This weekend in Chicago the Washington University Bears made a statement, showing that they are a national championship-caliber team.
The Bears entered this weekend’s University Athletic Association tournament with a chance to avenge their earlier losses this season to Carnegie Mellon University and New York University.
“We just wanted to show we were better than how we played before,” said sophomore Amy Brand.
Head coach Rich Luenemann agreed: “The kids wanted to prove the first losses weren’t indicative of how we play.”
And that’s exactly what WU did.
The Bears handily defeated their first three opponents. First in line was the University of Rochester, (30-12, 30-16, 30-10), next Case Western Reserve University, (30-22, 30-16, 30-20), then Emory University, (30-22,30-23, 30-28). According to Luenemann, “the games were not as close as the scores showed.”
After the first three victories, WU had its chance to play against NYU and Carnegie Mellon.
“Revenge is not a good virtue, but coming back to beat those two teams was definitely very sweet,” said Luenemann
WU jumped at the opportunity and did not let the moment last, making quick work of the Violets and the Tartans, winning the two matches in the minimum six games.
New York University was the first victim. The Bears disposed of them in the semifinals, (30-8, 30-13, 30-20) The Bears next eliminated Carnegie Mellon University in the championship, (30-17, 30-23, 30-27), attaining the UAA championship. Short and “sweet,” indeed.
Leaving the tournament a perfect 5-0, in the minimum 15 games, “[the Bears] definitely made a statement,” according to Brand.
“We proved that we are the best team in the UAA,” said Luenemann. “We proved we are a team to be reckoned with for the national championship this year.”
With the regular season coming to a close, various players on the Bears received honors. Brand and Rebecca Rotello were each named first-team all-UAA. Freshman Colleen Winter was named second-team all-UAA, and sophomore Katie Quinn and senior Julie Suellentrop earned honorable-mention honors.
Add all this talent together, and you have a sixth-ranked Bears team loaded with the right people to bring home yet another national championship.
Despite their talent, this season has showed the Bears that if they do not play their best, they can be beaten. The goal now is to make sure the Bears play their best in the NCAA tournament to win the national championship.
Luenemann said, “During the last two weeks we did give them more time to rest.” Now that the Bears are rested, they need to stay sharp. According to Luenemann, “Right now that the midterms are done, we hope to have quality practices. We have a little bit of time but we don’t want to be stagnant.”
No matter how many spikes or digs the Bears do in practice, nothing substitutes for competition. The Bears plan on having some alumni come in for the Bears to practice against.
While they want to be as prepared as possible, Luenemann said, “we can’t really watch six or seven hours of tape for one team because every match is important.”
However, the Bears’ track record shows, that their goal of a national championship is legitimate.