Ben Gottesdiener | Student Life

Sophomore Meghan Byrne sets up for a hit against Carthage College.

On Sunday, a similar comeback ended Wash. U.’s season.

The Lady Reds stormed back, down 2-0, to win the final three sets of the match and take a 3-2 (20-25, 12-25, 25-23, 25-22, 15-11) victory over the Bears in the Washington University Field House, giving them the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship and ending the Bears’ season at 34-2.

“They started playing back when they could,” interim head coach Lisa Orlet said. “[We] just let them get too far ahead, and in a rally-score game, that’s tough to come back from.”

After cruising through 3-0 victories over Webster University (25-17, 25-9, 25-17) and the University of Chicago (25-17, 25-22, 25-16) on Friday and Saturday, respectively, the Bears were one win away from returning to the NCAA championship round next weekend. They were facing a Carthage squad that they had swept four times since the 2009 season, including once on Sept. 9 of this season.

The Bears and Lady Reds fought a back-and-forth first set, and the squads were tied 15-15 when the Bears jumped ahead with a 5-1 run that gave them a lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. The team’s ball control in the set was excellent, with 23 digs, led by eight from junior Kelly Pang and seven from junior Marilee Fisher, who also had 12 assists.

They then came out firing in the second set, using an early run of four straight points to take the lead for good in the set. The Bears hit .294 in the set, led by five kills from sophomore Meghan Byrne. Pang had 10 digs in the set, and with Carthage hitting minus-.013 to that point, things were looking good for the Bears.

“Our ball control was great,” Orlet said of the first two sets. “We were passing well, mixing up our offense. We were just firing on all cylinders.”

But Carthage jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the third set, and despite strong efforts from junior Drew Hargrave, senior Lauren Budde and Fisher that helped bring the score back to 23-23, a kill and an error gave Carthage the set.

The Bears jumped all over Carthage at the beginning of the fourth set, as they led 8-2 after more good play from Hargrave and Budde, and they were ahead 19-15 when Carthage went on another run. Five straight points gave the Lady Reds the lead, and after the Bears rallied with two straight points to lead 21-20, Carthage took five of the next six points to force a fifth set.

While the Bears had been in control up to that point, Orlet admitted that the team felt some pressure in the fourth set—compounded by the fact that the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country, Calvin and Emory, had already been eliminated.

“I think about halfway through that fourth game the girls started to get a little nervous,” she said. “We talked about when you’re ready to get what you want in life, you’re always going to face a little fear. You gotta keep fighting through it.”

Wash. U. moved ahead 3-1 early in the final set before a run of four straight points from Carthage gave them the decisive lead. The Bears moved within one point three times in the set but couldn’t close the gap. After a kill from Budde brought the Bears within two at 13-11, a kill from Carthage and an attack that went wide from Budde ended the set at 15-11 and the match at 3-2.

For the match, Budde’s 18 kills were a team-high, followed by Byrne’s 16 and Hargrave’s 12. Fisher had 58 assists and 14 digs, while Pang had 35 digs and senior Tricia Brandt had 15. Budde and sophomore Kaia Schwartz both were a part of three blocks. The team hit .206 in the match, compared to .126 for Carthage.

The Bears will graduate four seniors—Budde, Brandt, Brittany Mikottis and Kristen Thomas—who will end their Wash. U. careers with a record of 135-17, two UAA titles and a national championship in 2009.

“In all my years of coaching, it’s one of the classiest groups of women I’ve ever been around,” Orlet said of the seniors.

With everything the team has gone through during the year, including the illness of the wife of head coach Rich Luenemann that led Orlet to take over the main head coaching position for the final month of the season, Orlet was proud of the team for managing to keep things in perspective.

“With everything going on…volleyball’s just a game. That’s the big picture. We didn’t take the season as far as we wanted, and the life lesson here is when you get afraid, you fight back; you feel the fear, play hard anyway. There’s a lot more important things in life. Cherish every moment. Coach [Luenemann] has been telling them that ever since his wife got sick. They’re a classy group of women, and I still couldn’t be more proud of them.”

The Bears never really let the Gorloks get going in any of the match’s three sets, stifling early runs from Webster in the second and third set on their way to winning each set.

