The Wash. U. Bears celebrate a 3-0 straight set victory over Westminster, Wednesday night at the Wash. U. Field House. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Westminster | 14 | 17 | 19 |
| Wash. U. | 25 | 25 | 25 |
Steven Millbrook
Staff Writer
ST. LOUIS, MO — The No. 7-ranked Washington University women’s volleyball team closed out its 2022 home regular season slate in style on Wednesday evening with a 3-0 sweep over Westminster in non-conference play.
The Bears claimed a 25-14, 25-17, 25-19 victory to improve to 26-3 on the year, and also finish the regular season at the Wash. U. Field House with a perfect 17-0 record.
In addition, Wash. U. won its fourth consecutive game as it dropped only eight sets in total at home this year.
Statistically, Wash. U. was dominant on Wednesday, producing 42 kills with a .262 hitting mark. Westminster finished the contest with 18 hitting errors and finished the match hitting .011 as a team.
Lily Steinbach led the Bears behind a career-high 12 kills with a .611 hitting clip on 18 total attacks.
Lane Bohrer recorded nine kills and a team-high 17 digs, while Michaela Bach added seven kills and nine digs defensively.
Lucy Davis registered six kills and Zoe Foster chipped in with five kills and a solo block.
Sam Buckley led the Bears in assists with 36, while also tallying six digs and Taryn Gurbach notched eight digs in the victory.
In the opening set, Wash. U. posted 14 kills as a team and pushed its way in front with a 6-2 lead in the early going.
The Blue Jays trimmed the lead down to just a point at 9-8, but Wash. U. quickly stormed back ahead with a 7-2 scoring run for a 16-10 advantage.
Leading 16-13, Wash. U. closed out the opening frame on a 9-1 run for a 25-14 set victory.
Wash. U. did not slow down in the second set, collecting 16 kills altogether as a team for a match-best .323 hitting mark.
The Bears pulled ahead 6-1 right from the start but Westminster would fight back and even the set at 10-10.
A 10-3 scoring run from Wash. U. would extend the Bears’ lead out to 20-13 before a kill from Steinbach followed by a service ace from Bach gave Wash. U. a 25-17 set win for a 2-0 lead.
In the third, the Bears shook off a slow start as it went back-and-forth with both teams trading multiple leads.
Later on in the frame the score was even at 13-13, Steinbach came up huge again for the Bears with two additional kills, while multiple errors from the Blue Jays and a kill from Abby Li put Wash. U. in front 20-16.
The Bears would not trail the rest of the way and would win the final three points of the set on a kill from Tori Taylor, an Amanda Gild service ace, and an attack error from Westminster to seal the match.
Wash. U. will return to action on Saturday, with a pair of matches in Greencastle, Ind., against Transylvania and DePauw.
The UAA Championship Tournament will begin next weekend, with matches scheduled to be played in New York City at NYU.