After sophomore Jordan Rettig scored the first basket for the Bears, Loras responded with a 9-0 run to take a 7-point lead. With 7:56 left in the half, the Bears stepped up to get within three points with a jumper by captain senior Dani Hoover.

“It was an ugly game. They were a scrappy team and had a lot of energy,” Hoover said. “We weren’t hitting a lot of shots in the beginning. It was one of those games when we just had to keep fighting.”

The Duhawks extended their lead back to seven, but back-to-back baskets by junior Kristin Anda once again made it a three-point game. With a layup by freshman Melissa Gilkey, the Bears cut the Duhawks’ lead to one point, 24-23, with 1:33 remaining. However, Loras ended the first period with five straight points to stretch the lead to 29-23.

“We tried to focus in on making easy baskets in the second half. We never want to miss layups and free throws,” Hoover said.

When Loras pushed its lead to 38-29 at the beginning of the second half, head coach Nancy Fahey decided to go in a new direction. Fahey subbed in five new players with 14:48 to play, and the Bears went on a 12-0 run to turn the score and gain a 41-38 lead. The two teams traded points for the rest of the game over a six-minute period.

“We had some reserves come in at the [14]-minute mark who hit a bunch of threes that got us going,” Hoover said. “It’s nice to have a deep team that gave us fresh legs and a spark.”

Wash. U. took the lead for good at 51-50 on a shot by captain senior Claire Schaeperkoetter with 2:10 left. Junior Annie Sayers scored a basket to make it 53-50. Schaeperkoetter made both bonus free throws with 12 seconds left to give the Bears the five-point lead and the win.

“We held them to under 60 points, which is always great defensively, but we need to make sure we are always focusing and taking advantage of the opportunities they give us and knock down shots when we have them,” Hoover said.

Sayers had a season-high 12 points to lead Wash. U., while Schaeperkoetter added 11 points and Anda finished with 10 points and four steals. Schaeperkoetter and Sayers combined to score the final 19 points.

Freshman Alexandra Keane tied or set five career highs in the game. She had a team-high six assists and also added five points, three rebounds and two steals.

The Bears will take the court again with their final home game of the semester against Webster University at 1 p.m. on Dec. 17.

Senior Claire Voris and junior Olivia Cook combined to allow only two unearned runs over two games, and sophomore Alex Fjeldheim and freshman Kelsey Neal led the offense as the Bears pushed their record to 26-7-1.

Voris allowed just four hits over seven innings in the first game and helped herself out at the plate by going two for three with two runs scored. Freshman Maggie Mullen provided all the necessary run support with a two-RBI triple in the first inning, and Wash. U. coasted the rest of the way to a 5-1 win.

In game two, the Bears again got off to a fast start as Fjeldheim hit a two-run homerun to left field. Neal hit three doubles, batting in three runs and scoring on a wild pitch. Cook shut down Westminster, allowing just one unearned run over five innings as Wash. U. won 10-1.

The softball team next hosts Missouri Baptist University on Friday, April 22. The first pitch will be at 4 p.m.

Matt Mitgang | Student Life

Senior Kathryn Berger looks for a shot against Illinois Wesleyan University in the national semifinal game on Friday night. Berger scored 28 points to lead the Bears past the Titans, 87-77, and into their third straight national title game, against Amherst College on Saturday.

No. 12 Wash. U. defeated No. 7 Illinois Wesleyan University, 87-77, on the Titans’ home court to reach the title game for the third consecutive year and ninth overall.

The defending national champion Bears will face No. 2 Amherst College for the Division III title on Saturday evening. The Bears have eliminated the Lord Jeffs from the past two NCAA tournaments in the national semifinal game.

Senior Kathryn Berger led the Bears with 28 points. Wash. U. controlled the glass, outrebounding the Titans 37-29 and outscoring them 48-20 in the paint.

Perimeter shooting kept the Titans within reach of the Bears for most of the game. Nikki Preston connected on back-to-back three-pointers to cut a 12-point Wash. U. lead to six with less than seven minutes to go.

The Bears closed off the game inside the paint and at the free-throw line, taking advantage of foul trouble from multiple Titans. Wash. U. shot 20 for 27 from the line in the victory.

“A lot of what we learned is keep a level head,” Berger said.

“The ball game was won at the free-throw line,” Illinois Wesleyan head coach Mia Smith said. Illinois Wesleyan went 6 for 10 from the free-throw line for the game.

