St. Joseph, MO. – No. 10 Washburn completed the regular season sweep of Missouri Western on Saturday, Oct. 31, winning the Halloween matchup, 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-20).
 
WU (25-2, 12-2 MIAA) pushed its winning streak to eight games with the sweep while MWSU drops to 19-6 (10-3 MIAA).  Leanna Willer entered the night 12 kills away from 1,000 for her career and finished the night with 14, joining Washburn's 1,000 kills/1,000 digs club as the ninth member.
 
Ahead 6-4 in the first set, WU allowed a 5-0 run that put the Griffons ahead, 9-7, before a kill from Willer ended the run.  The teams traded points until 12-10, when two straight for WU tied it up at 12 before WU regained the lead, 14-13 off a block assist from Kelsey Barrick and Sarah Vicory.  That Ichabod block was the second point in a 5-1 run for WU that forced a Griffon timeout at 17-14.  Out of the pause, MWSU climbed back to within one (18-17) but the Ichabods soon built the lead back to three, 21-18.  Washburn closed the set with a 4-1 run, taking a lead in the match, 25-19.
 
WU opened the second set with a 5-1 lead, pushing it 9-3 before the Griffons called a timeout.  MWSU rallied out of the reset, cutting the deficit to one (11-10) with a 7-2 run before tying it at 12, where WU called a timeout of its own.  Relatively even until 16-all, MWSU pulled away briefly to 18-16 with two quick points before the Ichabods ran off five straight of their own (including two kills apiece from Willer and Barrick) to regain the lead, 21-18.  The Griffons stopped the run but couldn't slow down WU's momentum as the Ichabods took the set, 25-20, off a block assist from Carley Swan and Taylor Selk.
 
A relatively even start to the third set brought the teams to a 9-all tie, when WU allowed a 3-0 rally before calling a timeout.  Five unanswered for Washburn followed the pause, prompting the Griffons to call a timeout of their own at 14-12. The Ichabods stretched that two-point lead to three (18-15) off a block assist from Barrick and Swan, and four (21-17) after a MWSU error.  That advantage was all the Ichabods needed as the closed the match with a 25-20 set three win.
 
Korie Thompson and Willer had double doubles for the Ichabods.  Thompson had 10 kills and 21 digs, leading the team in the defensive category.  Willer joined Thompson with 10 kills and had 14 digs.  Two other Ichabods – Alyssa Carney and Shayla Conner – had double-digit digs, finishing with 12 and 10, respectively.
 
Swan, Selk, Barrick and Sarah Vicory each had two block assists, as Selk and Vicory tied for third on the team with seven kills each and Barrick and Swan added six each.
 
Liz Powell led the team with 22 assists to go with six digs.  Five different Ichabods - Thompson, Willer, Conner, Carney and McKenzie Hartzog – had service aces.
 
With the win, WU is now one and a half games ahead of MWSU in the MIAA standings and one half game ahead of Central Oklahoma with four games to go in its regular season.
 
The Ichabods return to Lee Arena next weekend for the final two home games of the regular season.  Washburn hosts Lindenwood on Friday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m., before taking on No. 15 Central Missouri in a Senior Day matchup on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 3 p.m.