St. Louis, Mo., September 5, 2021 The Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team swept its final two games of the 2021 Bear Invitational on Saturday afternoon. The Bears are now 4-1 on the year.

In their first match of the day, the Bears defeated Lewis & Clark in straight sets (26-24, 28-26, 25-21). WashU went on to defeat No. 13 UT-Dallas, 3-1 (25-20, 25-18, 19-25, 25-22).

WashU vs. Lewis & Clark

First-year Jasmine Sells finished with a team-high 10 kills on the day while junior Alaina Bohrer and senior Michaela Bach each had nine. Sophomore Chloe Emch had 28 assists and Bohrer also had 17 digs on the day.

The first set was close from the start, as the Bears and Pioneers traded points and eventually tied it up at six points. Lewis & Clark then scored three-straight to take a 9-6 advantage and went up by as many as six points later in the set, 16-10.

The Bears then rallied to score six-straight points, including kills from Julie Keener and Paris Nix, as well as two aces from Keener.

The set was tied five more times at 18, 20, 22, 23 and 24. Ultimately, it was sells that broke the final tie with a kill and the Bears won on a Pioneers' error.

The second set opened up with back-to-back points for Lewis & Clark on kills from Izzy Willis and Kelsey Parker.

The Bears went up five points, 9-4, after scoring four-straight which including a kill and a block from Nix. A kill from Sells put WashU up 11-7 before the Pioneers scored four straight to tie it up, 11 all.

The set would go on to be tied nine more times after competitive back-and-forth action between the two teams. The Bears had two set-point opportunities, but the Pioneers tied it up again each time.

Finally, back-to-back kills from Nix gave the Bears the 28-26 set victory to go up 2-0 in the match.

WashU came out to score the first four points of the third set behind kills from Caitlin Lorenz and Bohrer and two aces from Elise Gilroy. The Bears opened up the lead to 8-2 before the Pioneers scored three-straight points.

Lewis & Clark eventually pulled with one point, 20-19, on a kill from Willis. Bach then answered with a kill for the Bears and Gilroy notched another ace.

Back-to-back kills from Willis brought the Pioneers within one point again, but the Bears scored three-straight, including kills from Bohrer and Bach, to win the set and the match.

WashU vs. UT-Dallas

Against the Comets, Bohrer led with a team-high 15 kills as well as 13 digs. Sells added 11 kills on the day while Taryn Gurbach had a team-high 16 digs. Emch finished with a team-high 29 assists.

The Bears took their first multi-point lead of the match early, scoring four-straight to go up 5-1. Bohrer and Nix both had kills in the run.

UT-Dallas, however, went on a 5-0 run of its own, tying things up, 6-6.

Following four-straight points, which included three kills from Bohrer, WashU pulled ahead 19-13 in the set. The Comets came within three at the end of the match, as a kill from Jaryn Towery cut the lead to 21-19.

The Bears notched three-straight points including an ace from Jordan Sandberg and a block from Emch and Lorenz before closing it out following an attacking error from UT-Dallas.

WashU took a lead early in the second set, going up 5-2 following back-to-back kills from Bohrer.

UT-Dallas, however, went on to score four of the next five points to tie it up 6-6.

There would be four more ties at seven, eight, nine and 10 before the Bears broke open a small-four point lead, 14-10, which included kills from Lorenz and Bach.

Another four-point run behind two kills from Bohrer and a kill from Nix pushed WashU's edge to 20-12.

The Comets pulled with six points, 24-18, before Bach closed out the set with a kill to put the Bears up, 2-0.

Like the sets before it, the third proved to be close. It was tied four times early on before WashU put up four points in a row to take an 8-5 edge. The set was then tied four more times before UT-Dallas took the lead which it would hold until the end.

The Comets scored the final five points of the set to win it and force a fourth set.

The Bears opened up the fourth and final set with three points which included two aces from Emch. Although it wasn't always a large one, the Bears never relinquished the lead throughout the set.

Back-to-back kills from the Comets cut the lead to just one point, 8-7 but the Bears continued to put pressure on and eventually built up the lead to 15-9 following two kills from Abby Li and an attacking error from UT-Dallas.

At the end of the set, the Comets cut it down to just one point again, 23-22. Back-to-back kills from Sells closed the set and the match, avoiding a fifth set.

WashU is back in action on Friday, Sept. 10 and Saturday, Sept. 11 at the East-to-West Battle hosted by Cal Lutheran. The Bears start the tournament with matches against Saint Benedict and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Friday and close it out with the host school, Cal Lutheran, on Saturday.

All-Tournament Team

Alaina Bohrer, WashU

Izzy Willis, Lewis & Clark

Brooke Palmer, Centre

Allison Owen, UT-Dallas

Jordan Witzel, Eau Claire

Lauren Borik, Webster

Cathleen Flannery, Carroll

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Volleyball Sweeps to Close Out Bear Invitational - Sports News from Washington University in St. Louis