From Washington University Athletics
The No. 9 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team opened the UAA Championship Tournament with two big wins over Rochester and Carnegie Mellon to punch its ticket to the UAA Championship match tomorrow afternoon.
The Bears defeated Rochester 25-12, 21-25, 25-16, 25-12 and then rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Carnegie Mellon in dramatic fashion 25-12, 23-25, 23-25, 25-17, 15-10.
Heading into Saturday, WashU sits at 29-4 overall and will face Emory in the UAA title match at 1 p.m. EST. WashU will look to capture its 23rd UAA title in program history with a win.
In addition, senior Taryn Gurbach reached 1,000 career digs following Friday's competition, becoming just one of 23 players ever in program history to achieve such a feat.
WashU vs Rochester
WashU dominated the opening set 25-12, posting a .565 hitting clip with 14 combined team kills.
The Bears established their presence up front early on in the first set, pushing ahead 11-4. Moments later, WashU led 12-6 and used an 8-1 scoring run after a barrage of kills and UR errors put the Bears in command at 20-7.
Both Michaela Bach and Lane Bohrer registered four kills apiece in the opening frame, and the Bears cruised to a 25-12 set win.
Rochester answered back in the second with its best hitting clip of the day (.314) and added 12 team kills. The Yellowjackets took an early 12-10 lead before extending their lead out to 18-15.
WashU cut the deficit down to just 20-18 but were unable to reduce the lead any smaller, and UR won the second set 25-21.
The Bears got a much better effort collectively in the third set, producing 12 kills and no hitting errors.
WashU never trailed throughout the duration of the set and quickly pounced on an 8-3 advantage through the first 11 points.
WU sprinted ahead to a double-digit advantage at 21-11 following a 13-8 scoring run. Kills from Paris Nix and Bach would seal the set for the Bears at 25-16 for a 2-1 lead.
After shaking off a slow start in the fourth set and trailing 4-3, the Bears used a 6-0 run to go back in front at 9-4. The Bears would not trail the rest of the match and paced their lead to an 18-12 margin, before using a 7-0 run to close out the set and match.
WU completed the contest with a .348 hitting mark with 48 team kills, six service aces, and four blocks.
For the match, Bohrer tallied a double-double of 18 kills and 10 digs, along with two blocks. Michaela Bach added eight kills and six digs, while both Zoe Foster and Lily Steinbach reached seven kills apiece.
Defensively, Elise Gilroy led WashU with 14 digs, marking the 14th time this season Gilroy has recorded double figures in digs.
Sam Buckley provided a team-best 40 assists and also notched 12 digs in the victory, while Taryn Gurbach collected 11.
WashU vs Carnegie Mellon
The Bears battled against the Tartans in the semifinal round, and it was a great, back-and-forth battle that went all the way down to the wire.
WashU got off to a fantastic start in the opening set, totaling 16 kills with just three hitting errors.
Leading 10-7, the Bears began to pull away after compiling a 12-3 scoring run to push their advantage out to 22-10.
WashU did not let up and continued to attack aggressively, finishing off the opening set at 25-12 after winning the final three points of the set.
In the second frame, it was a see-saw battle with seven scoring ties and four different lead changes. The Bears had their best hitting numbers of the day with a .303 percentage mark, but were unable to make it a 2-0 set lead.
Despite holding leads of 17-14 and 20-17, CMU fought its way back and cut the lead down to 21-20. After a kill from Bohrer gave the Bears a 22-20 edge, the Tartans responded with a 5-1 run to close out the set and even the match.
Carnegie Mellon made things difficult for the Bears in the third set, as WU trailed the entire way. The Tartans pulled ahead 5-0 putting pressure on the Bears early.
WashU continued to give a strong effort and kept it close at sliced the deficit down to just two points three separate times at 18-16 and 21-19, before making it a one-point set at 24-23. However, the Tartans would once again hold off WU and closed out the set by taking the next point on a kill.
CMU carried its momentum over into the fourth set and had the Bears on the ropes after flying ahead with a 6-0 lead.
Following a Bears timeout, WashU regrouped and regained the lead with an 8-0 run of its own.
From that point on, there were eight different ties and four lead changes, as the Bears looked to force a fifth set.
Trailing 17-15, the Bears found their groove and ended the set flawlessly with a 10-0 scoring run to regain the momentum. Throughout the run, WashU produced seven kills with Bach being responsible for five of them.
In the final set, the Bears never trailed. WashU built a quick 3-0 lead after kills from Steinbach and Bach and a block from both Bohrer and Steinbach.
Leading 6-2, WashU continued to push on ahead inching closer to victory as they led by a commanding score of 13-5.
The Tartans used a 4-0 run to make it a 13-9 contest, but the Bears would take two of the next three points on kills from Sells and then Steinbach on match point.
Statistically, the Bears were impressive in their semifinal match, finishing with 64 kills, a season-best 14 blocks, and 10 service aces.
Bach led WU with a team-high 18 kills, as three Bears reached double figures in the kills column.
Joining Bach was Bohrer, who had another huge match and tallied 16 kills, 10 digs, and six block assists, marking her second consecutive double-double of the day.
Jasmine Sells registered 10 kills, while Foster and Steinbach each notched nine kills apiece. Foster and Steinbach also combined for 13 block assists, with Foster collecting five and Steinbach finishing with 8.
Gurbach led the Bears defensively with a match-high 25 digs and Sam Buckley provided a team-high 35 assists along with 16 digs.
Elise Gilroy recorded 14 digs and a match-best six service aces.