Volleyball Takes Set From #4 Washington University-St. Louis

The Westminster volleyball team took the third set from the number four team in the nation, Washington University-St. Louis, on Wednesday night. Although the Blue Jays pressed Washington University, they lost 3-1.

The scores were 20-25, 23-25, 25-20 and 16-25.

The Blue Jays took a 7-3 lead over the Washington University Bears, forcing the Bears to call a timeout. The Bears came out of the timeout and went 9-3 run, including five straight points, to take a 12-10 lead. The Blue Jays called a timeout to stop the run, but the Bears continued to expand their lead. An ace by freshman Kendall Johnson brought the Blue Jays within two points, 19-17. With the score 23-19, the Blue Jays called another timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Bears had a service error, bringing the game to 23-20. Two kills by the Bears put an end to the set, leaving the Blue Jays down 1-0 with the 25-20 loss.

After a back-and-forth beginning to set two, the Blue Jays went down 6-3. A four point run brought the Blue Jays up 7-6, but the Bears went on a three point run to take back the lead. The match was close, but the Blue Jays were unable to grab the lead. An attacked error by the Bears tied the game up at 21-21, and again at 22-22. A kill by sophomore Amanda Kiso stopped the Bears from winning, and brought the game to 24-23. A Blue Jay attack error ended the game with a two point loss, 25-23.

The Bears started set three with a 9-4 run, but the Blue Jays went on a seven point run to take the 11-9 lead. Two kills by Kiso and sophomore Gabby LaRose started a four point run to put the Blue Jays up 19-14. The Bears brought the game within two, 22-20, but two kills from junior Lexi Collier and sophomore Kayla Reeg gave the Blue Jays a 24-20 advantage. A Bears’ attack error gave the Blue Jays the set point to bring the match to 2-1, Bears.

Set four started with a 8-0 run by the Bears before Kiso put down a kill from Reeg to finally put themselves on the board. The Bears had control of the game, and did not let the Blue Jays within five points. The Blue Jays lost the final set 25-16.

Collier hit .400 on the night with 8 kills on 15 attempts. Reeg had 31 assists and 17 digs, and junior libero Caroline Will led the team with 22 digs.

The Blue Jays host Greenville, Spalding and Webster Saturday for a quad. The Blue Jays face Webster in the 10:00 am match, followed by a match with Greenville at 4:00 pm.