Margaret BauerThe Bears volleyball team went 4-0 this past weekend in the Washington University Midwest Invitational. In the process, they ran their winning streak to nine in a row and improved their season record to 15-4.
In the tournament, the Bears refused to surrender even a game to their opponents as they swept all four matches 3-0. The Bears began the tournament on Friday by facing off against Greensboro College and winning easily 30-21, 30-17, 30-23. Senior Colleen Winter led the Bears in kills with 13 and junior Kara Liefer had 36 assists. Next up for the University was University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse who the Bears dispatched 30-22, 30-22, 30-27. Winter again led the team in kills with 19 for the match while Liefer posted 46 assists.
The results in Saturday’s matches were more of the same for the Bears. They dominated Illinois College 30-17, 30-18, 30-23 before sending Fontbonne University to a 30-11, 30-19, 30-24 defeat. Freshman Whitney Brodie led the Bears with 13 kills against Illinois while sophomore Megan Delcourt posted a team high 36 assists. Against Fontbonne, junior Megan Houck led the club in kills with 12 while Liefer again led in assists with 36. Fontbonne actually hosted the tournament as the Bears’ home facility was in use for the presidential debate.
For the tournament, the Bears finished first with their perfect 4-0 record. Wisconsin-Lacrosse was second with a 3-1 mark. Fontbonne went 2-2 for third place. Greensboro was fourth place with a 1-3 record. Illinois College placed last and did not win a match in the tournament.
The Bears dominated the All-Tournament Team listings with three of the six slots on the team. Houck, Liefer and Winter were all named to the All-Tournament Team.
For the season, Houck leads the team in kills per game with 3.34 a contest. Winter is first in total kills with 200 and is second in average with 3.12 a game. Liefer is the team’s leader in assists; she averages 11.41 assists a game.
The team will play next on Saturday, October 16 in the second University Athletic Association round robin held in Chicago, Illinois. There, the sixth ranked Bears will face off against top-ranked New York University (NYU). NYU is a perfect 26-0 on the season and fresh off capturing its own tournament, the New York University Invitational, this past weekend. Like the Bears, NYU did not surrender a single game in its tournament.