The majority of the Webster’s points in the first set were off of Wash. U. errors, as the Bears had nine errors in the set while the Gorloks only tallied five kills. 21 kills from the Bears in the set made the difference, set up by 18 assists from junior Marilee Fisher.

All of the Bears’ hitters came up big in the second set, as they cruised to a 25-9 set win on the strength of a team hitting percentage of .577 on the set with 17 kills and only two errors.

Wash. U. got out to a slow start in the third set as Webster went ahead 4-1 before the Bears brought it back and took a 5-4 lead. The teams were tied at 10-10 before a kill by senior Kristen Thomas put the Bears up for good. Webster got as close as 18-16, but following a timeout from Wash. U. the Bears took seven of the match’s final eight points to win the set 25-17 and the match 3-0.

Sophomores Kaia Schwartz and Meghan Byrne led the team with 11 kills each, set by Marilee Fisher’s 43 assists. Junior Kelly Pang had a team-high 14 of the team’s 54 digs. Senior Lauren Budde had an excellent all-around game, with 10 kills, 12 digs, 2 solo blocks and 3 block assists.

The Bears hit .304 in the match on 51 kills, had five aces and picked up seven blocks. Webster was held to a .032 hitting percentage as no member of the team hit more than four kills.

Wash. U. will have a familiar opponent in the second round as they will face off with conference rival and No. 15 University of Chicago in the Field House. The match will begin at 6 p.m.

Nathaniel Margolies | Student Life

Junior Emily Gosché, Senior Emma Brown, Sophomore Lauren Steimle, Sophomore Jen Reed, and Senior Alyssa Marulli line up on Francis Field before a game against Carnegie Mellon on October 2.

With the regular season successes of the Washington University volleyball, cross country and men’s and women’s soccer teams, a postseason berth was essentially a foregone conclusion for all four teams.

But the volleyball team and both soccer teams received additional good news on Monday, when the postseason brackets were released and all three found out that they would be hosting opening-round matches in the postseason.

Here’s a quick look at each of those three teams—along with the cross country teams, which will travel to Rock Island, Ill., for the NCAA Midwest Regional—and their looming postseason opponents.

Ending the regular season with a 14-3-1 record and a share of the University Athletic Association title, the Bears will open up postseason play against the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Thursday evening at Francis Field. Whitewater, which finished the season as the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletics Conference champion with an 11-7-1 record, will be facing the Bears for the first time in history. Wash. U. is making its second consecutive tournament appearance and 20th overall, and it is seeking its first postseason win since 2007 when it reached the NCAA quarterfinals. The Bears are looking to improve their postseason track record after a heartbreaking loss in last season’s second round, in which they lost in penalty kicks to Loras College.

If the Bears win, they will travel to Delaware, Ohio, to face No. 6 Ohio Wesleyan University on Sunday. While Wash. U. has not played OWU since 1990, the Bears are 5-2 all-time against the Bishops.

The women’s team was rewarded for its 15-4 regular season campaign with a shot at home-field advantage in each of the first two rounds of the playoffs. The Bears have won at least one postseason game each year since 2006, and will be looking to continue that streak by beating Thomas More College in the opening round on Saturday. Thomas More comes in as the Presidents’ Athletic Conference champions, sporting a 12-4-1 record. The Saints will also be facing Wash. U. for the first time ever.

Eric Chalifour | Student Life

Junior Marilee Fisher plays against Webster University on Wedneday, October 26. The Bears scored a 3-0 victory Wednesday and defeated all rivals this weekend to win the Halloween Classic.

The Bears would host the winner between Ohio Wesleyan University (12-4-4) and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (12-6-3) if they advance to the second round. Wash. U. is 2-0 all time against OWU and 1-0 against Whitewater.

With a 32-1 record and the 2011 UAA championship to its name, the volleyball team will begin its 25th straight postseason appearance in the Washington University Field House. The Bears are very familiar with their opening-round opponent: cross-town rival Webster, which has never beaten Wash. U. in 19 tries (including a 3-0 Bears win on Oct. 26).

