Photo by Jamie Nicholson

By the time the Washington University volleyball team pushed Carnegie Mellon University to a fifth set in the semifinals of the UAA Championships, the Bears had been on the court for eight sets already. They cruised past Rochester University in the first round for a 3-1 win where they recorded 10 kills and 14 blocks. But just hours later in the semifinal match, the Bears traded off sets with Carnegie Mellon for four sets to push the game to a tiebreaker.

But in the final set, the Bears set the tone: no more close, two-point losses. They never relinquished their lead, and an untouchable ball delivered by junior Lily Steinbach brought home the match point for WashU. 

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy and we were going to have to work hard together as a group. It was fun to watch us battle and to hear how supportive our team was on the bench,” said head coach Vanessa Walby about the team effort.

On Saturday, WashU lost to Emory University to finish second in the UAA Championships tournament. The runner-up conclusion is the team’s highest ranking since 2017, when they beat Emory in the title match to claim the UAA championship. In adding two more games to the win column, the team cemented its argument to be included in postseason contention games, as they secured a Pool C bid to the NCAA tournament on Monday. 

After playing nine sets on Friday, the Bears knew they had a battle ahead of them in Emory, and the Eagles delivered. After fighting back from an early deficit, sophomores Zoe Foster and Jasmine Sells nailed four kills and the team drew ahead by three points. But an offensive rally from Emory late in the third set, buoyed by an attack error from WashU, kept the Eagles in contention. At this point, even a late kill from fifth year Michaela Bach couldn’t save the Bears from losing the first set. 

From there, Emory only ceased their lead once in the remaining sets, a 1-2 score in the third set that was quickly answered by four successive points on the board to boost Emory to an untouchable lead. The Bears hit .174 to Emory’s .250 and fell behind in assists and aces. Sells led the team in kills, with 11, while freshman Sam Buckley led the team with 31 assists. 

The team’s selection show on Monday granted them an at-large bid to the postseason. The Bears’ last postseason victory came in 2018 where they secured a victory against Cornell College in the first round before being defeated by Illinois-Wesleyan. Their number one ranking in the region plus their strength of schedule all contributed to their postseason contention, where Walby said they looked forward to the matchup.

They are set to play Millikin first, a team that they’ve already confronted and defeated.  The Bears played the Big Blue in October and came out with a 3-0 win. If they advance, they could either face Wittenberg University, a team with a 24-3 record that lost 3-1 to Millikin, or Hope, a team that has lost to Wittenberg this season. The most likely scenario would be seeing Wittenberg and WashU play in the second round.

“Nothing in the postseason will be easy,” said Walby, reflecting on her team’s goals in November. “We look at [the] postseason as a clean slate and fresh start for everyone. It is a time to fine tune our skills, pay attention to details and work our system. It is a time to focus on us, have fun and compete hard together as a group.”