Bears blank Maroons in Homecoming tilt

The football team won its 10th straight University Athletic Association opener with a 28-0 win against the University of Chicago Oct. 18 in front of 2,652 fans at Francis Field. The victory also means the Bears keep possession of the Founder’s Cup, which commemorates the first game played between the two schools.

Junior defensive back Jon Kuerzi blocks a field-goal attempt by the University of Chicago during the Oct. 18 Homecoming Game at Francis Field. The Bears notched a 28-0 shutout in the University Athletic Association opener.
Junior defensive back Jon Kuerzi blocks a field-goal attempt by the University of Chicago during the Oct. 18 Homecoming Game at Francis Field. The Bears notched a 28-0 shutout in the University Athletic Association opener.

Defense was the big story in the game as the Bears had four interceptions, four sacks, a safety and a blocked field goal. On Washington U.’s second offensive possession, junior quarterback Adam Meranda capped a 12-play, 74-yard drive with a 26-yard touchdown strike to junior Jeff Buening. On the Bears’ next possession, sophomore A.C. Dike capped a nine-play, 52-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.

Meranda finished the day 16 of 31 for 216 yards and one touchdown. Buening had a season-high seven catches for 125 yards as he eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards for his career (1,044). Brad Duesing added eight receptions for 63 yards as he moved into a tie for third place in school history with 124 career receptions.

Other updates

The volleyball team secured the No. 1 seed in the UAA Champ-ionships Nov. 7-8 after winning all four matches last weekend at the UAA Round Robin 2 in Rochester, N.Y. WUSTL defeated No. 15 Emory University (3-2), Carnegie Mellon University (3-0), Brandeis University (3-0) and No. 9 New York University (3-1) to improve to 7-0 in UAA play and 24-3 overall. Against Emory, sophomore setter Kara Liefer posted her second straight triple-double with 12 kills, 10 digs and 39 assists. Senior Katie Quinn also registered 10 kills in the match, while sophomore Nicole Hodgman had 25 digs.

The men’s soccer team recorded its seventh shutout of the season as the Bears defeated Brandeis, 1-0, in UAA play Oct. 19 in Waltham, Mass. Washington U. completed a weekend sweep of NYU and Brandeis with a goal in the 62nd minute. Senior midfielder Steve Bujarski sent a through ball ahead to classmate Scott Siebers, who beat Brandeis goalie Ben Doyen-Charon to the ball and chipped it home for his team-leading third goal of the season. The Bears trailed 1-0 at the half against NYU before notching consecutive goals to take a 2-1 lead in the second half. Siebers scored his second goal of the season to tie the score at 1-1 and sophomore John Horky headed home his first goal of the season to put WUSTL up 2-1. The Violets answered as they sent the game to overtime with a goal in the 88th minute. Seven minutes into the first overtime, junior Allen Gleckner scored the game-winner on a breakaway.

The women’s soccer team moved into a tie for second place in the UAA with a tie and a win. The Bears opened its trip to the East Coast with a 2-0 victory at NYU Oct. 17. After a scoreless first half, junior Stephanie Ackerman and freshman MeghanMarie Fowler-Finn netted goals for the Bears in the second half as WUSTL posted its ninth win of the year. Junior Charlotte Felber posted her seventh shutout of the year in goal. Two days later, the Bears rallied from a 1-0 deficit to post a 1-1 tie at Brandeis. Brandeis got the game’s first goal in the 19th minute, but the Bears answered barely three minutes later when Fowler-Finn scored her seventh goal of the season when she intercepted a Brandeis error deep in the Judges zone and sent it home. Felber made a career-high 17 saves in the victory, the third-most saves in school history.

The men’s and women’s cross country teams swept the team titles Oct. 17 at the Millikin Cross Country Classic at the Hickory Point Golf Club in Forsyth, Ill. The men’s team was the top finisher of 18 teams, while the women were tops of 17 squads. Sophomore Brennan Bonner paced the men with his third-place finish in the five-mile run, clocking 25:00.94. Classmate Greg Reindl followed close behind, finishing fourth in 25:07.19. Junior Maggie Grabow led the women with a fifth-place finish, registering a time of 21:54.20 in the 6K race.

The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams were swept at Drury University Oct. 18. The men fell, 151-91, and the women lost, 127-109. Despite the loss, sophomore Michael Slavik had a solid outing, posting a pair of individual wins. Slavik won the 50-yard freestyle in 22.15, and he also finished first in the 200 backstroke (1:58.82). On the women’s side, sophomore Tracey Hendrickson placed second in the 500 free and 200 free.

Men’s tennis senior Brian Alvo advanced to the semifinals of the ITA National Small College Tennis Championships before dropping his final two matches en route to a fourth-place finish. Alvo posted a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 win over No. 29 Kevin Casey of the University of California, Santa Cruz, in the quarterfinals before dropping a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 loss to the eventual champion.

The No. 13 women’s doubles team of Rathi Mani and Lauren Zwick placed sixth of eight teams at the ITA National Small College Tennis Championships in Corpus Christi, Texas. The Bears dropped their opening match to 11th-ranked Whitney Henderson and Kelli Howard of Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 1-0 (10-7). In the consolation semifinals, Mani/Zwick posted a 6-4, 6-0 win over Jackie Govornik and Kristen Klepacki of the College of New Jersey before dropping a 6-2, 6-1 match to Erin Coughlin and Lauren Gerlach of Denison University in the consolation finals.