The WashU Bears have won six straight and 18 of their last 20 matches. (Photo: Primo Greenway)
| NCAA Women’s Volleyball | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rose-Hulman (8-13) | 12 | 18 | 27 | (0) |
| #8 WashU (19-4) | 25 | 25 | 29 | (3) |
Steven Millbrook
Special to the Editor
CLAYTON, MO — The Washington University women’s volleyball team claimed its sixth straight win, when it defeated Rose-Hulman in straight sets (25-12, 25-18, 29-27), Wednesday evening at the WashU Field House.
The No. 8-ranked Bears won the first two sets with ease, but had to pull off a bit of a comeback to finish off the match.
WashU is now 19-4 on the season and along with owning a current six-game winning streak, the Bears have won 18 of their last 20 matches. In fact, since September began WashU is 18-2.
On Wednesday, every member of the team played in the match. It’s the third time this season, WashU has been able to play all 22 members of the team in the same match.
WashU’s Jasmine Sells goes up for an attack during Wednesday’s NCAA women’s volleyball game against Rose-Hulman. (Photo courtesy: Primo Greenway)
WashU jumped out early to a 7-1 lead in the first set. Several small runs by the Bears could not be counteracted by RHIT as WashU would take an 18-8 lead midway through the set. The teams traded the next five points with the Bears still maintaining a nine-point lead, 20-11. A Fightin’ Engineer service error close out the set for the Bears, 25-12.
It was much closer throughout most of the second set with the Bears having a 16-12 advantage. A 5-0 run by WashU would see that lead balloon to a 21-12 gap.
Not going away quickly, RHIT scored five of the next six to cut the lead back down to five at 22-17. However, the Bears responded winning three of the next four, capped by a kill from junior Anna Freeman, to close out the second set, 25-18.
The third set saw the reversal of the early portion of the second with the Fightin’ Engineers taking a four-point lead and then seeing it extend up to an18-10 midway through. The Bears pulled within five on a kill by graduate Lily Steinbach, 21-16. RHIT would then claim the next three points for their first set point of the match.
Needing to win the next eight-straight points to extend the set, the Bears got a service error from RHIT and then an attack error by the visitors. Two kills by Washington and one from first-year Emma Quast pulled WashU within three, 24-21.
Another RHIT attack error followed by a block from Quast and Steinbach, and a second kill from Quast tied the score up at 24-24. The Fightin’ Engineers would follow up with two more set points, the second at 26-15.
The Bears would score the next two points to earn their first match point of the set. After an RHIT kill, a kill from Quast and another visitor attack error saw WashU come back and earn the sweep, 29-27 and the match 3-0.
The match saw 13 different Bears hit home a kill, led by seven from each of Washington, grad student Lauren McCurley, and senior Jasmine Sells.
Junior Sam Buckley dished out a match-high 33 assists while both senior Elise Gilroy and Laird each scooped up double-figure digs with 14 and 10, respectively.
The Bears improved to 6-0 all-time against Rose-Hulman, having never dropped a set in the series.
WashU is back on the court on Saturday, October 19, when it will host the WashU Tri-Match event at the WashU Field House. The Bears, along with North Park and Wisconsin-Stevens Point will all play matches against one another.
WashU will play North Park in the first match of the day at 10:30 a.m., then end the day with a match against Wisconsin-Stevens Point at 3:30 p.m. UNP and UWSP will play each other in a match at 1 p.m.
2024 WASHU BEARS WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE
| Date | Time | At | Opponent | Location | Tournament |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 19, 2024 (Saturday) | 10:30 a.m. | Home | North Park | WashU Field House | WashU Tri |
| October 19, 2024 (Saturday) | 3:30 p.m. | Home | Wisconsin-Stevens Point | WashU Field House | WashU Tri |
| October 27, 2024 (Sunday) | 11 a.m. | Neutral | University of Chicago | Pittsburgh, Pa. / Wiegand Gymnasium | UAA Round Robin #3 |
| October 27, 2024 (Sunday) | 1 p.m. | Away | Carnegie Mellon | Pittsburgh, Pa. / Wiegand Gymnasium | UAA Round Robin #3 |
| October 31, 2024 (Thursday) | 7 p.m. | Away | Illinois Wesleyan | Bloomington, Ill. / Shirk Center | |
| November 6, 2024 (Wednesday) | 7 p.m. | Away | Greenville | Greenville, Ill. / H.J. Long Gymnasium | |
| November 9, 2024 (Saturday) | 10:30 a.m. | Home | DePauw | WashU Field House | WashU Tri |
| November 9, 2024 (Saturday) | 3:30 p.m. | Home | Millikin | WashU Field House | WashU Tri |
| November 15, 2024 (Friday) | TBA | Neutral | UAA Championships | Rochester, N.Y. / Louis Alexander Palestra | UAA Championships |