The last four regular-season matchups between Washington University and Emory University in volleyball had gone a full five sets, with Wash. U. winning three of four tight matches. Fifth set number 5 came on Saturday, with the No. 7 Bears defeating the No. 3 Eagles in a battle for University Athletic Association supremacy.

Faced with just a one-point lead in the fifth set, sophomore middle hitter Caroline Dupont tipped over a game-ending kill to secure a 15-13 final-set victory for the Bears, one of four Wash. U. wins on the weekend.

Brian Benton | Student Life

Junior Alliston Zastrow (left) and sophomore Caroline Dupont block against Southwestern University on Sept. 5. The Bears won all four matches last weekend.

On Saturday, the Bears cruised to a straight-set victory over the University of Rochester before winning the five-set thriller over Emory. The Red and Green then dispatched Case Western Reserve University in straight sets and Carnegie Mellon University in four sets to finish an undefeated weekend and clinch the top seed in the UAA Championships tournament in November.

Against Emory, the Bears got off to a hot start, never trailing in the first set after jumping out to a 11-3 lead en route to winning 25-19. After Emory captured the second set 25-21 to even the match, the Bears dominated the third set with a 25-14 win.

Fighting to stay alive in the fourth set, Emory used a five-point run to take a 12-7 lead. Despite a Bears’ comeback bid to trim the Eagles’ lead to 21-19, Emory held off Wash. U. to win 25-22 and force a fifth.

The fifth set was a back-and-forth affair, with the teams trading points and consecutive 4-0 runs to reach a 10-10 tie. A kill by sophomore outside hitter Amanda Palucki and an Emory attack error put the Bears on top 12-10. Two kills by Dupont and two Emory points later, the score was 14-12, giving Wash. U. a match point. A service error spoiled the Bears’ first chance at finishing the match, but the second match point proved fruitful, as yet another Dupont kill sealed a win for the Bears.

“We did well and we won the sets when we dictated the tempo and we dictated the pace of the game, and I think that is really going to be the key to success for us the rest of the season,” junior middle hitter Jackie Nelligan said. “If we can dictate the tempo and play the way that we want to play, we’ll be able to control the matches.”

Nelligan led the Bears’ offensive attack with 14 kills and a gaudy .480 attack percentage, while junior setter Cassie Wang provided 32 assists. The well-rounded effort continued with sophomore libero Kalehua Katagiri, who anchored the defense with 27 digs as the Bears held Emory to nearly 100 points below its season attack percentage (.190, compared to a .274 average).

“Honestly, it was a huge team effort, and everyone kind of clicked and drew from working for each other, and I think that’s one of the main reasons we were successful. It was the fact that we could go to any hitter and trust that they could get a kill or trust all the defenders to do their job,” Nelligan said.

Just before defeating Emory, the Bears opened the tournament up with a straight-set victory over the University of Rochester, winning 25-17, 25-21, 25-15. The quick win was led by a strong defensive performance, as the Bears held Rochester to a miniscule .034 attack percentage.

The defense was paced by Katagiri and senior libero Lauren Yung, who contributed 15 and 10 digs, respectively. Offensively, Dupont and junior outside hitter Nkiru Udenze led the way with eight kills apiece, while senior setter Lindsay Juriga chipped in 18 assists.

“We were able to run a fast offense. When we’re able to do that, we become very dangerous, and that leads to great ball control and solid setting,” Dupont said.

The strong play continued Sunday to the tune of a 25-7, 25-16, 25-17 victory over Case Western. A balanced offense that hit .344 and saw three players record nine kills, along with a defense that held Case Western to a .069 attack percentage, led to the straight-set victory. The Bears scored 18 kills on just 26 attacks in the first set, and Palucki tallied an impressive nine kills on just 10 attempts in the match.

Soon after, the Red and Green notched a 25-21, 17-25, 25-19, 27-25 victory over Carnegie Mellon in a battle for the top seed in the UAA tournament next month. Both teams came in with 5-1 conference records, but the Bears used a complete team effort to overcome the Tartans. Junior setter Allison Zastrow led the way by recording 28 assists, 15 digs and 14 kills to earn the Bears’ first triple-double in four years.

With their perfect record this weekend, the Red and Green (27-4 overall record) have now replicated last season’s results in UAA play, when they went 6-1 in conference games and lost only to the University of Chicago. The Bears return to action when they host the Bears Invite in two weeks before entering the UAA Championship tournament as the top seed on Nov. 7 and 8 in Pittsburgh.