The first half featured numerous personnel changes, with nine Lady Bears seeing action as both teams tried to figure out their foe. Illinois Wesleyan was potent from behind the three-point line, going 8 for 16 in the first half. Wash. U. held a 19-15 rebounding advantage.

The second half was all about the seniors, with Alex Hoover working inside the paint and Berger knocking down long-range shots. “We were playing our game, our style,” Berger said. “We played our tempo.”

The Red and Green found their stride with crisp passes and fluid ball movement. Wash. U. also capitalized on IWU mistakes, with 14 points off turnovers in the second half alone. The Red and Green bench outscored Illinois Wesleyan’s bench 25-6.

With the victory, the Bears have also defeated every ranked opponent to which they lost at some point earlier in the season. The Bears fell to the Titans, 73-68, at the Tip Off Tournament in Greencastle, Ind., on Nov. 20.

Wash. U. defeated the No. 10, 4, 1, 6 and 7 teams in the nation to reach the title game. Three of these wins, at No. 4 Hope College, at No. 1 Thomas More College and at No. 7 IWU, have come on their opponent’s home floor.

Wash. U. looks to defeat its sixth top-10 opponent in Saturday’s national championship game. Play against Amherst is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

“We’re so excited we’re playing in the national championship game,” head coach Nancy Fahey said.

Johann Qua Hiansen

Then-junior Miguel Davis bats against the University of Wisconsin-Platteville on Mar. 27, 2010. Davis hit .315 and started all 32 games for the Bears last season.

“We’ve put in the work, and what I’ve been telling them all along is, ‘when it comes down to time to open the season…we need to have confidence in ourselves that we’ve worked harder than our opponents and that therefore we deserve to win because we’ve outworked everyone else,’” said Steve Duncan, the Bears’ first-year head coach. “I think they have that confidence, so…I couldn’t feel better about things going into the season.”

Duncan, taking over for Ric Lessman after his 17-year tenure as the Wash. U. head coach, has brought new expectations and higher standards for the team. He served the previous three years as an assistant coach with Johns Hopkins University, helping the Blue Jays to a 114-31 (.786) record and two trips to the NCAA Division III World Series.

“With Coach Duncan, he comes from a historically successful program, so he’s been to the World Series and he’s won regional championships. That’s exactly what he expects of us: essentially, to go all the way,” senior third baseman Miguel Davis said. “There’s no reason our team can’t go to a World Series, and I think everybody believes that.”

Expectations for practices and conditioning drills have risen as well. According to pitcher Bryce Hrovat, a senior, winter daily practices for pitchers were earlier than ever before, while the catchers often practiced twice a day.

“He [Coach Duncan] expects a lot of us, and he does everything he can to make sure we’re prepared, and, in turn, we give him that dedication,” Hrovat said. “I really don’t think he’s [overbearing] or tough on us. It’s a good mixture of tough love and motivation at the same time.”

Most of the team’s starters from 2010 are returning, including Davis, infielder Travis May and designated hitter Matt Bayer, all seniors. May batted .327 and led the team with 24 walks, while Bayer, one of the biggest threats in the lineup, hit .346 with nine doubles.

“It’s kind of unprecedented to have so many people coming in who have had so much playing time,” Davis said. “A lot of the guys that are going to be on the field this year have been playing for two or three years now, and a lot of us have been to the [playoffs], so we know what it takes to get there, what it’s going to take to go further than we did in the past, and I think we’re all preparing to take that next step.”

According to Duncan, though the team’s offense and defense should both excel, its success will depend on pitching. Hrovat and fellow senior Adam Merzel are expected to anchor the rotation, while the pitching staff is hoping to get a boost from sophomore Max Gordon and junior Brandon Rogalski,who played outfield for the Bears his first two seasons on the team.

“Pitching is going to be the question mark,” Duncan said. “Pitching last year struggled mightily and I think some talented pitchers struggled. Some guys…who didn’t really pitch very well last year, they look sharp and I think they’re ready to go, but they’ve got to go out and prove it now. Now it’s time for them to go and show that last year was the exception.”

Rogalski, one of the main contributors to the Bears’ offense in 2010, will take on pitching duties as well as a regular spot in the lineup. He hasn’t pitched in a game since his freshman year of high school.

“He’s a key player, there’s no doubt about it. I think everybody recognizes that from the offensive side and from pitching,” Duncan said. “Pitching an entire season is pretty strenuous on your arm, so there’s questions about whether he can handle that, but assuming he can handle that, yes, he is a difference maker…If it ends up that he’s just a hitter for us, he’d still be a major, major asset for us. He’s one of our best hitters.”

