TOPEKA, Kan. – The 14th-ranked Ichabod Volleyball team opened Washburn's Grand Homecoming with a 3-0 (25-13, 28-26, 25-8) sweep of Pittsburg State on Friday, Oct. 23 at Lee Arena. 
 
WU (21-2, 9-2 MIAA) remains second in the MIAA standings with its fourth consecutive win, which came on a night that junior middle hitter Sarah Vicory tallied her 300th career block.
 
Vicory finished the night with 13 kills, a .632 hitting percentage and two blocks as she became the 17th Ichabod to reach the 300-mark.  Joining her in double digit kills was Leanna Willer, who moved into 18th on WU's career kills list with 10 kills on the night.  Willer now has 1,099 kills to go with 932 digs (after five tonight).  Willer also had two service aces while hitting .625.
 
Liz Powell just missed a double-double with 14 assists (team-high) and nine digs, while Alyssa Carney continued her streak of double-digit digs with 14 on the night.  Willer and Carney each had two service aces, while Taylor Selk hit .353 with seven kills.
 
At the net, Jordan Hoffman led the Ichabods with three blocks (one solo) while Korie Thompson matched Vicory with two blocks.
 
WU took an 8-2 lead early in the first after four unanswered and never trailed in the set, stretching the lead to eight (18-10) just past the midway point.  Soon after, up 18-12, the Ichabods closed the set on a 7-1 run and won it, 25-13.
 
The second set proved to be much closer, as neither team pulled away by more than three until 14-10 after a WU block assist (Thompson, Hoffman) and a PSU attack error was part of two straight for WU.  From there, Washburn pulled away towards a 21-15 lead, but seven unanswered from the Gorillas allowed PSU to climb back and take the lead, 22-21.  Facing set point, down 24-23, a kill from Taylor Selk forced a win-by-two situation that WU eventually captured, 28-26.
 
After intermission, Washburn rolled towards a 7-0 opening run before PSU scored, but an 11-0 run for WU (the largest of the season) followed that made it 18-1.   Five straight points for the Gorillas temporarily stalled WU in clinching the set, but the Ichabods used the strong play to cruise towards a 25-8 set three victory.
 
The Ichabods hit .327 as a team while limiting the Gorillas to just a .069 hitting percentage.
 
Washburn returns to Lee Arena on Saturday, Oct. 24 for an AVCA Top 25 matchup with No. 10 Central Oklahoma.  Game time is 6:30 p.m., in a contest that features the top two teams in the MIAA.