ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The women's volleyball team faced a formidable ranked opponent on Wednesday night as No. 6 Washington University in St. Louis defeated the Panthers 3-1 (25-15, 23-25, 25-18, 25-14) at WashU Field House.
Greenville battled back after dropping the opening set, evening the match with a strong 25-23 victory in the second frame. The Panthers were unable to sustain the momentum, however, as WashU hit .333 in the third set and .306 in the fourth to secure the nonconference win.
Keira Weber led Greenville's attack with nine kills on an efficient .444 hitting percentage while adding two block assists.
Abby Grohmann recorded a team-high 11 kills, and
Alyssa Company added seven kills and a block assist.
Kennedy Legendre contributed five kills and a block assist.
Setter
Emma Ratermann directed the offense with 33 assists while also collecting two service aces. Defensively,
Claudia Bonacorsi paced the Panthers with 17 digs, followed by
Emily Ruppert with 12 and Grohmann with seven.
The second set proved to be Greenville's highlight of the evening. After a tightly contested battle featuring seven tie scores, the Panthers pulled away late to claim the 25-23 win and knot the match at one set apiece. WashU responded by controlling the final two sets, limiting Greenville to a combined .097 hitting percentage over the third and fourth frames.
The Panthers (13-7) return to action on Saturday at home against Spalding and Blackburn.
