranked programs thus far this season and was unable to pick up a victory until the unlikely rally against Juniata (6-2 Overall). The victory was followed by a sweep of the Bears against Elmhurst (6-3 Overall).
WashU was inconsistent throughout the two matches, not just in comparison of the two separate contests but also within them. At moments the attack was strong, finding weaknesses within the opposition but at other moments self destructive with errors. However the positives outweighed the negatives of the night. WashU captured its first victory over a ranked opponent on the season and in a match with their backs against the wall, trailing 0-2 of the best of three contest.
Match 1: WashU 3 – Juniata 2 (19-25, 16-25, 25-17, 30-28, 15-13)
Freshman Zoe Baxter played an important role in the Bears come from behind victory, filling in as the libero in sets three through five. The first year player finished with 20 digs, including 15 in WashU's set victories. Baxter routinely
Also stepping up for the Bears was Shannon Gurley, another first year student-athlete. The Phoenix, Ariz – native totaled 16 kills to lead the Bears during the first match.
WashU fell behind early in the match because of poor hitting. During the first two sets the Bears totaled 12 errors compared compared to 17 kills.
The Bears fell behind 6-3 to open the third set before chipping away at the Eagles lead. An ace from sophomore Loren Shin pushed the lead to Bears favor and WashU never looked back, with a 16-14 advantage.
Down the crucial stretch where WashU pulled away, Lauren Fournier aced a ball and Gurley killed the ball on a set from Julianne Malek. An error from the Eagles put the Bears on the winning side, closing out the set 25-17.
The fourth set could have went in either direction, but the Bears persevered to emerge on top with an extra point set four win.
WashU trailed 21-19 before a few errors mixed with two kills by Gurley sparked the Bears comeback. The Bears then sparked its own multiple point lead on a kill from senior middle hitter Caroline Dupont but the two teams were unable to take a two point advantage down the stretch until WashU closed out the scoring of set four with kills from Rexi Sheredy and Dupont.
The Bears carried their momentum into the fifth and decisive set claiming a 6-3 advantage early on behind some great strikes from Ifeoma Ufondu. However the match was far from over as the Eagles put together their own run, pulling ahead 10-9.
The Red & Green demonstrated great determination as Dupont and Gurley's kills combined with Chloe Stile's ace put the Bears within a single point of an unlikely match victory, 14-11 lead which was postponed for three nerve racking points. The victory was secured on a service error by the Eagles, giving the Bears their first victory of the season over a ranked opponent.
Gurley and Dupont exceeded 20 kills combined, while Gurley set a new career high of 16 with Dupont contributing 11 total. Stile set her careet best with 39 assists to pace the offense.
Despite zero total blocks on the contest, the Bears were disruptive at the net. Several block attempts nearly scored points for WashU but desperate point saving plays from the Eagles eliminated any defensive scores. Baxter led the group with 20 digs while Sheredy and Stile also finished with a large volume of digs, 14 and 13 respectively.
Match 2: No. 22 Elmhurst 3 – No. 19 WashU 0 (21-25, 30-32, 20-25)
The Bears offense was strong at points but weak at others in a highly inconsistent contest. The team totaled 46 kills during three sets, generally an indication of a good night. However the team also negated 26 of those points with errors.
When Dupont attacked the ball, the Bears were in great hands. She finished the match with an impressive .476 hitting percentage on 12 kills from 21 attempts. Gurley and Ufondu had a large number of kills for the Bears, combining for 21.
Defensively WashU totaled 65 digs of which 39 came from Baxter, Sheredy and Shin. Ufondu was able to get the first two blocks of the tournament for the Bears.
The Blue Jays, who fell earlier in the day to WashU's afternoon competition tomorrow – No. 1 California Lutheran, rallied for five straight points to take the lead and eventual game one victory.
In its second extra point set of the night, WashU wound up on the losing end this time against Elmhurst. WashU claimed a 26-25 advantage, putting itself within a single point of tying the match at one game apiece, however an error erased that chance. The two teams traded multiple points until the Blue Jays closed out the scoring with two straight kills.
In the third and final set of day one at Wittenberg, Gurley nearly brought the team back from a hole late in the match. The freshman tallied three kills in a seven point swing which put the Bears ahead 20-18. But the Bears sealed their fate with five errors in the final run by the Blue Jays to close the match.