The Bears’ opponent in the second round would be either UAA rival No. 15 Chicago (the first team to beat Wash. U. in a set in 2011, during a 3-1 Bears win on Oct. 15) or No. 21 Wisconsin-Whitewater (whom the Bears defeated 3-0 on Sept. 10). Among the potential Regional Championship match opponents is No. 9 Carthage College, whom the Bears have faced and swept four times since the 2009 season, including a 3-0 win on Sept. 9 of this season.

With the cross country teams having another strong year, as both the men’s and women’s squads are in the top five of the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association (USTFCCCA) Poll, both have high aspirations heading into the regional meet on Saturday morning. The men’s team enters the race as the Midwest region’s No. 2 team, behind only defending regional champion and USTFCCCA No. 1 overall North Central College. The team will look to improve on its fourth-place regional finish in 2010, and will be facing some of the country’s best in North Central, No. 5 Wheaton, and No. 8 Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

The women’s team, which trails only Williams College in the overall national rankings, enters the weekend as the Midwest’s No. 1 team. The team will be looking to take the Midwest regional title from No. 7 overall Wisconsin-Eau Claire, which won the regional title in 2010.

Courtesy of WUSTL Photo Services

The Bears celebrate after defeating Emory University in New York on Saturday, Nov. 5 to win the UAA Championship tournament.

For the first two sets Saturday in New York, the Bears’ frustrations against their league rival persisted. But the Red and Green fought back from a 2-0 deficit to exact revenge on Emory and claim its 20th UAA title in school history, improving to 32-1 (8-1 UAA) in the process.

The 3-2 win (22-25, 16-25, 25-17, 25-20, 15-8) capped a weekend of three victories for the Bears, the first two coming against Carnegie Mellon (25-10, 25-13, 25-19) and No. 16 University of Chicago (25-15, 25-20, 25-11).

After struggling with hitting accuracy in the first two sets against Emory, whom the Bears have faced in eight consecutive UAA title matches, the teams were knotted in a 16-16 tie in the third set. Two kills by senior Lauren Budde sparked a 9-1 run to keep the Bears alive.

Wash. U. trailed early in the fourth set before pulling ahead late, thanks in part to four assists from junior Marilee Fisher. The Bears controlled the fifth set from the start, racing out to a 6-1 lead and never allowing the Eagles closer than a four-point deficit.

Budde recorded a team-high 22 kills, and Fisher led the Bears with 50 assists. They added 12 digs each, while junior Kelly Pang’s 30 digs led the squad. The Bears hit .240 as a team, raising their percentage in each set after the second set when they posted an anemic .108 mark.

Courtesy of WUSTL Photo Services

The volleyball team poses with the UAA trophy after defeating Emory University at the UAA Championship on Saturday, Nov. 5.

“We made a few minor adjustments with our defense as well as our offense, kind of spreading the ball around more, mixing up our plays in the front row, as far as hitting was concerned,” Budde said. “It kind of threw off their block and their defense, and I don’t think they were expecting some of the things we threw at them. And we definitely picked up our serving game in the last three sets, and that helped us out tremendously because it put [the Emory players] out of system and made them unable to run the plays that they wanted to run.”

In the first round of UAA tournament on Friday, the Bears held Carnegie Mellon to a .097 hitting percentage; they then pounded Chicago with a .415 percentage in the second round. Pang recorded 14 digs against Chicago to move into second place all-time at Wash. U. with 1,753.

Beating Emory was the cherry on top of an already-satisfying weekend.

“It was obvious, especially in the third game against Chicago and then the third, fourth and fifth games against Emory, that we have what it takes skill-wise—it’s just a matter of executing it,” Fisher said. “The feeling of togetherness that we had on our side of the court during those last three games, the teamwork that we had and just the feeling of team, is so incredible. Nothing else matters at that point.”

The Bears are playing without head coach Rich Luenemann, who has taken a leave of absence for personal reasons. He has been replaced by assistant coach Lisa Orlet, who said that the win over Emory “built up the girls’ confidence in themselves and their teammates.”

Wash. U. is expected to draw a No. 1 seeding in its NCAA regional bracket. Tournament placement will be released at 10 a.m. on Monday, and a live feed of the reveal will be shown in the Athletic Complex.

The university is slated to host the final three rounds of the NCAA tournament Nov. 18-20, meaning the Bears could have a chance to play in front of their home crowd for a national championship.