The Bears will take the field for the first time this season on Saturday at home for a doubleheader against Coe College. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m.

“Essentially it just comes down to playing well-disciplined, well-executed baseball, and that’s what we’ve been preparing for and that’s what we plan on doing on Saturday,” Davis said.

The women sit in third out of seven teams while the men are in fourth place.

Both teams have already contributed some strong performances.

The men’s and women’s ‘A’ 200-yard freestyle relay teams finished second to Emory University. The women’s team of junior Katrina Stridh, freshman Allison Siegel, freshman Chi Pham and junior Amy Vanlishout finished 1.98 seconds behind, while the men’s team of senior David Chao, sophomore Mark Minowitz, senior Kartik Anjur and sophomore Brendan Morin finished 1.12 seconds back.

With the second place finish, the women’s team broke a school record and set a provisionally qualifying time for the 2011 NCAA Division III Championships on Mar. 23.

Pham recorded a 2:05.36 in the 200-yard individual medley and led most of the way, but fell just .03 seconds short of first place Molly Evans of Carnegie Mellon University in a race where four swimmers finished faster than the UAA record time and automatically qualified for the national championships.

Chao tied for second in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.93, .48 seconds off the winning pace.

Emory University has built a commanding lead in the points’ standings for both men’s and women’s sides. Competition resumes at 10 a.m. (EST). (Sahil Patel)

Denton Zhou | The Observer

Senior running back Jim O’Brien runs through a hole against Case Western Reserve University on Saturday. O’Brien carried the Bears to victory with 150 yards on 28 carries and scored both Wash. U. touchdowns in the 14-13 victory.

Wash. U. (7-2) came back from two turnovers and a 13-7 deficit to hand the Spartans (7-2) with their second consecutive loss 14-13. The Spartans had won 38 games in a row in the regular season over the past three seasons.

Defensively, four players finished with 10 tackles or more for the Bears. Junior linebacker Kyle Larkin led the way with 15 tackles. The defense held Case to an average of 4 yards per play and came up with big stops when called upon, such as after senior quarterback Stephen Sherman’s interception in the third quarter. 

“The coaches put together a solid game plan, and we were able to execute,” Larkin said. “We were able to slow down their attack well enough to win the game. Our defense is all about teamwork, and we feed off of each other’s energy. We pride ourselves on playing fast, being physical and playing with passion.”

The three-and-out following Sherman’s interception ended in a blocked punt by freshman Michael Rademacher that gave Wash. U. the ball at the Case 46-yard line. The offense marched into the end zone in six plays, with O’Brien’s 3-yard touchdown run giving the Bears a 14-13 lead that they would not relinquish.

“The coaching staff did a great job figuring out which specific plays were working against their defense,” O’Brien said. “We stuck to those plays and the O-Line and H-Backs totally dominated the blocking game. There were times when Case’s defense knew what was coming, but they still couldn’t stop it because our guys did such an amazing job of firing out and blocking.”

However, the game was far from over.

The Spartans opened the fourth quarter by marching the ball 85 yards in 17 plays to the Wash. U. 3-yard line when the special teams unit came through again. Senior cornerback Brandon Brown came around the edge and blocked the 20-yard field goal attempt by Sam Coffey to preserve the lead for the time being. Coffey has connected on the most field goals in Spartan history and had made his first two attempts from 21 and 44 yards out.

“We have always put a lot of emphasis on our special teams, and we take each opportunity to practice our field goal block seriously,” said Brown, who also broke up three passes. “We’ve already blocked several kicks this year coming up the middle, so I guess that’s what Case had been preparing for. In doing that, they left me free to come off the edge.  I got a good jump on the snap, along with them not getting the hold down perfectly clean.”

Case Western got the ball back with 2:13 left to play and promptly drove 57 yards in 14 plays, sending the field goal unit on the field with 13 seconds left. Junior defensive lineman Daniel Sufranski blocked the 43-yard field goal attempt, sealing the upset.

Next week, the Bears travel to Chicago to face the University of Chicago (7-2) in the University Athletic Association regular season finale. The winner of the game will win the conference championship, as well as the Founder’s Cup, which is a trophy commemorating the founding of the UAA, and will have a chance at making the playoffs.

