Junior Ellie Laird recorded her 1,000th dig over the weekend. (Isabella Diaz-Mira | Photo Editor)

For the No. 10 WashU volleyball team, there are three key weekends in the regular season: the University Athletic Association (UAA) Round Robins. Each tournament represents an important opportunity for the Bears to prove themselves against challenging conference opponents, and Sunday Oct. 12 was no exception.

WashU traveled to Cleveland, Ohio to take on Carnegie Mellon University and Case Western University. The Bears split the two games, handily defeating Carnegie Mellon in a 3-1 victory but losing to Case Western 1-3.

Carnegie Mellon, 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-16, 25-17)

In the first set against Carnegie Mellon, WashU exploded to a score of 12-2 and never trailed from there. Although the Tartans fought to extend the game, spoiling three WashU set points, the Bears ultimately secured the victory 25-20 on a kill by junior opposite hitter Naya Ohuabunwa. 

After narrowly losing the second set 22-25, WashU made a dominant comeback in the third. The Bears took an early lead with a 7-1 run propelled by blocks from senior middle blocker Eva Boling, junior opposite hitter Leah Oyewole, and Ohuabunwa.

“Against Carnegie, I thought our team did an awesome job at the net with our blocking,” head coach Vanessa Walby wrote in a statement to Student Life. “It really slowed down their attackers and gave our defense a chance to make some great adjustments and get a ton of touches.”

During the rest of the third set, the Bears never let up the pressure, ultimately winning 25-16 — their largest margin of the match.

The score remained close for much of the fourth set, but WashU ultimately took the lead, scoring 8 out of the last 10 points to win 25-17.

The Bears led the Tartans in overall points, kills, aces, and assists. Senior setter Sam Buckley directed the offense with 49 assists, more than all of Carnegie Mellon combined. This match marked the ninth time she has done so in the 2025 season.

Senior hitter Anna Freeman led the Bears’ offense with accuracy, tallying 18 kills, with an outstanding 0.410 kill percentage.

Case Western, 1-3 (25-21, 13-25, 18-25, 25-27)

WashU carried its momentum from the previous game into the first set against Case Western, pulling away with a 6-0 run to take the early lead. While the Spartans cut the deficit to as little as one, WashU remained on top, with a strong 4-0 stretch to end the set 25-21.

In the second and third sets, Case Western quickly gained the lead, and WashU was never able to recover, losing 13-25 and 18-25, respectively.

While the fourth set began similarly, with an early Spartan lead, the Bears fought back, exploding with a 9-1 run to take the lead 12-11. Freeman was instrumental during that stretch, tallying three consecutive kills. 

From there, the match remained tight, with neither team leading by more than 2 points. Ultimately, WashU lost 25-27 on a 3-0 run by Case Western.

For Walby, however, the loss was merely an opportunity for the Bears to improve moving forward.

“I think our team is trying to learn from every set, game, and match,” she wrote. “That’s what team sports are all about … working through it as a group and continuing to grow.”

The Bears did edge out the Spartans in overall kills, 51-50. However, WashU ultimately struggled to convert attempts into success, with a hitting percentage of only 0.048 in the last three sets.

Buckley and Freeman continued their strong performance, leading the team with 43 assists and 21 kills, respectively. 

After adding 20 digs against Carnegie Mellon and 24 against Case Western, junior libero Ellie Laird reached 1,000 career digs. This milestone comes during a breakout 2025 season for Laird, where she has averaged an outstanding 4.97 digs per set.

WashU will next take on two non-conference opponents, No. 7 Illinois Wesleyan University on Oct. 21 and North Central College on Oct. 24. These matchups will test the Bears’ resilience against elite competition, especially Illinois Wesleyan, a team that has only lost one game in the entire 2025 season. The Bears will then return to UAA competition during the final Round Robin on Oct. 26. As WashU’s 3-2 conference record ties Carnegie Mellon, Case Western, and New York University, the last round of UAA competition will be vital to the Bears’ regular season success.