While Budde acknowledged the possibility is in the back of the players’ minds, she stressed that every team in the tournament starts with a 0-0 record. “Anybody could upset you at any time,” she said.

Budde said that the Bears’ defense, blocking and ball control have been strong suits while their serving game needs more practice.

“We need to continue working on serving and serving tough because the further we go, the better teams are going to be at defense,” she said. “I think that’s the key point we’ll focus on a lot this week.”

For the first two sets Saturday in New York, the Bears’ frustrations against their league rival continued. But Wash. U. fought back from a 2-0 deficit to claim the conference title and improve to 30-1, exacting revenge on Emory in the process. The 3-2 win (22-25, 16-25, 25-17, 25-20, 15-8) capped a weekend of three victories for the Bears, the first two coming against Carnegie Mellon (25-10, 25-13, 25-19) and No. 16 University of Chicago (25-15, 25-20, 25-11).

After struggling with hitting accuracy in the first two sets against Emory, the Bears were knotted in a 16-16 tie with the Eagles in the third. Two kills by senior Lauren Budde sparked a 9-1 run to end the set.

Wash. U. trailed early in the fourth set before pulling ahead late thanks in part to four assists from junior Marilee Fisher. The Bears controlled the fifth set from the start, racing out to a 6-1 lead and never allowing the Eagles closer than a four-point deficit.

Please see Monday’s issue of Student Life for a full recap.

Eric Chalifour | Student Life

Sophomore Meghan Byrne competes against Webster University on Wednesday, Oct. 26. In addition to their 3-0 victory against Webster, the Bears defeated all four of their other rivals on Oct. 28 and 29 to capture the Halloween Classic title.

The No. 3 Bears took the 2011 Halloween Classic, sweeping all four teams it faced—Concordia University and No. 4 Eastern University on Friday, and Hanover College and College of Mount St. Joseph on Saturday.

Along with a 3-0 win over Webster University on Wednesday evening, the Bears have strung together five straight 3-0 victories after suffering their first loss of the season, a 3-2 defeat at the hands of rival Emory University, on Oct. 16.

“It was really important,” junior Kelly Pang said of bouncing back. “Obviously, it was a tough loss, and it slowed us down a little bit, but I feel like we’re kind of picking up some speed, getting our momentum back and hanging tough.”

The highlight of the weekend, for multiple reasons, was the Bears’ 3-0 (25-18, 27-25, 25-23) victory over Eastern, which came into the match with a record of 28-1. Against one of its strongest opponents of the season, Wash. U. was up to the task offensively and defensively.

The team hit .346 on the match, capped by a third set in which it tallied 20 kills and only four errors on 37 attempts—good for a .432 hitting percentage. Its efforts were headed by junior Drew Hargrave (13 kills) and seniors Lauren Budde and Kristen Thomas (10 kills each), and they were set by junior Marilee Fisher’s 45 assists.

The team’s back row shined as well, as Pang’s 20 digs were a team high out of 53 total digs in the match. Budde tallied 10, and senior Tricia Brandt had eight.

The efforts from all sides of the court allowed Wash. U. to survive two close sets in the second and third sets and to give the Bears one of their bigger wins of the season.

“It was great to have another challenge so close to the previous loss, to see if we thought we were able to win in three, and it was just a great confidence builder for us,” Pang said.

The game also took place on the team’s Senior Night, and the squad’s four seniors—Budde, Brandt, Thomas and Brittany Mikottis—were honored before the match. The team’s Class of 2012 has compiled a record of 130-16 over the past four seasons to go with a UAA Championship in 2009 and a national championship in 2009.

“It’s been awesome,” Budde said of the last four seasons. “It’s a great culture on and off the floor in terms of relationships with the girls. Not only do we play together, we’re best friends, and we do a lot of things off the court, and I think that translates to our good chemistry on the court.”

The team’s other three matches of the weekend did not provide as much of a challenge, as the Bears never allowed more than 19 points in any set against Concordia (25-13, 25-11, 25-15), Hanover (25-18, 25-19, 25-18), or Mount St. Joseph (25-15, 25-16, 25-11).

