No. 2 Washington University Volleyball Improves to 6-0 with Sweeps of Cornell, Dominican
CORNELL BOX SCORE
DOMINICAN BOX SCORE
St. Louis, Mo., Sept. 2, 2012 – The No. 2-ranked Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team concluded the Labor Day Classic with a pair of sweeps over Cornell College (25-15, 25-14, 25-14) and Dominican University (25-19, 25-13, 25-19) on Sunday at the WU Field House.
The wins on Sunday helped Washington University improve to 6-0 on the season, and gave the Bears the Labor Day Classic championship by finishing 4-0 in the classic. The Bears have won their first 18 sets to open the 2012 season. A year ago, Washington U. set an NCAA Division III record by winning 63-straight sets to begin the season.
Senior setter Marilee Fisher, senior libero Kelly Pang, and junior middle hitter Emily Tulloch were named to the Labor Day Classic all-tournament team. They were joined on the all-tournament team by Cornell outside hitter Katie O’Connor, DePauw University setter Faith Rolwes, and Dominican right-side hitter Jacy Lawrence.
Junior outside hitter Meghan Byrne had a big match for the Bears in the win over Cornell. She recorded a team-best eight kills on 15 attacks, including five kills in the first set. Washington U. trailed, 7-8, early in the set before making a 7-1 run behind Pang’s strong serving. The Rams closed the gap to 15-12, before kills by Fisher and Byrne made it 17-12. Washington U. continued to extend its lead before earning the 25-15 win.
In the second set, the Bears jumped out to an 8-3 lead, before Cornell rallied to within 12-10. Washington U. then went on a 7-1 run, including a pair of aces by Fisher, to open up an eight-point lead, before winning, 25-14. The Bears got out to an early lead again in the third set, 15-4, and extended that to 20-8 before taking the final set, 25-14, to win the match.
As a team, the Bears hit .278 in the match, with seven ace serves and four blocks. In addition to her eight kills, Byrne also finished with six digs and two block assists in the match. Tulloch and freshman right-side hitter Allison Zastrow each recorded six kills. Fisher finished with 22 assists and four digs, while Pang and freshman defensive specialist Anna Bryniarski tallied 13 digs each.
Washington U. trailed Dominican 6-3 in the first set before the Bears outscored the Stars 8-2, including four kills by senior outside hitter Drew Hargrave and a pair of aces by Byrne, to take the lead. Dominican cut the lead to one (12-11) with an ace, but a kill by Tulloch and back-to-back aces by Pang quickly put the Bears ahead by four (15-11). Washington U. led 21-17 when Hargrave smashed back-to-back kills to make it 23-17, and Byrne finished the set with a kill to give the Bears a 25-19 first-set win.
The Bears led throughout the second set, stretching their lead to 18-11 after two-straight aces by Pang. A block by Byrne and freshman middle hitter Jackie Nelligan gave Washington U. a 23-13 lead, before a kill and a solo block by Byrne gave the Bears the 25-13 win.
Dominican grabbed a 5-2 lead in the third set, but the Bears came back to take the lead, 6-5, on back-to-back aces by Byrne. A kill by Fisher a few plays latter made it 10-6 and Washington U. controlled the remainder of the match, winning the third set, 25-19.
Hargrave hammered a season-high 16 kills in the win over Dominican, while hitting .433. Byrne added eight kills and four aces, while Nelligan finished with seven kills and two block assists. Fisher tallied 33 assists, five kills and five digs. Pang led the Bears defensively with a season-best 27 digs and five aces, while junior defensive specialist Tanya Marvi added 11 digs.
Washington University (6-0) returns to action on Friday-Saturday, Sept. 7-8, when the Bears host the Washington University/ASICS National Invitational at the WU Field House. Washington U. is scheduled to face No. 17 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and No. 11 Elmhurst College on Friday, before taking on Otterbein University and No. 19 Concordia College (Minn.) on Saturday.
Bear Notebook: Pang now has 98 digs through the Bears’ first six matches, bringing her career total to 1,944 … Pang needs just 102 more digs to become Washington University’s all-time career leader … Washington U. now has an overall record of 425-48 (.899) in matches at the WU Field House since 1985.