Sports update Sept. 19: Volleyball off to best start ever

The No. 2 volleyball team ran its record to 14-0 by winning the Molten Colorado College Invitational Sept. 16 and 17. The Bears swept all four opponents, picking up three of the wins over teams ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) top 25 poll: No. 9 Juniata College, No. 12 Colorado College and No. 15 Concordia College-Moorhead.

Senior middle hitter Lauren Budde was named the tournament’s most valuable player, and was joined on the all-tournament team by junior setter Marilee Fisher and junior libero Kelly Pang. In the win over Concordia-Moorhead, Budde eclipsed 1,000-career kills, and finished the weekend with 1,014 kills over four seasons on the Danforth Campus. This year she leads the team with 151 kills while hitting .419.

The Bears are off to one of the best starts in school history; their 14 straight sweeps is the most the team has ever had to begin a season.

WUSTL (14-0) has two weeks off and opens University Athletic Association competition Oct. 1 and 2. The Bears face Carnegie Mellon University at 10:30 a.m. and Brandeis University at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, then play New York University at noon Sunday, Oct. 2.

Women’s golf captures IWU Fall Classic

The No. 7 women’s golf team fought through tough playing conditions Sept. 18 to hold off No. 2 DePauw University and win the Illinois Wesleyan University Fall Classic in Bloomington, Ill.

The Bears fired a 317 on that day to finish with a 36-hole total of 617, which were four strokes better than DePauw. The Tigers shot a 309 to finish the competition with a 621.

Junior Hannah Buck followed up her school-record 69 Sept. 17 with a 79 Sept. 18 to claim medalist honors with a 36-hole score of 148. The tournament championship for Buck is her first of the season and eighth of her career.

Freshman Olivia Lugar, who won the first two tournaments she competed in, tied for second place at Illinois Wesleyan with a two-day total of 150 (76-74). Sophomore Andrea Hibbert also had a top 10 finish tying for seventh place after breaking 80 on back-to-back days with a 156 (77-79). Freshman Taylor Fagan and sophomore Allyson Chee tied for 28th place, firing a two-day total of 163 (78-85).

WUSTL continues its fall season Sept. 24 and 25 at the Millikin Fall Classic in Decatur, Ill.

Men’s soccer undefeated

The No. 6 men’s soccer team improved to 6-0 following a pair of home wins over Birmingham Southern College and Greenville College Sept. 17 and 18.

The Bears erupted for a season-high five goals in a 5-0 win over Birmingham Southern Sept. 16. The shutout was third-straight for WUSTL, who limited the Panthers to zero shots on goal. Junior Zach Query led the team with two goals while senior Patrick McLean and freshman Pay Estakhri recorded a goal and an assist.

The next day, the team notched a 3-1 win over Greenville. Senior Dylan Roman scored twice and leads the team with six goals this season. Sophomore goalkeeper Jonathon Jebson played 83 minutes in goal making four saves, while sophomore Michael McCarthy played the final seven minutes and allowed one goal.

WUSTL concluded its three-game home stand Sept. 21 with a 3-0 win over Westminster College. Three different players scord in the WUSTL win as the Bears outshot Westminster 26-3.

Football suffers season’s first loss

The football team suffered a 20-17 loss to No. 21 Wittenberg University Sept. 17. Wittenberg (3-0) broke open a 10-10 game in the fourth quarter with 10 unanswered points to snap the Bears’ seven-game home winning streak dating back to the 2009 season.

The Bears outgained Wittenberg 298-251 in total offense and limited the Tigers to 103 yards on the ground. Senior Nick Hillard led the defensive unit with 10 tackles, while sophomore Tate Byers added nine tackles and two pass break-ups.

Junior quarterback Dan Burkett finished the day 10-of-18 for 130 yards and a two touchdowns. Sophomore John Hagemann led the rushing attack with eight carries for 62 yards. Senior tight end Brennan Fox and senior wide receiver Easton Knott each hauled in touchdowns from Burkett. Junior Eric Chalifour added a 20-yard field goal for the Bears.

WUSTL (2-1) returns to action at North Park University at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24. The teams will be meeting for the first time in school history.

Women’s soccer splits pair

The No. 12 women’s soccer team split a pair of games last weekend and has a 6-1 overall record.

Sophomore Becky Berels and senior Emma Brown each scored for the Bears in a 2-1 overtime victory at Principia College Sept. 13.

The Bears had their six-game winning streak snapped with a 2-0 loss to No. 4 Wheaton College Sept. 17. The Thunder converted on a pair of second-half penalty kicks in the win.

WUSTL returns to action with a road game at Millikin University at 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22.

Putteman has strong showing at Imergoot Invitational

Junior Adam Putterman captured the doubles championship and advanced to the singles final at the 2011 Lynn Imergoot Invitational held Sept. 16-17 at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center in Forest Park.

Putterman teamed with up with freshman Ross Putterman to claim the A Doubles Flight Championship, defeating WUSTL juniors Bryan Haywood and Gary Parizher in the championship match, 9-7.

In singles, Putterman defeated Marius Schumacher (6-2, 6-2) and teammate Ross Putterman (6-4, 6-3) to advance to the Flight A singles championship match. Freshmen Amreet Mohanty and Connor Mulhall advanced to the championship match in the B Doubles flight before falling to Drew Feder and Drew Poledica of St. Louis University, 8-6.

WUSTL was in the finals in the three other singles flights: Parizher and freshman Kevin Chu in the B Flight, sophomore Naveen Chadalavada and freshman Parker Change in the C Flight and sophomore Jeffrey Hirsh and Mohanty in the D Flight.

Women’s tennis opens season at Imergoot Invitational

The women’s tennis team opened its season by competing in the 2011 Lynn Imergoot Invitational Sept. 16 and 17 against the University of Missouri-St. Louis and Lindenwood University at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center in Forest Park.

Play was scheduled to conclude on Sept. 18 but the final day of competition was cancelled due to rain.

Sophomore Theresa Petraskova posted a 4-1 overall record in singles and doubles competition, advancing to the final of the Flight A singles bracket. She defeated Lindenwood’s Mariona Pinol, 6-2, 6-3, in the quarterfinals, and teammate Evelyn Qin, 6-2, 7-5, in the semifinals.

Petraskova teamed with Qin to pick up a pair of doubles victories on Saturday, with the duo beating Missouri-St. Louis’ Louisa Werner and Pujitha Bandi, 8-4, and Lindenwood’s Adela Slovakova and Sarah Sharpe, 8-2.

The women’s tennis team will complete its fall schedule in two weeks when it competes in the ITA Central Regionals, to be held Sept. 30-Oct. 2 in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Cross Country competes at SIU-E

The men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Cross Country Challenge Sept. 16.

The meet featured squads from all three NCAA divisions and was scored using a dual meet format. The men’s squad posted a 2-2 record in its head-to-head contests, defeating McKendree University (15-50) and Western Illinois University (24-36) while falling to Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (15-41) and Southeast Missouri State University (19-40).

The WUSTL women’s team posted a 1-4 overall mark, picking up a 15-48 win over McKendree but falling to Murray State University (18-39), Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (24-32), Southeast Missouri State (15-40) and Western Illinois (27-30).

Senior Kwin Keuter was the top finisher for the Bears’ men’s team, posting a time of 26:30.39 on the 8K course. On the women’s side, sophomore Kathleen Valadez paced the Bears with a time of 19:44.54 in the 5K race, and she was followed closely by freshman Kelsey Barton (19:46.02) and sophomore Lizzy Handschy (19:48.18).

Both teams return to action at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 24, for the Wheaton College Invitational in Wheaton, Ill.