“This might be the biggest game us seniors will play in over the last four years, and we wouldn’t want it any other way,” O’Brien said. “It will all come down to this matchup against our biggest rival. They are a good team, and we will have to be our best to beat them.”

The Maroons are coming off a 61-22 victory over Carnegie Mellon, whom the Bears defeated 20-13 in overtime last week. The game will begin at 12 p.m.

Drew Koch | Student Life

Junior Patrick McLean kicks the ball in a game against NYU on Sunday.

“We’re still trying to win the league, but really our goal is just to make a playoff run,” said co-captain David Klein, a senior.

The No. 10 Bears played 110 scoreless minutes to a 0-0 tie with the No. 21 Violets in their Sunday matchup.

The game saw few scoring opportunities for either team in regulation. Wash. U. held an advantage in shots and corner kicks, 11-8 and 4-1, respectively. The biggest offensive edge for the Bears came in the second overtime period when they recorded three shots without allowing the Violets any chances at the net.

“[NYU is] a big, physical team. Technically they’re just as good as us, they like to pass the ball,” freshman defender Nik Patel said. “Like us, they’re a hard-working team…They move around quite a bit, and it was almost like playing ourselves, we get a little taste of what we do to other teams.”

The shutout was the Bears’ thirteenth in the 2010 season. Their .38 goals against average is just short of the all-time school record of .35 and ranks ninth among all Division III teams.

“I felt that overall, you can’t really say one team had an advantage over the other,” Patel said. “We had a strong defense. Both ways, creating opportunities to score were tough.”

The tie came after the Bears’ third consecutive victory last Friday night against Brandeis University. After giving up an early goal to the Judges’ forward Lee Russo, the Red and Green went on a streak of strong counterattacks and continued to rack up offensive opportunities throughout the first half. According to head coach Joe Clarke, the Bears’ previous success this season allows for a calm mentality in the event of early setbacks.

“I think it’s based on the history that they’ve been winning, so they believe in themselves, they’re like ‘OK we can do this,’” Clarke said. “Success builds on success, and you gain confidence.”

With less than three minutes left in the first half, the Bears were able to capitalize on a breakaway by junior forward Dylan Roman. He maneuvered past the Judges’ defense and tied the score at one.

“This was not a 4-1 game. I think Brandeis was very good. They got the first goal and held [the lead] until Dylan [got] a goal for us right before the half, which changed everything,” Clarke said.

In less than seven minutes of play across the two halves, Wash. U. would go from down one to up two. Building on the momentum of Roman’s goal, the Bears began the second half with a whirlwind pair of goals from freshman forward Jeremy Kirkwood. The first goal was set up by a corner kick from senior midfielder Cody Costakis, whose serve found Kirkwood in front of the box, scoring on a header.

Kirkwood scored his second goal of the night 1:23 later on the ensuing possession, with an assist from junior forward Patrick McLean. McLean leads the team with 15 points on the season.

“On the second [goal], Pat made a nice run, and he drew three defenders. The ball kind of bounced out right to me, and I was able to slip by them and tuck away the one-on-one with the goalie,” Kirkwood said.

Junior Zach Hendrickson’s goal in the 75th minute put a cap on the Bears victory. It was his first score of the season.

The Bears’ matchup with the Maroons on Saturday concludes regular season and conference play. Game time is set for 2:30 p.m. at Francis Field, and with a victory and an NYU loss, the Bears could claim their first UAA title since 1999.

Matt Lee | Student Life

Freshman Jessica Johnson challenges Emory goalie Kaele Leonard in the second half of a scoreless game against Emory on Oct. 3. After Scoring two goals against Carnegie Mellon yesterday, Johnson is now tied for the team lead with four goals this season.

After having trouble scoring in the first half of the season, the Washington University women’s soccer team’s put its offense on display in a 3-2 win over Webster University and in a 4-0 victory over University Athletic Association opponent Carnegie Mellon University.

The Bears faced the Tartans on Sunday, Oct. 10 in Pittsburgh, Pa. After 25 minutes of play, Wash. U. put its first goal into the CMU net. Freshman Kate Doyle dribbled the ball down the far side of the field and made a long cross to sophomore Allie Betley, who tapped the ball past Tartan goalkeeper Anya Rosen. It was Betley’s first goal of the season.

“I thought my goal created a spark, and we were all pumped and were playing harder and tougher,” Betley said. “This led into the second half, where we scored three goals.”

The team sealed its victory in the second half with those three scores. Junior captain Emma Brown scored unassisted at the 58:45 mark. She is tied for the team lead with four goals this season.

