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Sixth-ranked Washburn led in both matches Friday at the Colorado Mines Oredigger Classic but lost 3-2 to both No. 22 Central Washington and Grand Valley State.

The Ichabods (4-2) will continue action at the classic Saturday at 1 p.m. Central against Tarleton State and at 5:30 p.m. against Western Oregon.

Washburn lost 13-25, 18-25, 25-23, 25-16, 15-12 to Central Washington in its first match this year against a ranked opponent. The Ichabods won the first two sets easily against the Wildcats then dropped a close third set, 25-23. Central Washington (3-2) won the fourth set easily and took the fifth set by three points to upset Washburn.

The Ichabods were down 20-13 in the third set before scoring six straight to get within a point. Leanna Willer had three straight kills at the end of the streak but the Wildcats followed that with a 4-2 run to get to set point. Washburn scored two more after that but a Central Washington kill ended the set.

An 8-0 run early in the fourth set kept Washburn way behind the whole time and in the fifth set the Wildcats went up for good with a 3-0 run after a 7-7 tie. Two straight kills from Abby Wittman got Washburn within a point at 12-11 but CWU won three of the final four points after that.

After a strong 2-0 start for Washburn, hitting percentages flipped for the two teams. The Ichabods hit over .250 in the first two sets and kept Central Washington to under a .100 attack. Washburn then hit less then .140 the final three sets. Central Washington hit .407 in the fourth set and managed to win the fifth despite a negative attack percentage.

Overall, Washburn hit .177 in the match while UCW hit .132 as a team. Washburn had 14 blocks to the Wildcats' nine.

Willer led Washburn with 19 kills and Sarah Vicory added 11. Wittman had 42 assists and 12 digs for a double-double while Kelsey Lewis led the back row with 22 digs. Washburn had three players with at least five blocks. Willer had five, Hannah Frierdich had six and Sarah Vicory had seven.

Washburn led 12-8 in the fifth set against Grand Valley State before giving up seven of the last eight points to lose. GVSU took the match 19-25, 26-24, 22-25, 25-20, 15-13.

Willer also reached double figures in the second match with 16 kills against GVSU. She added 10 digs for her third double-double of the year. Marissa Cox had 24 kills and Sarah Vicory had nine.

Five Washburn players had double-figure digs with Courtney Churchman leading with 25 in her first start at libero. Abby Wittman had a double-double with 54 assists and 19 digs.

Washburn hit .144 in the match while the Lakers had a .147 percentage. The Lakers blocked 14 shots while Washburn blocked 10.

This was the first time Washburn lost twice in five sets on the same day since at least 1999 when match dates were first archived. It was the first time Washburn lost consecutive regular season matches since 2006, also in Colorado.