For the weekend, Budde’s 48 kills were a team-high, as were Fisher’s 143 assists and Pang’s 70 digs.

“I think it’s great that we ended our regular season play on such a great note, and now in doing so well, obviously we know the little things that we need to work on next week in terms of getting better before conference and before regionals,” Budde said.

Brandt (32 digs) and sophomores Meghan Byrne (41 kills, .413 hitting percentage) and Kaia Schwartz (22 kills, 7 blocks, .463 hitting) were named to the all-tournament team.

The Bears will head on the road next weekend to New York, N.Y., for the University Athletic Association championship and will begin play on Friday against Carnegie Mellon University.

While there is a good chance that Wash. U. will get a chance to exact revenge on Emory, the team continues to prepare for everything the weekend can bring.

“Next weekend is a brand new season. We need to take it as one game at a time, one point at a time,” Budde said. “Everybody’s going to be out to get us, just like teams have been all year. We have to bring our ‘A’ game, every game, every point.

Wash. U. and CMU will face off at noon EST on Friday.

WUSTL Photo Services

Junior Marilee Fisher and senior Kristen Thomas compete in the Washington University Invitational this weekend. The Bears closed out the weekend with three victories, including a new capital Division III record for the most consecutive set victories against Lindenwood University.

The Bears began Saturday by winning their 58th straight set, breaking a Division III record established in 2007 by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. They won their next five sets of the weekend as well, sweeping four matches to win the Washington University Invitational.

With these wins, the team now has the fifth-longest consecutive set streak in NCAA history across all divisions.

“It’s a great accomplishment for the team and it’s nice to have the record here at Wash. U. We’re just going to keep moving forward and keep trying to build on that record,” sophomore Kaia Schwartz said.

Wash. U. appeared eager to set the record, as it jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the first set against Division II Lindenwood University and never looked back. The team ended the set with a 25-13 victory.

“It was one of those matches when you put all phases of your games together. The kids came in very motivated,” head coach Rich Luenemann said.

The strong play continued for the Bears as they took the match 3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-16). Senior Lauren Budde led the team in kills with 14, while Schwartz had 10 with no errors on 15 attempts for an impressive .667 hitting percentage. The team as a whole hit .388 in the match, its best mark for the weekend.

The Red and Green also received strong contributions from its defense, both up front and in the back row. The team totaled eight blocks, including two solo blocks from sophomore Meghan Byrne, and 47 digs, with junior Kelly Pang’s 18 leading the way.

In the weekend’s final match, against Culver-Stockton College, Wash. U. used a mixture of its typical starters and some of its backups to take the first two sets with ease. However, in the third set, the Bears received the toughest challenge yet to their historic streak.

The team trailed throughout the set and faced a 24-20 deficit, with Culver-Stockton one point away from ending the streak. Budde placed a kill to bring service back to the Bears, and sophomore Tanya Marvi helped serve the team to five straight points. An ace by Marvi tied the match at 24, and two more kills from Budde—who had eight of her 12 kills in the third set—ended the set and the 3-0 (25-12, 25-17, 26-24) match.

“We just never give up and think ‘Oh, OK, they can have this set, we’ll take the next one.’ No. This set is ours. Every set is ours,” Marvi said. “They can’t take anything from us. We just keep on fighting and I’m really proud of us.”

Budde and Byrne led the team with 12 kills each in the match. Sophomore Megan Odenthal and junior Marilee Fisher split the setting duties, with 19 and 14 assists, respectively. The Bears’ hitting percentage in the match was .352.

On Friday, the Bears began the weekend with 3-0 wins over Fontbonne University (25-7, 25-8, 25-19) and Millikin University (25-13, 25-22, 25-22). Their final set victory over Millikin tied the consecutive set record, putting the team in position to break the record on Saturday.

Budde (team-high 42 kills on the weekend), Fisher (77 assists), and Schwartz (24 kills, two solo blocks, six block assists) were each named to the All-Tournament team.

“I feel like, because my team was playing so well, it allowed me to get some great hits and play well. It’s all thanks to my team,” Schwartz said of the honor.

The Bears will get possibly their biggest test of the season next weekend in Rochester, N.Y., as they will face No. 3 Emory University and No. 16 University of Chicago in the second week of University Athletic Association Round Robin.