“We were able to keep possession, the defense stayed organized, and we finished the opportunities we had,” sophomore defender Nicole Martin said.

Freshman Jessica Johnson scored the next two goals for the Bears. “I’ve been having some trouble scoring, so it was really nice to finally put some in the back of the net,” Johnson said.

Johnson scored her first goal of the game in the 73rd minute on cross from Betley, who dodged around a Tartan defender and crossed the ball into the middle of the field to sophomore Lauren Clatch. Clatch tapped the ball to Johnson, who ripped the ball into the back of the net.

“It’s nice to see a freshman come into her own,” head coach Jim Conlon said.

The team’s final goal was assisted by sophomore goalie Caitlin Heim. After Heim corralled a ball sent into the box, she quickly booted it down the field. Two Tartan players headed the ball, but Johnson picked it off. Rosen charged out at Johnson, who shot around her.

“The Carnegie keeper played very well, but we just happened to get a couple balls into the back of the net,” Conlon said.

All the three components of the game—offense, defense and transition—are coming together for the Bears. “We finally put everything [together] today, and we clicked,“ Johnson said. Wash. U. outshot CMU 13-12 and took four more corner kicks.

The win was the team’s sixth shutout victory of the semester.

“Scoring four goals is amazing, but also the fact that we were able to keep the shutout for 90 minutes and remain unscored [on] in conference play is a big success,” Martin said.

During their game against Webster University on Thursday, Oct. 7, the Bears controlled the first part of the game. Johnson gave Wash. U. a 1-0 lead at the 26:23 mark, with a goal off an assist from Brown. The Bears held onto their 1-0 lead going into the second half after outshooting the Gorloks, 9-1.

Eight minutes into the second half, junior Lee Ann Felder pushed the lead to 2-0, scoring off of a penalty kick.

However, Webster tied the score with goals from senior Megan Niederschulte at 78:41 and junior Morgan Milfield at 84:52.

“We had a lapse in the second half, which was disappointing to be up 2-0 and then tied 2-2,” Conlon said.

The Bears rallied with just over a minute remaining off a goal from Johnson, assisted by freshman Becky Berels.

“It wasn’t our best game, but we came away with a win. But we really built off that and applied it to our game against Carnegie Mellon,” Betley said.

Wash. U. (6-5-1) will continue conference play against Case Western Reserve University (8-3-1) on Friday, Oct. 15, in Cleveland, Ohio.

Matt Lee | Student Life

Freshman Michael Flowers kicks the ball on Sunday in a game against Loras College.

The Loras Duhawks have appeared in the NCAA championship semifinals twice in the last four seasons, and they opened the 2010 season ranked seventh in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America top-25 poll, though the team is now unranked. Late last season, the Bears lost to the Duhawks in Dubuque, Iowa.

“It’s always good to beat a really good team, and Loras is a really good team,” head coach Joe Clarke said. “They’re one of the most successful Division III programs over the last half a decade.”

The Bears took the lead early and fought the rest of the game to maintain the 1-0 advantage. Less than five minutes into the match, a Duhawk foul set up a free kick by senior midfielder Cody Costakis. His pass found junior Patrick McLean in the middle of the box, and McLean knocked the ball past the keeper for his third goal of season. McLean, junior Kevin Privalle and sophomore Zachary Query lead the team with three goals scored.

“They told me to run ‘Johnny Hengel’s spot,’ which is like the back post,” McLean said in reference to last season’s leading scorer. “I ran there and [the defender] flicked it, but he didn’t get a good clearance. It was right in my path…[I] just volleyed it in.”

Matt Lee | Student Life

Junior Patrick McLean dribbles the ball against Loras College. McLean scored his third goal for the season on Sunday, putting him in a three-way tie for the team lead with sophomore Zachary Query and junior Kevin Privalle.

“We defended our penalty area well; Jonathan came out and caught balls that he needed to catch, just like Andrew did in the first half,” Clarke said. “I don’t really believe they got a legitimate, good chance to score a goal in the game, so I think we did a good job in the box.”

The Duhawks improved their attack in the second half, forcing the Bears out of their passing element.

“[Clarke] has really drilled into our heads the habit of defending the area in front of the goal; they had us down the wings several times, but we just defended the goal,” Costakis said. “We didn’t give up any easy shots.”

Clarke noted that the Bears also missed offensive opportunities. The team had multiple chances at an insurance goal after McLean’s initial score.

