A first-set loss in the second match of Sunday afternoon’s double-header did not deter the Washington University volleyball team. The Bears stormed back against No. 15 Carnegie Mellon University to collect their second four-set victory of the day, adding to an earlier win over Brandeis University and improving to 18-6 on the season.

On Sunday morning against Brandeis, the Bears jumped out to an early lead, handily taking the first two sets, 25-16. The Judges put together a seven point run in the third set on their way to taking it, 17-25. The fourth set was closely contested. Neither side managed to gain a large edge on the scoreboard throughout the game. Late in the game, tied at 23, senior Leila King picked up a kill off an assist from junior Kirby Knapp to push the score up to 24-23. An error from Brandeis on match point gave the four-set victory to the Bears.

Curran Neenan | Student Life

The Bears celebrate a win against Cornell College in late August. Wash. U. volleyball has won their past six matches including sweeps of the Baden Invite and the third UAA Round Robin of the year.

Wash. U. led Brandeis in hitting percentage, .200 to .101. Junior Tricia Brown led the team in both kills (11) and digs (16).

The afternoon saw Wash. U. taking on Carnegie Mellon. CMU was unstoppable in the first set. They posted a .361 hitting percentage in the opening set and blitzed the Bears, 25-21. The Tartans were in good position to take the second set of the match. They were up 15-9. Then, the Bears scored seven straight points to get back in the match. The Bears would win the set 25-19 after scoring the last five points. In the third set, Wash. U. looked to be pulling away, 13-9, before Carnegie Mellon scored five consecutive points to go up 13-14. From there, the match was filled with back and forth exchanges as neither team could gain a clear advantage. Tied at 19-19, the Bears scored six of the last eight points to win the set 25-21.

The fourth set and final set was taken decisively by the Bears, 25-15. Wash. U. was blisteringly hot down the stretch, posting a hitting percentage of .394, while the Tartans struggled to keep up.

Sophomore Michaela Bach had an excellent game against CMU. She had a hitting percentage of .370 and led the team with 19 kills.

The victory over Carnegie Mellon—which brought Wash. U. to 5-2 in the University Athletic Association—was the Bears’ second over a ranked opponent.

The Bears will play again on Friday in Bloomington, Ill., in the Holiday Inn Express Classic III.