No. 2 WUSTL Volleyball Sweeps Fontbonne, William Woods to Open Season

FONTBONNE BOX SCORE

WILLIAM WOODS BOX SCORE

St. Louis, Mo., Aug. 31, 2012 - The No. 2-ranked Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team picked up a pair of 3-0 wins over Fontbonne University (25-13, 25-15, 25-15) and William Woods University (25-9, 25-15, 25-21) to open the 2012 season on Friday at the WU Field House.

In the win over Fontbonne, 12 different players recorded kills for Washington U. as the Bears hit .340 as a team in the match. Junior outside hitter Meghan Byrne had a huge match for the Bears offensively, notching eight kills on 10 swings, while also recording three aces and four digs. Senior outside hitter Drew Hargrave added six kills, while junior middle hitter Emily Tulloch and freshman middle hitter Jackie Nelligan tallied five kills each. In the third set, the Bears hit .371 as a team to finish the match.

Senior setter Marilee Fisher finished with 18 assists in two sets, while freshman Cassie Wang had 12 assists while playing in the third set. The Bears were led defensively by senior libero Kelly Pang, who finished with 10 digs, while junior defensive specialist Tanya Marvi had nine and freshman defensive specialist Anna Bryniarski tallied eight.

The Bears were tied with William Woods early in the first set, 6-6, before a kill by freshman right-side hitter Allison Zastrow gave Washington U. the lead for good. Zastrow then served six-straight points to give the Bears a 13-6 cushion. After a sideout by the Owls, Washington U. strung together seven-straight points behind Byrne’s strong serving, which included two aces. Fisher then finished off the first set, 25-9, with an ace serve.

In the second set, William Woods took advantage of six serving errors by the Bears to stay within 11-9. Washington U. then strung together five-straight points to jump out to a 16-9 lead behind three kills by Tulloch. Pang then served the Bears to a 22-11 lead, before Washington U. earned the 25-15 win. The Bears had their best offensive effort of the evening in the set, hitting .500 with 18 kills and three errors on 30 attacks.

The Bears found themselves trailing 8-6 early in the third set against the Owls before three big kills by Hargrave put Washington U. in front, 14-10. William Woods battled closely with the Bears throughout the set. Washington U. grabbed a 21-16 lead on a solo block by Nelligan. The Owls fought back to make it 21-19, before a sideout and another solo block by Nelligan made it 23-19 in favor of the Bears. A kill by Nelligan gave Washington U. match point. After a kill by the Owls, Wang finished off the Bears’ win with a kill.

Zastrow and Hargrave finished with nine kills apiece, while Byrne added eight kills and seven digs. Nelligan and Tulloch finished with seven kills each in the match. In the two matches on the evening, Tulloch finished with 12 kills on 18 attacks. Fisher tallied 34 assists, while Pang had a team-best 21 digs.

Washington University (2-0) continues its 10-match homestand by hosting the Labor Day Classic from Saturday-Sunday, Sept. 1-2, at the WU Field House. The Bears will square off against Cornell College, DePauw University, Dominican University and Eureka College for the five-team tournament. Washington U. takes on Eureka at 4:15 p.m. and DePauw at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.