To quote an old adage, “Nothing is certain but death and taxes.” And the Washington University volleyball team. A 4-0 start to the season revealed flashes of last year’s success combined with the promise of this season. The Bears did not drop a single game throughout last weekend’s Washington University Classic.

Friday afternoon began with a match-up between the fifth-ranked Bears and Dominican University. Setting the tone early, the Bears tallied 14 points before Dominican was able to quell the onslaught. The Bears went on to win the game 30-6.

Senior middle-hitter Whitney Smith and junior outside hitters Emilie Walk and Haleigh Spencer led the evenly balanced offense by each registering more than 10 kills. Wash. U. controlled the remaining games 30-10 and 30-12 behind transfer setter Audra Janak. Janak totaled 29 assists, 4 kills, 9 digs, and 2 service aces in the commanding victory.

“Audra’s greatest challenge will be to execute our system of combination attacks that create one-on-one attack opportunities,” said Head Coach Rich Luenemann. “She’ll be expected to read opposing blockers but overall we were very pleased with her success over the weekend. She’s established a strong rapport with her attackers, and they have a ton of confidence in her.”

In the Friday evening game, the Bears faced University of Wisconsin-Platteville. Wash. U. took a quick lead in the first game when the defense began to step up. Walk finished the match with a team-high nine total blocks. The defense carried the team to a 30-17 first game win.

The second game proved tougher for the Bears. UW-Platteville pulled within three points (23-20) before a rowdy Red Alert crowd spurred on a Bears rally to take the game to 30-23.

“We really appreciated the vocal crowd. We always play better with that type of support. Hopefully the fans enjoyed our style of play and will return,” said Luenemann.

The Red and Green cruised to a victory in the third game (30-24). Janak was again a strong presence for the Bears, collecting four kills, 3 service aces, 7 digs, and 32 assists.

Sophomore right side hitter Nikki Morrison delivered 11 kills while Walk and Smith each added nine. Junior outside hitter Ellen Bruegge also added seven kills in her first weekend as a Bear.

“We have guns all along the net,” said Luenemann. “Everyone is capable of scoring and opposing teams can’t just focus on one or two players. Our balance will be one of our greatest strengths this season.”

The Bears stayed hot against Wartburg College on Saturday. Walk and Morrison collected five kills in the first game as the Bears took a 30-25 win. Walk continued to torment the Wartburg defense as she tallied 14 kills in the match. After a 30-17 second game win, the Bears put together an 11-point run to win the third game and the match 30-21.

Senior Whitney Smith added 11 kills and six blocks with the help of Janak who delivered another 25 assists. Spencer picked up 10 digs and senior Amy Bommarito collected nine digs en route to all-tournament team selections for both players. Spencer hit .421 with 50 digs and Bommarito did not miss a single serve reception in 68 attempts over the weekend.

“Haleigh [Spencer] is simply a rock. She is very proficient in every phase of the game, a superb attacker and a strong ball control player. Her all-around play is critical to our success,” said Luenemann.

In the closest match of the weekend, the Bears defeated Illinois Wesleyan University 30-23, 30-27 and 30-14. In a close first game, Spencer delivered seven of her total 10 kills. Fellow all-tournament team member Walk added 11 kills and hit .427 with 22 blocks on the weekend. Bruegge collected an additional 10. Spencer’s career-high 22 digs and Bommarito’s 13 digs led a strong defense.

This weekend’s match-ups in the National Invite tourney should prove more challenging for the Bears.

“We’ll step up in competition with three of the visiting teams being nationally ranked. We’ll need to maximize our execution and minimize our errors,” said Luenemann.

The Bears will face Pacific University and 17th ranked Central College on Friday. On Saturday the Bears will take on the 12th ranked Polar Bears of Ohio Northern University and second-ranked Wittenberg University.

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