The second-ranked Bears took four games this past weekend at the Titan Invitational, their last regular season tournament. Extending their winning streak to 20 games, the Bears volleyball team moved to 28-1 on the season.
A balanced offense and defense gave the Bears the win over University of Wisconsin-Stout on Friday. Junior Emilie Walk tallied six kills in the first game, which the Bears won 30-19. Dropping the second game 17-30, the Bears rallied to take games three and four (30-23, 30-16).
“Our goals were the same as they have been all year – focus on doing the little things better,” said junior Haleigh Spencer. “What is going to take us to the next level is perfecting those little things like better blocking, better ball control, and smarter hits.”
Walk ended the match with 13 kills and eight blocks. Senior Whitney Smith added 11 kills and eight blocks while Spencer collected 11 kills, eight digs, and four blocks. Sophomore Audra Janak delivered 21 assists, five service aces and 10 digs. On the defense, senior libero Amy Bommarito tallied 18 digs and sophomore Alli Alberts added 11.
“That is what is so great about our team,” said Spencer. “It isn’t just one person doing all the work. It’s everyone out there. We are such a balanced team, offensively and defensively, that the opposing team can’t focus on one person.”
The host Titans from Illinois Wesleyan would not go down easily. Dropping the first game (28-30), the Bears rallied behind sophomore Nikki Morrison and Spencer, taking the next three frames and the match (30-26, 30-25, 30-26). Morrison ended the match with 15 kills and seven blocks while Spencer added 13 kills and 11 digs. Both Walk and Smith added 10 digs. Freshman setter Vicki Blood finished with 22 assists and 12 digs.
Saturday’s first game against Monmouth College proved no contest for the Red and Green, as the Bears won easily in three games (30-12, 30-15, 30-17). Finishing with a team hitting percentage of .579, the offense was led by Spencer’s 11 kills while Smith added eight and junior Kathy Leeper added seven. Spencer also added 13 digs to her offensive output.
The final match of the weekend was against No. 6 Carthage College. Taking the first set 30-22, the Bears rallied to win the second set 32-30. As Carthage seemed poised to take the third set, the Bears weathered through three match points to win 35-33.
Freshman Erin Albers tallied six kills in the third game and finished with eight in the match. Spencer again led the Bears with 15 kills and digs. Morrison added 13 kills while Smith added 12. Defensively, Bommarito collected 21 digs while Alberts added 10.
Wash. U. will travel to Pittsburgh, Pa. this weekend for the UAA Championships. They will face Case Western Reserve University, the University of Rochester, and Carnegie Mellon University in the first round. The Bears are looking to reclaim the title from Emory who snapped WU’s 16-year win streak last season. The title will guarantee a spot in the NCAA tournament.
“We are expecting to win the conference, but we know it won’t be without hard work,” said Spencer. “Our conference is one of the best volleyball conferences in Division III. We don’t expect it to be a cakewalk. We know what we need to focus on and what we need to get better at in order to win conference. That will be our focus this week.”