The volleyball team, No. 2 in the country and the top seed in the NCAA Tournament Division III Volleyball Central Regional, rallied to defeat Wartburg College, 3-2, in the regional championships Nov. 15 at the Field House.
Senior Katie Quinn led the Bears with a season-high 25 kills, and she combined with sophomore Kara Liefer to set up the match-winning point in the decisive fifth game. Trailing 13-14 in the final game, Liefer set up Quinn for a kill through the middle of the Knights’ defense. With a 15-15 tie, Wartburg’s Sarah Olsen set Dia Dohlman for the potential lead. Instead, Quinn and Liefer turned Dohlman away to give the Bears a one-point advantage. Junior Colleen Winter ended the match with her 18th kill.
Liefer totaled a career- and team-season-high 70 assists, the fourth-highest total in WUSTL NCAA Tournament history and just one assist shy of tying the Field House record. The Bears made the final by defeating Fontbonne University, 3-1, the day before.
Washington U. (35-3) will face Ohio Northern University in the Elite Eight at 7 p.m. Nov. 22 at the Field House.
Other updates
The No. 7 women’s soccer team’s season ended Nov. 14 as the Bears suffered a 1-0 loss at No. 16 Wheaton College in the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament in Wheaton, Ill. Junior Sarah Johnson headed home a cross from sophomore Mary Doleshal to put the Thunder ahead; the goal was Johnson’s 20th of the season.
In the second half both teams had few scoring changes, with the Bears having the best opportunity with 15 minutes remaining. After freshman Talia Bucci beat two Wheaton defenders into the box, she passed off to sophomore Megan Morley, whose shot from five yards out went off the crossbar.
Two days earlier, the Bears posted a 4-0 win over Lakeland College in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Washington U. outshot Lakeland 13-0 in the first half, and managed to get one by Muskie goalie Allie Weiss in the 39th minute. Bucci corralled the rebound from sophomore Kelly Jung and fired it into the back of the net for her second goal of the season.
The win marked the 11th shutout of the season for WUSTL, which tied a school record. The Bears also notched 11 shutouts in 1990, 1992 and 1998.
The men’s and women’s cross country teams competed at the NCAA Midwest Regionals Nov. 15 in Eau Claire, Wis. Junior Maggie Grabow qualified for the NCAA Championships on the women’s side to lead the Bears. Washington U.’s women’s squad narrowly missed a bid to the Championships, tying the University of Chicago for fourth place with 142 points. The top four teams advance to the NCAA Championships, and the Maroons won the tiebreaker as three of their top five runners recorded better times than three of the Bears’ top five. The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point took the team title with 76 points. On the men’s side, the Bears tied for seventh of 32 teams with 217 points, while the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh won the team title with 35 points. Grabow will run in the NCAA Championships Nov. 22.
The men’s and women’s swimming and diving team combined to win 18 of 26 events en route to a sweep of Illinois Wesleyan University Nov. 15 at Millstone Pool. On the women’s side, sophomore Tracey Hendrickson won two events as the Bears won 153-84. Sophomore Michael Slavik and freshman David Stein also won a pair of events as the men posted a 125-96 win.
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