Freshman Kelly Pang bumps the ball against the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater on Sept. 12. Pang was named to the Teri Clemens Invitational All-Tournament Team with 65 digs. (Matt Mitgang | Student Life)

Although the University Athletic Association conference competition is slated to begin next weekend, the Washington University women’s volleyball team is surely glad to have the toughest stretch of its schedule behind them.

The No. 4 Bears split a mid-week pair of games against St. Louis-area teams, dropping a contest against Division II University of Missouri-St. Louis on Tuesday (25-13, 21-25, 25-18, 25-23) and coming back the next day to take down Fontbonne University in straight sets (25-14, 25-15, 29-27).

The loss to UMSL was the team’s first loss since a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Ohio Northern University on Sept. 11. The Bears fought back after losing the first set and tied it at one apiece, but UMSL proved to be too much, taking the last two.

Despite the loss, the game wasn’t without its positives for the ladies. Freshman Kelly Pang registered a season-high 33 digs, and sophomore Lauren Budde had a strong game both offensively and defensively, racking up 12 kills and 13 digs.

Fontbonne provided much less of a challenge for the Bears, who began cycling in many of the team’s backups after the first set. Freshman Meg Buker led the team with 28 assists and helped the team rally after being down in the third set.

“It shows a lot that even though we had a lot of non-starters in, we still continued through and were able to pull through in the end,” senior co-captain Laura Brazeal said. “We’re still able to continue the determination that we have.”

Yet the biggest victory of the week for the Bears may have come not on the court, but in the schedule.

The game against UMSL marked the end of an incredibly difficult out-of-conference stretch of games for the Bears: in a 12-day span between Friday, Sept. 11, and this past Tuesday. In the stretch, the Bears played seven nationally-ranked Division III schools and one Division II school and made it through with a 6-2 mark.

The team does not play another nationally-ranked squad until it faces No. 3 Emory University on Oct. 17. The Bears are celebrating by taking a well-earned break.

“After those two tournaments and UMSL, we are physically beaten up. We’re taking five days off of practice,” head coach Rich Luenemann said after Wednesday’s game. “That’s almost unheard of in collegiate athletics, but our players need the rest, both physically and mentally.”

While it is an unusual practice to leave players off the court for that long, the ladies have no question that they can keep up their high levels of play after this break—and they’re welcoming it with open arms.

“A lot of us are under the weather, so it’s really important that we rest,” sophomore Tricia Brandt said. “But we know it’s very important to keep the intensity going.”

If anyone thinks there’s a chance the team could come out of that break without any of the intensity that it has had all season, Luenemann had the following message after Wednesday’s game: “We’re coming back to practice next Tuesday, guns a-blazin’. Look out, folks.”