WashU faced tough competition in this year’s East-West Battle (Rozie Hazim | Student Life)

Coming off of a shaky 1-2 start, the No. 16 Washington University women’s volleyball team entered the weekend searching for stability. The Bears would have their chance in the annual East-West Battle, hosted at home this year, with a grueling schedule consisting of three matches in two days. The Bears responded to the challenge, sweeping the weekend with wins against California Lutheran University, No. 5 Trinity University (Texas), and Tufts University to improve to 4-2 before divisional play begins in the coming weeks.

This was not just any weekend for the Bears, as the East-West Battle pitted WashU against some of the nation’s best. The Bears proved they were more than worthy, all the more impressive considering it was also Alumnae Weekend, with many former WashU players in attendance. 

“I thought we did a good job following our game plan and working together as one unit,” Head Coach Vanessa Walby wrote in a statement to Student Life. “We adapted and made great adjustments.”

The weekend started on a high note, with the Bears cruising to a comfortable 3-0 win against California Lutheran on Friday night, Sept. 6. WashU took the lead early and never relented, winning each set by at least seven points. The Bears led in nearly all phases, with 47 kills to California Lutheran’s 28, leading assists 43 to 25, and a commanding 12 aces compared to the Regals’ two. 

Game two against Trinity was more of the same, with the Bears winning comfortably 3-1 against the No. 5 Tigers. Though they dropped the third set, the Bears were never in serious danger of losing the match. They won the first two sets handily and closed out the fourth set 25-21 to seal the match victory. 

Junior setter Sam Buckley played a key role for the Bears, notching 45 assists in the match. Those 45 assists would be enough to lap all of the players on Trinity combined.

“I thought our attackers did a great job of taking care of the ball on offense. Sam worked hard to distribute the ball evenly and find the hot hand in that moment,” Walby wrote.

The Bears distributed the ball well all weekend (Alexa Marcus | Student Life)

Buckley would continue to set up her teammates well, again leading the team with 35 assists against Tufts and once more lapping the opposing team in assists altogether. Against Tufts, WashU weathered a close first set, closing in the clutch 25-23, before solidly winning the next two games for a 3-0 win to finish the weekend. 

On defense, senior middle blocker Zoe Foster led the way with six blocks, anchoring a defense that proved strong the entire event.

“We were tough and aggressive,” Foster said. “We went after them instead of letting them come after us.”

This aggressiveness was evident as the Bears lost just one out of ten sets in what was ultimately a successful weekend. The team survived in the clutch, pulling out multiple close wins, including the decisive fourth set against Trinity which was 22-21 late, a narrow WashU lead that they were able to hold on to. But for the most part, the Bears were able to establish leads early, with their consistent play that allowed the sweep.

“The more games and practices we have, the more consistent we are getting with our touch,” Foster said. “We had a more competitive mindset.”

The Bears look to continue their three-game win streak Wednesday at Fontbonne on Sept. 11 before heading out to Iowa for a four-game weekend at the Loras Invitational.

Defensive Specialist Elise Gilroy makes a tough play (Jeffrey You | Student Life)