HAYS, Kan. – No. 12 Washburn Volleyball closed out its weekend road swing with a 3-1 (14-25, 25-17, 25-17, 25-19) win over Fort Hays State on Saturday, Oct. 10.
Washburn (18-2, 6-2 MIAA) maintained its hold on third place in the conference standings with the win, hitting .284 as a team with 56 kills on the afternoon. FHSU (11-9, 3-5 MIAA) opened the match with a .394 hitting percentage in the first set, but cooled off to hit .228 in the match.
Slow to start, Washburn fell behind 5-1 in the first set, allowing a six-point run soon after that made it 12-4. From there, Washburn climbed into double-digits but couldn't put together any runs, falling 25-14 in the opening frame.
It was the Icahbods' turn to start hot in the second set, as Washburn rolled to a 7-1 advantage early on. FHSU got back to within three (10-7) later on, but three straight points (including a service ace from
Callie Lowry) built WU's lead back to six (13-7). FHSU broke the run to get within five one last time in the set, but that was as close as things came, when a kill from
Taylor Selk started a 6-1 burst for the Ichabods. WU won the set soon after, 25-17.
Tied at intermission, WU and FHSU came out even in the third set until 6-all, when WU gave itself breathing room with a 5-1 run, making it 11-7. Up 14-11 near the mid-way point of the set, two straight
Leanna Willer kills were the opening of an 8-2 run for Washburn to put WU close to set point (22-14), before the Ichabods took it, 25-17. The Ichabods hit .407 in the third as a team.
WU built a 10-4 lead in the fourth set, but saw FHSU climb back to within two (18-16) as the Ichabods closed in on the match win. Still a two-point game at 19-17, Selk had one of her seven kills to open WU's final four-point burst of the day to bring the game to 23-17. The teams were even the rest of the way as WU clinched the match with a 25-19 set four win.
Korie Thompson, Willer and
Sarah Vicory all reached double-digits in kills with 15, 14 and 10, respectively. Thompson added seven digs and two blocks, while
Sarah Vicory had seven blocks (three solo) while swinging .346.
Carley Swan hit .667 on nine swings with six kills.
At setter,
Liz Powell totaled 41 assists on the day with 11 digs, second on the team in the defensive category behind libero
Alyssa Carney, who had 19 digs.
Washburn returns home for a four-game homestand that begins next Friday. Oct. 16 against Northwest Missouri at 7 p.m.