Emory handed the Bears their last two losses of the 2010 season, but they know that the entire weekend will be a challenge.

“We’re playing who we consider our four toughest UAA opponents this coming weekend. We’re going in there and we’re playing some really tough teams,” Luenemann said. “We can’t just focus on Emory, we’ve got to focus on one opponent at a time.”

By winning the first set against Lindenwood, the Bears set a Division III record by winning their 58th consecutive set. The Bears topped the previous record of 57 straight set wins, which was established by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 2007. The Bears took the two sets that followed as well, taking the match 3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-16). Senior Lauren Budde led the team with 14 kills while sophomore Kaia Schwartz tallied 10 on 15 attempts with no errors.

Wash. U. dominated Culver-Stockton for two sets before the Wildcats took the Bears by surprise in the third and got within one point of ending the team’s consecutive sets streak at 62. Down 24-20, the Bears rallied for six straight points to keep the streak intact and win the match 3-0 (25-12, 25-17, 26-24). Budde and sophomore Meghan Byrne registered 12 kills each.

For full coverage, see Monday’s edition of Student Life.

The Bears continued their record-breaking start to the 2011 season, a perfect 17-0, by sweeping the first three teams on their UAA schedule at the Wash. U. Field House this past weekend.

With three 3-0 wins—wins that the team refers to as “bagels”—over Carnegie Mellon University, Brandeis University and New York University, the Bears have won 51 straight sets to open their season, also a school record.

“No matter who we play, we always have the goal of going 3-0. For the season, that’s just been our goal, of bageling the other teams. Just starting with great intensity, bringing our A game, and finishing strong,” senior Tricia Brandt said.

NYU, which handed Wash. U. its first loss in 2010, put together runs in the early going in the first and second sets on Sunday, but the Red and Green held its ground before pulling away in both sets. The team t the third set with ease.

“It’s gratifying to finish everything 3-0, but we’re still very concerned about the runs that some teams get, when they score three or four points in a row,” head coach Rich Luenemann said. “When you get in one of those funks, you want to be able to get out of it real fast.”

The team’s hitting improved throughout the match, going from a .179 hitting percentage in the first set to .290 and .391 in the second and third, respectively.

For the second straight weekend of competition, senior Lauren Budde reached a significant career milestone. In the third set of the match against NYU, Budde recorded her 1,000th career dig, two weeks after recording her 1,000th career kill. Budde, who tallied a match-high 14 kills against NYU, became the eighth player in school history to reach both marks.

“It’s great to be recognized to be a part of that list,” Budde said. “It’s a great recognition, but again, I couldn’t have done it without any of my teammates’ help.”

On Saturday, the Bears picked up two more wins. Budde was again the team’s top performer up front and in back, with a team-high 17 digs and 15 kills. Sophomore Kaia Schwartz had one solo block and two block assists to go with seven kills, and junior Marilee Fisher had 36 assists in the match’s three sets.

The team hit .340 in the match, its highest mark of the weekend.

In the late game on Saturday, the Red and Green kept Brandeis University from getting much going, despite many of the team’s regulars not playing after the first set. Budde again led the team with 18 kills, but sophomore Megan Odenthal had 21 assists and Tanya Marvi picked up 18 kills in only two sets.

Despite what appeared to be easy victories, members of the team said that the UAA opponents brought a challenge to the table.

“We do kind of have a target on our back because between Emory and us, we’re kind of the top dogs in the conference,” Budde said. “Everybody always brings their best game against us, and since we have been doing well this season that just puts an even bigger target on our backs, and teams definitely brought their A game against us.”

Regardless of the challenge, the Bears continue approaching records for their play. With 51 straight set victories in a row, they are just six away from setting a Division III record, which was set by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 2007. But even with their current successes, the Bears insist they will continue to improve.

“It’s really exciting, just knowing that we have the best start in school history. We know this team has a ton of potential,” Brandt said. “It’s exciting, but it’s also holding us to a high responsibility to do the best with such a great squad.”

Wash. U. will be back in action on Friday as it faces Fontbonne University and Millikin University in the Washington University Invitational. Wash. U. and Fontbonne will square off at 5:15 p.m.