Budde Tallies 14 Kills in Bears' 3-0 Win Over UW-La Crosse

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St. Louis, Mo., October, 10, 2009 – Sophomore middle hitter Lauren Budde registered 14 kills and a .520 hitting percentage to lead the fifth-ranked Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team past the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, 3-0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-17) at the Washington University Invitational Tournament on Saturday, Oct. 10, in St. Louis, Mo.

The Bears finished the tournament with an undefeated 3-0 record, having beaten Elmhurst College and Central College (Iowa) during Friday evening’s action.

Budde and senior middle hitter Erin Albers both reached double digits in kills in all three contests during the tournament. Albers added 10 more kills to her weekend tally in the win over UW-La Crosse. Budde finished the weekend with 42 kills and a .411 hittting percentage, while Albers was not far behind with 41 kills in three matches, while hitting .430.

A long serving run where sophomore Tricia Brandt continually kept the Wisconsin-La Crosse’s serve receive on its heels allowed Washington University to break open the first set of the match, and move on for a 25-12 win. Budde was a perfect 4-for-4 attacking in the first frame and tallied three total blocks. The Red and Green had five team blocks during the first set alone, and finished the match with 10.

Albers, Budde and sophomore outside hitter Kristen Thomas paced the offense in the eight-point second-set win. Defensively freshman libero Kelly Pang and Budde each recorded four digs and Albers and freshman Madeleine Shroyer both had three blocks (one solo, two assists) in the second frame.

Freshman Meg Buker entered the match at setter during the third set, and she finished with 10 assists, three kills and two digs.  Budde finished with eight digs in the third set, to end the match with 16 and secure her third double-double of the weekend.

Washington U. (18-3) will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 17, when it heads to New York, N.Y., to compete in the second University Athletic Association (UAA) round robin of the season. The Bears will face their top conference rival in No. 3 Emory University on Saturday, at 10:30 a.m., (ET), and WU will play New York University at 3 p.m. (ET).

Washington University and Emory have combined to win each of the last 20 UAA titles, and the winner of Saturday’s contest may determine who will be the No. 1 seed at this year’s conference tournament, to be held Friday-Saturday, Nov. 6-7, at the University of Chicago, in Chicago, Ill.

Albers and Budde Shine as Washington U. Improves to 17-3

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St. Louis, Mo., October, 9, 2009 – Senior middle hitter Erin Albers tied her career high with 17 kills as the No. 5 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team defeated Elmhurst College, 3-1 (25-16, 25-17, 23-25, 25-19) in the Washington University Invitational on Friday night at the WU Field House in St. Louis, Mo. Albers added 14 more kills in the evening match, with Washington U. defeating Central College (Iowa), 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-16).

Albers’ final stats after two matches were 31 kills, seven total blocks and an impressive attacking percentage of .466. She hit .467 in the victory over Elmhurst, and had an attack percentage of .464 against Central, with just one error in the match. For the year, Albers leads the Bears in attacking percentage, at .358, and is second in kills with 211.

Sophomore middle hitter Lauren Budde also had a productive night at the net, reaching double-figures in kills in both matches. She recorded 17 kills in the win over Elmhurst, attacking .441 in the process, and she was second on the team with 11 scores against Central. Budde also had six total blocks and hit .369 for the evening.

Washington U. picked up big wins over Elmhurst in each of the first two sets, but let the Bluejays get back into the match as the third frame slipped away in the final moments. Following a competitive start to the third, the Red and Green created some distance with an ace from sophomore Tricia Brandt and a spike for a kill from freshman setter Marilee Fisher thanks to a dig and quick pass by sophomore Kristen Thomas.

Elmhurst managed to come back and pull within one point on four occasions before finally tying the score at 20-20 on a Budde attack error. Washington U. briefly regained the lead when freshman libero Kelly Pang sent a dig back over the net, but it was misplayed by Paige Fombelle, who tried to quickly send it back for a score but instead sent the ball into the net. Undaunted, Elmhurst hung around long enough to take a 24-23 lead on an Albers hitting error, and went on to win, 25-23.

The Bears closed the fourth set on an 8-2 run to pick up a 25-19 win. The Red and Green trailed 8-5 early in the third, and used a 6-2 scoring run to regain the lead, 11-10. The Bears were back down by two, 15-13, but again came back to tie things up, this time thanks to a kill from Thomas, her first of the set, and a pair of Elmhurst attacking errors on consecutive plays, which put the Bears up by two.

Freshman Drew Hargrave was involved in three-straight scoring plays as Washington U. closed in on the match win. She recorded a kill to give her team a 21-18 lead, then partnered with Albers on a block one play later, before registering her third kill of the set to push the WU advantage to 23-18.

Washington University hit .319 as a team in against the Bluejays and recorded six team blocks. Pang paced the defense with 19 digs, with Budde adding 15, and Fisher finished the match with 52 assists, five kills and seven digs. Thomas and Hargrave both registered nine kills in the win.

In the evening match with Central, only the first set was close, as the Red and Green rode hot starts in the second and third sets to 12 and nine point victories respectively.

Budde was hot to start the match, and had four kills in the early going as WU grabbed a quick 9-6 lead. The Bears were unable to stretch the lead much further, and Central used a 5-1 scoring run to come back to tie the frame, 18-18. Coming out of a time out, Thomas recorded a kills to put Washington U. back in front, 19-18, and a kill and solo block from Albers on back-to-back plays put the Red in Green up by two, and on their way to a three-point win.

In addition to Albers and Budde’s double-digit kill performances against Central, Thomas finished the match with eight and Fisher and Hargrave each contributed four. Budde recorded her second double-double of the night with 18 digs, and the Bears had eight team blocks in the win.

Washington U. (17-3) will return to action at the Washington University Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 10, when it faces the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse at the WU Field House in St. Louis, Mo., at 11 a.m.