Wash. U. senior hitter Michaela Bach goes up for a kill during Wednesday’s NCAA Division III women’s volleyball match against Illinois College. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wash. U. | 25 | 25 | 20 | 25 | (3) |
| Illinois College | 20 | 15 | 25 | 15 | (1) |
DeMarcus Dixon
Staff Writer
Jacksonville, Ill. – The No. 5 Washington University women’s volleyball team bounced back from suffering its first loss of the season last Friday, by earning a 3-1 victory Wednesday night, on the road at Illinois College.
The Bears, who had won their first 14 matches of the season, improved to 15-1 by defeating the Lady Blues by scores of 25-20, 25-15, 20-25, 25-15.
Collectively, WashU registered a season-high 61 kills altogether in the duration of Wednesday’s contest. With 775 total team kills on the year, the Bears remain in first in the UAA and are statistically in the top-20 nationally in the category.
Jasmine Sells had a big performance and led the Bears with a team-best 16 kills, along with 10 digs and three blocks. Sells, the current UAA leader in total kills (188), reached double-digit kills for the 11th time this year.
Sam Buckley totaled her seventh match this year with at least 40 assists, finishing with 45. The first-year from Naperville, Ill. ranks ninth nationally in assists per set (10.24) and also notched 12 digs, marking her seventh double-double of the year.
The Bears also had production up front from Lucy Davis, Paris Nix, and Tori Taylor, who finished with nine, eight, and seven kills respectively.
Defensively, Taryn Gurbach led WU with 15 digs, while Michaela Bach added 11 digs, five kills, and a team-high three service aces.
In the opening set, WashU got off to a slow start, falling behind 13-8. The margin increased out to 16-10, before the Bears took over the set for good.
WashU used a 14-2 run over the next 16 points, winning nine of those points off kills to regain the momentum of the match.
A kill from Bach on set point (24-20) marked the 17th kill of the set for the Bears as they took a 1-0 advantage.
It was all WashU in the second frame with the Bears out-hitting IC .294 to .047. The Bears never trailed in the set and after holding an 8-6 lead, used a key 8-3 scoring run to pull away from the Lady Blues to increase the lead out to 16-9.
The Bears kept their foot on the gas and once again pushed the margin out to 23-14, before a service ace from Nix ended the set at 25-15.
Illinois College fought back in the third set and had its best hitting percentage of the match as the Lady Blues collected 16 kills.
While WashU finished with 15 kills and a .314 hitting clip, the Bears trailed the entire set and fell behind early 11-5.
Trailing 16-9, the Bears rallied back to reduce the gap down to just a margin of 21-17, but it was not enough to secure a comeback, as the Lady Blues finished off the set moments later at 25-20.
In the fourth set, Illinois College maintained another early 12-9 lead. However, much like the opening set, the Bears bounced back in a hurry and dominated, using a 16-3 run to win the set, including a 10-0 scoring stretch in the final 10 points to seal the win.
WashU had 17 kills in the fourth, with Sells leading the way with six in the frame.
WashU will next get set to travel to Pittsburgh on Sunday for the UAA Round Robin #2. The Bears will matchup with Rochester and No. 6 Emory at 9 & 11 a.m. EST.
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