In final tune-up before playoffs, volleyball defeats Greenville on the road

Dorian DeBose | Senior Sports Editor

In their last game before the University Athletic Association championship tournament, the Washington University volleyball team picked up a 3-1 victory against Greenville University on the road.

Wash. U. exploded out the gate. Seniors Julianne Malek and Ifeoma Ufondu as well as freshman Caitlin Lorenz had three kills in the first set. The Bears took the final four points of the set, with junior Zoe Baxter serving the ace that won it, 25-17. Wash. U. held Greenville to a match low .040 hitting percentage in the set.

Malek and Lorenz would lead Bears with 10 kills each. They managed a .528 hitting percentage between the two of them, which helped propel the Bears to a .302 hitting percentage in the game. This was the fourth time that Wash. U. finished a game with above a .300 hitting percentage in the season. On the other side, they held Greenville to .143.

The second set looked like it would be a tightly contested one, with Greenville leading 10-11 at one point. However, the Bears rallied back with three straight points to go up, 13-11. They would take 15 of the next 19 points to win the set, 25-15. Sophomore Tricia Brown led the Bears with four kills in the set.

Greenville’s Abby Freeman had a spectacular third set. She had 11 kills and dragged her team’s hitting percentage in the set up to .233. Freeman’s great play as well as seven errors by Wash. U. led to Greenville taking the set, 21-25. Freeman would end the game with 23 kills total, more than twice the total of the next closest player.

Wash. U. rebounded in the fourth set. Malek led the Bears with four kills. Brown wasn’t far behind, with three kills. Sophomore Kirby Knapp was two for two in converting attempts to kills in the set. The Bears won the set, 25-17.

Knapp tallied a team leading 42 assists, averaging over 10 per set. She also produced 11 digs on the night.

The Bears improved to 23-6 on the season. The next stop for the Bears is Rochester, N.Y., where they will face New York University in the first round of the UAA Championship on Friday at 2 p.m.

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