ELMHURST, Ill. -- In the first round of the NCAA Regionals, the University of Chicago volleyball team dropped the first set but came back to win 3-1 over Benedictine University on Friday.

The No. 16-ranked Maroons (29-10) will next take on conference-rival Washington University-St. Louis in the second round on Saturday. The Eagles end their season with a 30-5 record.

With the regional hosted by Elmhurst College, UChicago and Benedictine met for the third time this season. Each side had won 3-1 on their home courts in the previous matchups.

After working out some early jitters, the Maroons were the victors with set scores of 19-25, 25-23, 25-17, 25-18.

"We knew they (Benedictine) were tough coming in," said Head Coach Vanessa Walby. "They have been playing well and we knew we had to come to play. We calmed down following the first set and started playing a little more aggressive to try and make them move on defense."

Benedictine took a five-point lead in the first set and kept that margin intact the rest of the way to take the opening frame 25-19. The second set played very close, with ties at 13-13 and 21-21. However, two kills by Maren Loe and two Benedictine attack errors gave the set to the Maroons 25-23.

With momentum on their side, UChicago rode the wave in the third set to expand an early 6-2 lead into a 15-5 advantage. The Maroons won that set 25-17.

UChicago got up early again in the fourth at 8-3 thanks to three-straight kills. The Eagles closed the deficit to 15-11, but the Maroons maintained control to close out the match 25-18.

Stat Leaders

Morgan Barry - 13 kills, 3 digs
Caroline Brander - 12 kills, 0 errors, 2 aces
Maren Loe - 11 kills, 2 block assists, 2 digs
Katie Huntington - 10 kills, 7 digs, 2 block assists
Nikki DelZenero - 46 assists, 21 digs
Katie Trela - 5 kills, 6 blocks
Eirene Kim - 22 digs, 3 assists
Ragine Graves - 12 digs, 2 aces
Samantha Brown - 10 digs, 2 aces

NEXT MATCH: Saturday, Nov. 9 - Chicago vs. Washington-St. Louis, 4:30 PM.