No. 3 Volleyball Sweeps Carroll and DePauw to Open Bears Classic
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St. Louis, Mo., September 3, 2011 – The No. 3 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team opened play in the Bears Classic with sweeps of Carroll University (25-14, 25-19, 25-10) and DePauw University (25-16, 25-12, 25-11) on Saturday night at the Washington University Field House in St. Louis, Mo.
Senior middle hitter Lauren Budde and junior outside hitter Drew Hargrave each recorded nine kills to pace the WUSTL offense in the win over Carroll. Budde hit .692 without committing an attack error (9-0-13) while Hargrave hit .389 (9-2-18). Budde added 11 digs to register her first double-double of the season.
Washington U. led comfortably in both the first and third sets but trailed the Pioneers 11-7 early in the second frame. Sophomore outside hitter Meghan Byrne sparked the Bears’ comeback with a kill and an ace on back-to-back plays, and the Red and Green regained the lead on a Budde kill that brought the tally to 14-13.
Byrne led all scorers with five kills in the six-point second set win, while Budde was a perfect 4-for-4 on swings and Hargrave added three of her nine kills.
Junior setter Marilee Fisher spread the ball around in the win over DePauw on Saturday evening. She set up four different teammates for a kill as the Bears mounted a 10-5 lead in the opening set on the way to a 25-16 victory, with Budde (four kills) and senior Kristen Thomas (three kills) leading the way.
A strong serving run from junior libero Kelly Pang helped Washington U. break open what was a close second set and turn it into a 17-9 lead. She registered a pair of aces during the run and the Bears’ strong serving kept DePauw on its heels for most of the match, resulting in four aces overall.
Budde compiled her second double-double of the night with 10 kills and 13 digs, while Pang finished the match with a season-high 15 digs. Fisher had 29 assists and seven digs and 10 Bears had at least one kill in the win.
Washington University (4-0) concludes competition in the Bears Classic on Sunday, Sept. 4. Washington U. faces the University of Texas-Dallas at 10 a.m., and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in the tournament finale at 2:30 p.m. Both matches will be streamed live online at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/wustl.portal