No. 1 Volleyball Sweeps Culver-Stockton and Dominican on Senior Night

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St. Louis, Mo., October 29, 2010 – The No. 1 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team picked up a pair of sweeps over Culver-Stockton College (25-10, 25-13, 25-12) and Dominican University (25-14, 25-19, 25-17) on the first day of the Washington University Invitational on Friday, Oct. 29, at the Washington University Field House in St. Louis, Mo.

Prior to its match with Dominican, Washington U. honored its three senior members who are playing their final regular season tournament at Washington University: defensive specialist Ali Hoffman, right side Marya Kaminski and middle hitter Jennifer Varriano.

In their four years on the Danforth Campus, the three members of the Class of 2011 have helped Washington University post an overall record of 125-18 (.874), while winning at University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship and the 2007 and 2009 NCAA Division III national titles.

Washington University hit .333 as a team in the victory over Culver-Stockton College. Junior middle hitter Lauren Budde paced the offense with 11 kills, while Varriano chipped in a career-high seven kills on 10 swings for a .700 hitting percentage.

The Bears served up four aces against the Wildcats, four coming courtesy of freshman Meghan Byrne’s difficult jump serve, and sophomore libero Kelly Pang tallied a team-high 20 digs.

After picking up a 25-14 opening set win over Dominican, the Bears ran into some adversity early in the second frame. Dominican led 11-5 before Budde and sophomore outside hitter Drew Hargrave took over on offense and defense to put the Bears back on top.

Back-to-back kills from Budde cut the WUSTL deficit to 13-10, and the Bears trailed by just one as Hargrave scored twice in a row. The Washington University run became 5-0 as Budde recorded yet another kill, and she partnered with Hargrave to block down a Dominican attack on the next play to complete the comeback.

Budde and Hargrave combined for blocks twice more during the early stages of the third set, helping the Bears build a 5-1 lead. However, Dominican fought back, taking a brief 14-13 lead before Washington University captured seven of the next eight points to seal the victory.

Budde recorded her first career triple-double in the win over Dominican, hitting .315 with 13 kills, 11 digs and 10 total blocks (one solo, nine assists). Hargrave also tallied double-digit kills with 12 to go along with a .321 hitting percentage, and Kaminski chipped in eight kills and hit a team-high 615.

Sophomore setter Marilee Fisher finished with 37 assists and five kills, while Pang registered 22 digs.

Washington U. (26-2) completes play in the Washington University Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 30. The Bears host Millsaps College at the Washington University Field House at 10 a.m., and Hanover College at 2:30 p.m.