Budde Leads Second-Ranked Bears Past Ohio Northern and Carthage
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St. Louis, Mo., September 9, 2011 – Senior middle hitter Lauren Budde recorded double-digit kills in back-to-back matches to lead the second-ranked Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team to a pair of sweeps over Ohio Northern University (25-14, 25-15, 25-19) and No. 8 Carthage College (25-13, 25-21, 25-20) at the WU/Asics National Invitational on Friday night at the Washington University Field House in St. Louis, Mo.
Budde had 15 kills against just one error to hit .667 (15-1-21) in the three-set victory over Ohio Northern, also recording six digs and three service aces. She followed that up with her second double-double of the season, leading the Bears with 13 kills and a .423 hitting percentage to go along with 11 digs in the win over Carthage.
For the night she hits .532 with 28 kills, an average of 4.67 per set, with four service aces, 17 digs and a pair of blocks.
The opening set against Ohio Northern began as a close contest, but behind six kills from Budde the Bears eventually pulled away for an 11-point margin of victory.
Seven different players recorded at least one kill as the Red and Green took the second-set 25-15, with Budde scoring on four of her five swings and junior outside hitter Drew Hargrave, sophomore outside hitter Meghan Byrne and sophomore middle hitter Kaia Schwartz adding two kills apiece.
Hargrave also finished in double figures with 11 kills, junior setter Marilee Fisher recorded 38 assists, Schwartz had four kills with five total blocks and senior defensive specialist Tricia Brandt led the team with a season-high 15 digs.
Budde helped break open the first set in the evening match against Carthage, using a string of two kills and an ace to stretch a 14-11 WUSTL advantage into a six-point cushion. The Bears ended the first-set on a 15-4 run en route to a 25-13 win.
The second and third sets both came down to the wire, but Washington University found itself facing the most adversity when it trailed 15-11 in the third.
The Bears responded by rattling off six-straight points to swing the momentum. Budde tipped a shot over the block for a kill to knot the set at 15-15. The Bears regained the lead on a Michelle Medaja hitting error and pulled in front by two thanks to an ace from junior Kelly Pang, never falling behind again.
Schwartz hit an efficient .462 in the win with seven kills and a pair of blocks. Pang finished with 15 digs, while Brandt added 11 digs and Fisher had 34 assists five digs and three kills.
Washington U. (8-0) concludes play at the WU/Asics National Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 10, when it will face two more ranked opponents at the Washington University Field House in St. Louis, Mo. The Bears will battle No. 20 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater at 10 a.m., and No. 6 Christopher Newport University at 3 p.m.
Bear Notebook: With 24 digs on Friday, Pang increased her career-tally to 1,369, and needs just eight more to move past Lori Nishikawa for 10th-place in school history … Budde is 58 kills shy of No. 1,000 for her career … Washington U. now leads the all-time series with Carthage 6-0, and Ohio Northern 24-5.