TOPEKA, Kan. – No. 14 Washburn closed homecoming weekend with Top 25 victory inside Lee Arena, sweeping No. 10 Central Oklahoma (25-22, 25-21, 25-23).
 
WU (22-2, 10-2 MIAA) moved within a half-game of UCO (22-2, 10-1 MIAA) in the conference standings while picking up its second ranked victory of the season.  WU swept then-No. 14 Nebraska-Kearney earlier this season at home.
 
Washburn trailed early in the first two sets, using small rallies throughout the pre-intermission sets to keep things close before pulling away for late wins.
 
Down 10-6 in the first, WU called a timeout before climbing back to take a 12-11 lead off a 6-1 run.  From there, UCO regained control (14-12) but saw the Ichabods again recover and lead, 18-17, after a four-point unanswered burst.  Trailing 20-19 late in the game, three straight for WU gave them a two-point advantage (22-20) that held the rest of the way as the Ichabods won it, 25-22.
 
The second set was again close, as WU trailed 4-1 early on before coming back to tie it, 9-all, later on.  Down 12-10, back-to-back kills from Korie Thompson opened a 6-1 Ichabod run that made it 16-13 in Washburn's favor.  The Bronchos kept things close (17-16) with a run of their own, but WU continued to push and made it a four-point game at 22-18. Things remained relatively even from there as Washburn closed the set, 25-21, and took a two-game lead into intermission.
 
Washburn looked to be rolling towards a sweep, but a late UCO rally made things close late.  WU used early 3-0 and 5-0 rallies to take a 9-4 lead, and soon after ran off another four straight to make it 13-5.  UCO cut the lead to five (14-9) before four more unanswered from the Ichabods gave Washburn its largest lead of the night (nine) at 18-9. The Bronchos, however, continued to fight with a 9-3 run of its own before a Washburn timeout (21-18).  A WU kill and UCO error grew the lead back to five (23-18) out of the timeout, but the hard-charging Bronchos cut the deficit to one (24-23) before a kill from Sarah Vicory ended it, 25-23.
 
Three Ichabods – Willer, Vicory and Kelsey Barrick – had double-digit kills to lead the offense.  Willer finished the night with 11 kills while Vicory and Barrick each had 10 kills.  It was Barrick's first double-digit career kill match, and came in addition to three blocks (which tied Carley Swan for the team lead).
 
In addition to leading the team in kills, Willer was second among the Ichabods with 22 digs for her 14th double-double of the season.  It was the second time Willer broke the 20-dig mark for the year and trailed only Alyssa Carney for the team-high.  Carney had 23 digs as libero in her eighth 20-plus digs effort of the year.  Carney has reached double-digits in all 24 matches in 2015.
 
Natalie Bates and Korie Thompson each had 12 digs to tie for third on the team, as Bates added 20 assists for her second double-double of the season.  She and Liz Powell (22 assists, four digs) shared time at setter.
 
The Ichabods head out on the road next week for three games.  Washburn travels to Maryville on Tuesday, Oct. 27 at 6 p.m., before returning to MIAA play at Northwest Missouri State and Missouri Western over the weekend.