Dylan Whiting | Staff Photographer

Brown bears typically do not do well in the heat, but the WashU Bears are the exception. This past weekend, the No. 8 volleyball team defeated its opponents with three straight wins, two of which were against nationally ranked opponents. The women’s cross country team placed 23rd and the men’s placed 25th among 46 schools. Men’s tennis opened their fall season, and women’s tennis continued their dominant fall-season run.

Volleyball

The No. 8 volleyball team dominated the Tiger Classic on Sept. 18 and 19 in San Antonio, defeating  No. 11 Johns Hopkins University 3-1, University of St. Thomas (Texas) 3-0, and No. 5 Trinity University (Texas) 3-2. This upset against Trinity is particularly important for the Bears, proving that WashU can take down some of the nation’s most elite talent. Now, the Bears head into University Athletic Association (UAA) conference play on a five-game win streak and an overall record of 8-2. 

In upstate New York on Sept. 26-27, WashU will play in the UAA Round Robin #1, where they will take on conference rivals Emory University, Brandeis University, and New York University. 

Cross Country

The No. 10 women’s and No. 13 men’s cross country teams competed in the John McNichols Invitational, their first away meet of the 2026 season, on Saturday, Sept. 19. Hosted by Indiana State University in Terre Haute, the Invitational featured runners across all three NCAA Divisions as well as the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Running against 23 nationally ranked Division I and four nationally ranked Division III squads, WashU’s women’s team competed in the Championship 6K races, and the men’s squad raced in the Championship 8K races.

The Bears placed 23rd in the 6K Championship and 25th in the 8K Championship. The top finisher for the women’s team in the 6K was junior Lucinda Laughlin with a time of 22:09.7, and sophomore Charlie Houck had the fastest time for the men’s team in the 8K, finishing in 25:24.0. 

WashU’s next meet will be the Running of the Cows on Oct. 3, a pre-nationals championship hosted by Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. 

Men’s Tennis

Over the weekend, the men’s tennis team opened their fall play with two tournaments: half the team traveled to Northern Illinois University (NIU) to compete in the River Forest Clay Court Invitational, while the other half stayed home to partake in the WashU Tournament. The Bears had varied success at NIU, as most players won their first-round matches, but failed to advance past the second round. Back in St. Louis, WashU lost both their doubles match-ups in close tiebreakers, yet managed to win both of their singles matches. Sophomores Ethan Wu and Hans Deng each won their singles matches in three sets.

The Bears will head to Indianapolis for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) D-III Regional Championship on Oct. 2-4.

Women’s Tennis

Women’s tennis matched up against the D-II University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) Tritons. However, the division difference between the two teams could not be recognized, as the Bears took down the Tritons with five doubles wins and seven singles wins. Two athletes won all six games in one of their two singles sets: first-year Cassan Li and junior Caitlin Bui. Success like this against a higher division team suggests the Bears could be a top competitor in the spring season. 

On Sept. 25-27, the team will compete in the  ITA D-III Regional Championship in Kalamazoo, Michigan.