The No. 11 WashU volleyball team dominated the opening day of the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship on Friday, Nov. 15, defeating New York University and No. 16 Case Western Reserve University in single-elimination matchups. These victories propelled the Bears into Saturday’s championship game against No. 6 Emory University, where they fell 3-0.

With the win, the Bears move to 3-0 to start conference play in the University Athletic Association (UAA), tied for first place with Carnegie Mellon University.

After a challenging start to conference competition, the Bears put together one of their most complete performances yet, showcasing both attacking sharpness and defensive discipline. The result boosts their overall record to 7-4-1 and 1-2 in UAA play, giving the team valuable momentum heading into a key stretch of matches.

Playing at home, and making their return to the WashU Field House after a pipe burst forced the team to play matches on the Sumers Recreation Center and Varsity Gym courts, the Bears were able to flip the script, defeating Brandeis University and No. 23 New York University on Sunday, Oct. 13, both in four sets.

This weekend, however, the Bears left no doubt as to who the better team was. WashU swept the four-game series, securing two victories by mercy rule and outscoring NYU 33-3 across the weekend on April 5-7.

After last weekend’s tough losses to the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, the Washington University baseball team bounced back for a dominant 3-1 series win over the New York University Violets to start conference play on March 29-31. 

“Winning 1,000 games is really special for the team and the coaches. This team has shown it is very capable of winning — we’re going to be a problem down the road.” 

As they defended their home court down the stretch, the Bears pulled out a 72-61 win, a result that will likely go a long way towards locking up their at-large bid in the NCAA DIII tournament. The Bears extended their win streak to three on Feb. 18, topping Brandeis University 56-53 to bring their UAA record to 7-6.

“We have learned a lot about ourselves, and we believe we can become [better] with each challenge, and every UAA game is a challenge…We have to continue to focus on getting better each day.” 

Coming off an OT thriller against the University of Rochester where the Bears barely escaped with a win, it seemed now that the engine pushing their late-game heroics had run out of fuel as WashU headed East for a two game trip against the New York University Violets and Brandeis University Judges.