Box Score ELMHURST, Ill. - The Elmhurst volleyball team advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season after defeating 11th-ranked Washington University in St. Louis in straight sets.

Elmhurst, ranked fifth in the latest AVCA poll, punched its ticket to the Regional Championship match with 28-26, 25-18, 25-18 victory.

The Bluejays struggled early in the opening set, falling behind Washington (27-8) by six points on five occasions in the opening set. Washington lead 13-7 and held a four-point lead at 22-18 late in the set. The Bluejays pulled to within two points at 22-20, but a kill from Caroline Dupont gave the Bears a 23-20 lead. Jackie Pavilonis smashed a kill for Elmhurst to cut the deficit to two points. Hannah Lessen followed with an ace to bring Elmhurst to within a point. Back-to-back kills from Marci Novak gave the Bluejays their first lead of the set at 24-23, but a block from Washington evened the score at 24-all. A kill from Alex Sheredy gave the Bears a set point, but a service error knotted the score back at 25-all. A block from Katie Rueffer and and Kaitlyn Wilks gave the Bluejays their second set point at 26-25, but Allison Zastrow recorded a kill to even the set at 26-26. Another service error on the Bears gave the Bluejays a 27-26 lead and Kaitlyn Wilks hammered down a kill to hand the set to the Bluejays.

The score was tied at 9-9 early in the second set, before the Bluejays ripped off a 5-0 run to grab a 14-9 lead. Washington managed to pull to within three points at 17-14, but kills from Loren Lorenz and Wilks along with an attack error on Washington gave the Bluejays a 20-14 cushion. The two teams traded points for the duration of the set until Hannah Nimrick closed the set with a kill for the Bluejays to give the team the 25-18 win.

Elmhurst (37-4) started quickly in the third set, building a quick 9-4 lead. The Bluejays extended their lead to eight points at 15-7 and at 18-10, before Washington scored five straight points to close to within three points.A kill from Sam Szarmach and back-to-back kills from Novak gave the Bluejays a 21-15 lead and the team cruised to the 25-18 win to take the set and the match.

Elmhurst hit .347 for the match, pounding down 42 kills while committing just seven errors in 101 attempts. Washington hit .211 for the match, totaling 44 kills and 18 errors in 123 attacks.

Novak powered the Bluejays' attack, finishing with 16 kills and 15 digs while hitting a match-high .517 (16-1-29). Szarmach also reached double figures in kills, totaling 10 to go along with nine digs and a .450 hitting percentage (10-1-20). Wilks added six kills and a match-high four blocks while Jackie Pavilonis added four kills for the Bluejays. Hannah Lessen aded 13 digs for the Bluejays while Lorenz totaled a team-leading 17 assists. Reuffer finished with seven assists while Nimrick totaled four kills and six assists for the Bluejays.

Washington was led by Dupont's 12 kills. Sheredy added 10 kills for the Bears while Kalehua Katagiri totaled a team-leading 15 digs.

Elmhurst will face second-ranked Hope College in the regional championship match tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. Hope earned its spot in the title match with a four-set win over 18th-ranked Otterbein earlier in the day.