Fall break is typically a time for students to kick back and get some quality rest and relaxation, but for the Bears, this past weekend was action-packed. Here’s a recap of soccer, cross country, men’s tennis, volleyball, and preseason for swim and dive. 

No. 1 women’s soccer 

No. 1 women’s soccer took care of business on the East Coast over fall break. To kick off conference play, WashU dominated the Brandeis University Judges 4-0 on Oct. 3. The Bears then defeated the No. 5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Beavers the following day (Oct. 4), marking the Bears’ first win this season against a ranked opponent (2-1). After their weekend on the road, the Bears are now 11-0 overall and 1-0 in University Athletic Association (UAA) play. 

WashU set an aggressive tone in their conference opener, outshooting the Judges 26-7 and 14-1 on goal. In their non-conference game against MIT, the Bears outshot the Beavers by a much closer margin: seven overall and four on goal. 

Senior midfielder Sophie Viscovich led the Bears with two goals over the weekend, marking her fifth and sixth goals of the season. Viscovich scored a game-winning penalty kick against the Beavers and scored a goal directly off a corner kick to put the Bears up 2-0 against the Judges. Additionally, junior midfielder Emily Fox registered her sixth goal and fourth assist in WashU uniform on Saturday. Both of the Bears’ transfer student-athletes, Fox and graduate student midfielder Ana DiMaria, have proven to be assets as they tie for leading their team in assists with four. 

The Bears continue with UAA play this weekend, hosting Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) on Oct. 10 at 12:30 p.m. 

Men’s soccer

Junior defender Quentin Wallace kicks the ball down the sideline. (Brayden Weigelt | Contributing Photographer)

Men’s soccer spent fall break in Boston playing one of their most important games yet — their first UAA conference matchup against Brandeis University on Saturday, Oct. 3. Despite an early first goal by the Judges within the first two minutes of the match, the Bears managed to pull out a 3-2 victory. This win puts WashU in the upper half of the early conference standings. 

An opening deficit has not been known to rattle WashU — in seven of their first nine games this season, the Bears have conceded the opening goal. With a level head, WashU gained the lead by the end of the first half thanks to swift goals from senior forward Ethan Wirtschafter and first-year midfielder Henry Wong-Foy. First-year midfielder Nick Lam scored a third goal for the Bears in the second half, providing the insurance the Bears needed as the Judges made a late second goal with under two minutes left on the clock.

The Bears look to keep the ball rolling with a home game against their second UAA opponent, CWRU, on Saturday, Oct. 10.

No. 10 women’s and No. 13 men’s cross country

The No. 10 women’s and No. 13 men’s cross country teams traveled to Northfield, Minnesota to compete in the Running of the Cows on Oct. 3, hosted by Carleton College. The Bears may see this same course later on in the season if they make it to the NCAA Championships, making this meet important preparation.

The women first competed in the Maize 6000M, finishing in second place behind Wisconsin La-Crosse. Junior Mackenzie Raue was the Bears’ top finisher, coming in third overall, with a time of 22:44. Junior Grace Todd, first-year Ella Jackson, and senior Lily Dipple all finished in the top 20, coming in 12th, 15th, and 18th place, respectively. The Bears were not as successful in the women’s Navy Championship 6000M race, finishing fifth out of 35 teams. Junior Lucinda Laughlin was the Bears’ sole top-20 finisher, coming in seventh place with a time of 21:36.

The men fared similarly. WashU finished second overall in the Men’s Open 8000M, taking four consecutive spots: Starting with sophomore Mateo Gros-Slovinsky as the top finisher, who came in ninth place with a time of 26:17, first-year Freddie van der Velden, senior Will Liu, and first-year Ryan Lien finished just seconds after, taking 10th, 11th, and 12th place, respectively. Sophomore Charlie Glatz and junior Caleb Brox also finished in the top 20, taking 17th and 18th place, respectively. The Bears were not as successful in the men’s Navy Championship 6000M race, in a similar fashion to the women’s team, finishing sixth overall out of 25 teams. Sophomore Max Sudrzynski was the Bears’ only top-20 finisher, placing 14th with a time of 24:52.

The men’s and women’s teams will continue running on the road on Oct. 17 for the Augustana Interregional at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois.

Men’s tennis 

The WashU men’s team competed in the International Tennis Association (ITA) Regional this past weekend, with strong performances across both singles and doubles. 

Sophomore Jeremy Sieben led the Bears in the tournament’s highest level A flight, advancing to the semifinals. Sieben’s run ended with a 6-3, 6-1 defeat by a CWRU player. First-year Jerry Han, the team’s second best finisher, reached the round of 16 before falling to a player from Denison University. 

In the B flight, junior Drew Koval reached the semifinals after two straight-set victories, before losing to a Denison player in a close match tiebreak, 4-6, 6-4, 14-12. Sophomore Ethan Wu and senior Nathan Tam each picked up wins before being eliminated in the round of 32. 

In doubles, Koval and Tam met their end in the quarterfinals, and the No. 2 seed Wu and Sieben were eliminated in the round of 16. 

The Bears will finish their fall season with the WTN Open at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center in Forest Park on Oct. 9-11. 

Shaoheng Chen

Senior Naya Ohuabunwa taps the ball over the net (Alex Chen | Contributing Photographer)

No. 10 volleyball 

The No. 10 volleyball team hosted Central College on Oct. 3 for senior honors. The Bears dominated Central, sweeping the Dutch 3-0. Before the game, WashU honored its five seniors: Ellie Laird, Leah Oyewole, Anaia Montaque-Harrison, Megan Manaj, and Naya Ohuabunwa. 

The Bears controlled the first set, winning decisively with a score of 25-16. The Dutch came within reach of the Bears in the second set, but WashU pulled away, winning the set 25-20. The third set started off pretty close, with Central trailing by just two points, 9-7, early on. The Bears then quickly dominated the rest of the set and won it 25-14, closing out their sweep of the Dutch.

The seniors performed well for senior day. Oyewole anchored the attack, leading the team with 14 kills and the highest attack percentage. Laird led the team with 28 digs, her record for the season.

Besides the seniors, two underclassmen shined: Sophomore Abby Krause and first-year Anya Mikhailenko. Krause had a double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs. Mikhailenko had 36 assists of the Bear’s 39 total.

The Bears will hit the road this weekend to play in another UAA Round Robin in New York City. On Oct. 11, they will face CWRU and No. 16 University of Chicago.

No. 11 women’s and No. 12 men’s swim (preseason rankings) 

The WashU women’s and men’s swim and dive team, ranked No. 11 and No. 12, respectively, opened their preseason competition over the weekend at the St. Louis Area Showcase. There, they reinforced their preseason training as they faced competition across divisions, such as D-II University of Missouri Saint Louis (UMSL) and McKendree University and D-I Saint Louis University. 

Senior Peyton Watson led the women’s team, winning the 100 butterfly in 57.09 seconds and the 100 freestyle in 52.75. First-year Kate Krueger and sophomore Eliana King each took third in a race, Krueger in the 200 individual medley (IM) and King in the 100-yard breaststroke. 

For the men, senior Marco Minai finished second in the 200 IM, and sophomore Jackson Heether and first-year Ethan Pak placed second and third in the 50-yard freestyle. First-year Tobin Howe also took second in the 100-yard breaststroke, finishing just ahead of third-place finisher junior Brody Schrepfer. 

Both teams delivered strong relay finishes, with both the men and women taking second in the 850 freestyle relay.

The Bears will officially open their season on Oct. 31 at the University of Chicago against the No. 3 Maroons and the No. 19 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.