“I think we need to take more advantage of the counters that we have,” Clarke said. “We ran offsides probably four or five times, and we had a chance to create a good chance to score.”

Despite second-half frustrations, the team came away from Sunday’s game with a positive reaction to one of the most challenging teams it has faced this season.

“[The game] could have gone better, but we beat a good team, so I’m happy. It’s that simple,” Costakis said.

In a Sept. 15 matchup with Illinois Wesleyan University, the Bears defended their unbeaten record with a late goal by Costakis to tie the Titans as the game approached the end of regulation. In the two subsequent overtime periods, neither team was able to break the 1-1 draw.

“The tie mid-week was disappointing because we just got into the rankings; it would be nice to keep that, but we’re still undefeated, so it’s certainly worth hanging on to,” Costakis said.

The Red and Green are back in action tonight at Fontbonne University at 7 p.m. and travel to Wheaton, Ill., to face Wheaton College on Saturday afternoon.

Matt Mitgang | Student Life

Sophomore Marilee Fisher, seen here in a game against Wittenberg, recorded 164 assists over the weekend, including 52 against rival Juniata College. The bears are now 14-0 going in the UAA round robin play.

The tradition of excellent matches between the Washington University women’s volleyball team and Juniata College continued this weekend—and the recent trend of the Bears coming out on top remained intact as well.

The No. 1 Bears and No. 2 Eagles, who fought it out in last year’s national championship match, engineered another instant classic on Saturday at the DePauw University Invitational in Greencastle, Ind. Once again, it was Wash. U. who emerged victorious with a 3-2 win (27-25, 21-25, 20-25, 25-21, 18-16), highlighting another weekend of four wins for the Bears. With these wins, the team stands at 14-0 on the season.

“It was a really nice weekend for us. The cherry on top was beating Juniata, but it was a very good tournament,” sophomore Kelly Pang said.

The victory was the Bears’ third straight over the Eagles, and much like the 3-1 victory in last year’s championship match and the 3-0 victory on this weekend a year ago, Juniata made it far from easy. After the first set, in which Wash. U. rallied from down 17-20 to win, Juniata jumped out to an early lead in each of the next two sets and never looked back, going into the fourth set with a 2-1 advantage.

But the Bears responded by jumping out to a lead in the fourth set and managed to force a decisive fifth set behind a hitting percentage of .393 for the set (after hitting a combined .145 in the second and third).

“We’re all ecstatic, and we’re very happy as a team how we played and how we pulled together after being down 2-1,” sophomore Marilee Fisher said. “We came out strong in the fourth game and took control early.”

Slowly, the Bears inched toward a victory in the fifth set, getting within three points of the win with a 12-7 advantage before Juniata stormed back to tie the match at 12. After staving off one match point to tie the match at 14, Juniata fell behind and the Bears didn’t look back, taking the set and the match with an 18-16 victory.

The marathon match was the first five-set match of the year for the Bears and the first to last longer than two hours in time. Junior Lauren Budde led the team with 24 kills while freshman Meghan Byrne picked up 11 more, paced by Marilee Fisher’s 52 assists. Pang and freshman Tanya Marvi led the back-row efforts with 32 and 16 digs, respectively.

“The match with Juniata was a heavyweight fight with both teams taking turns running off strings of points,” head coach Rich Luenemann said. “They’re easily the best team we’ve faced this year and don’t show any weaknesses.”

With another spectacular match with Juniata in the rearview mirror, the Red and Green turned around later in the afternoon and faced No. 13 Carthage College—whom the Bears faced last week in St. Louis—sweeping the Lady Reds 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-17) to take the match and the championship. Pang and Fisher were named to the all-tournament team.

The team began the tournament on Friday with 3-0 wins over Haverford College (25-22, 25-15, 25-23) and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (25-23, 25-17, 25-12). Budde picked up 27 kills, 26 digs, and three blocks over the two matches, while Fisher tallied 79 assists.

But the big match for the weekend took place on Saturday, and in facing their biggest challenge of the season, the Bears emerged with their currently undefeated record intact.

“We all feel good about beating [Juniata], but I think we need to keep the mentality that it’s just another game,” Fisher said. “Just because it’s a rivalry, we can’t think anything of it. We just need to move on with the season. It was a big obstacle and we need to continue to improve.”

The Bears return to action on Saturday, Oct. 2, at 12:30 p.m. (EDT) in Atlanta, when they face Brandeis University to begin the first University Athletic Association Round Robin.