From Washington University Athletics
The No. 9 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team split its University Athletic Association (UAA) matches Sunday afternoon, defeating New York University in straight sets prior to falling to No. 12 Emory University in the Skibo Gym.
WashU exits the UAA Round Robin 2 with and 18-5 overall record, including 5-2 in UAA play. NYU dropped to 14-11 overall and 2-5 in the UAA and Emory improved to 17-5 overall with a 6-1 UAA record.
The Bears secured the third seed for the 2018 UAA Championship, while Emory secured the top seed. Chicago is second and the fourth through eighth seeds are as follow: Carnegie Mellon, Case Western Reserve, NYU, Rochester and Brandeis.
Match 1: WashU 3 – NYU 0
Junior right side Hannah Turner had a match-high 12 kills while hitting at a .526 clip. Senior middle hitter Julianne Malek also reached double figures in kills with 10 and junior middle hitter Leila King led the match with a .600 hitting percentage. Sophomore setter Kirby Knapp dished out 37 assists.
Malek led the group with four blocks, while junior libero Zoe Baxter totaled a match-high 19 digs. Senior defensive specialist Natalie Stephanus added 13 digs.
Set 1: WashU 25 – NYU 14
After 14 points were scored in the first set WashU had a double digit lead, 12-2. The senior tandem of Malek and outside hitter Ifeoma Ufondu propelled the Bears lopsided first set win. Ufondu recorded eight kills on 15 attempts while Malek added four with no errors on five attempts.
Set 2: WashU 25 – NYU 20
The Violets pulled within two points of WashU, who held an 19-17 lead. A block from Malek and sophomore outside hitter Tricia Brown initiated five straight Bears points. Knapp recorded an ace on the run and assisted on Turner's kill to close the set.
Set 3: WashU 25 – NYU 21
The Bears scored the first five points of the third set but NYU rallied to take a 14-13 lead. Back-to-back kills by Turner and senior right side Lauren Martin put WashU back ahead. The Bears did not look back as Turner tallied two of the Bears final three points on kills.
Match 2: Emory 3 – WashU 0
Turner led the Bears in the match against Emory with seven kills on 16 attempts. Baxter tied with Emory's Elyse Thompson for a match-high 11 digs.
Set 1: Emory 25 – WashU 19
King led the WashU attack in the first set with four kills but the Bears committed six attacking errors and three reception errors. WashU and Emory were tied 10-10 before four consecutive points by the Eagles gave Emory the momentum for a 25-19 first set win.
Set 2: Emory 25 – WashU 18
Knapp assisted back-to-back kills by Brown and Turner which gave WashU a 5-4 lead early on in the second set and she recorded a kill to even the set at 9-9 but Emory limited the Bears attack to just three kills for the remainder of the set.
Set 3: Emory 25 – WashU 20
Freshman Michaela Bach was the lone Bear to floor more than one attack. In addition to two kills, she also added a solo block and two block assists but Emory never trailed in the third and final set, ultimately winning 25-20.