Washington University Ties Division III Record by Winning 57th-Straight Set
BOX 1 | BOX 2
St. Louis, Mo., October 7, 2011 – The second-ranked Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team tied the NCAA Division III record by winning its 57th-consecutive set with a pair of sweeps over Fontbonne University (25-7, 25-8, 25-19) and Millikin University (25-13, 25-22, 25-22) at the Washington University Invitational on Friday night in St. Louis, Mo.
The Bears tied the Division III mark of 57-straight set victories set during the 2007 season by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Washington U. will attempt to break the record on Saturday morning when it faces Lindenwood University at the Washington University Field House at 9 a.m.
The Bears hit better than .400 in each of the first two sets against Fontbonne to jump out to a 2-0 lead against the Griffins. Junior setter Marilee Fisher and senior middle hitter Lauren Budde each had four kills in the opening-set win, and junior libero Kelly Pang added three service aces.
Sophomore outside hitter Meghan Byrne, sophomore right side Emily Tulloch and sophomore setter Megan Odenthal each had three kills in the second-set to pace the Bears to a 17-point win, but the Red and Green had to come from behind to win the decisive third.
Washington University found itself trailing by four points, 15-11, in the third but ended the set on a 14-4 run to come away with the six-point win. Odenthal scored on a setter dump to cut the Bears’ deficit to 16-14, and Tulloch spiked down an overpass on the next play to make the difference just one.
Senior right side Brittany Mikottis recorded a kill to knot it up at 18-18 and begin was turned into an 8-1 run to end the match. The final stretch also featured a pair of kills from Budde and two more aces for Pang.
The third set against Millikin was also close until the very end, but once again Washington University came up with series of big plays while taking advantage of Millikin mistakes to complete the sweep.
Back-to-back Millikin attack errors turned a 20-20 tie into a 22-20 Washington University lead. Byrne’s fifth kill of the third set put the Bears ahead 23-21, and Budde’s kill on a Millikin overpass on a Pang serve put the Bears ahead by three points.
Byrne and Budde paced a balanced Washington University offense against Millikin by recording 10 kills apiece. Sophomore middle hitter Kaia Schwartz hit .471 with nine kills on 17 swings and senior outside hitter Kristen Thomas recorded six kills. Pang finished with 20 digs and Fisher tallied 28 assists in two sets of work.