ST. PAUL, Minn. – Sixth-seeded Washburn Volleyball saw its 2015 season come to an end in the NCAA Central Region Quarterfinals on Thursday, Dec. 3, dropping a 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-13) match against third-seeded Southwest Minnesota State.
 
SMSU took the first set, 25-16, despite Washburn allowing just one run of four unanswered in the set.  Down three (8-5) after a kill from Sarah Vicory, that string of four straight for the Mustangs put WU behind, 12-5, and the Ichabods couldn't recover.  Later on, down nine (23-12), WU ran off two straight to force a SMSU timeout, but the momentum couldn't sustain a long run as WU fell behind in the match, 1-0.
 
Trailing 11-7 in the second, WU called a timeout before rallying to tie it, 11-11 behind a four-point burst, but saw SMSU answer with a 4-0 run of its own that WU struggled to come back from.  After a timeout down 21-15, WU did cut the lead to six three more times in the set, but that was as close as things came in a 25-18 loss.
 
Needing a win to extend the match in the third, Washburn again hung tough early but couldn't slow a hot-hitting Mustangs offense, falling 25-13 in the third.
 
Natalie Bates had WU's only double-double for the day, tallying 12 digs (second on the team) with a team-high 12 assists, while Korie Thompson just missed a double-double in her final game as an Ichabod, finishing with 13 digs and nine kills on the day. 
 
Sarah Vicory finished with four blocks (one solo) and five kills while Alyssa Carney had eight digs at libero.
 
WU falls to 11-13 all-time in the NCAA Tournament while moving to 6-7 in the opening round.  The Ichabods are also now 9-9 in neutral site games at the NCAA Tournament and 1-6 as the lower seed.
 
SMSU will advance to the Central Region semifinals on Friday, Dec. 4 to take on the winner of No. 2 Central Missouri and No. 7 Wayne State.
 
The 2015 season closes as the 13th 25-plus win season for Washburn under Chris Herron.