TOPEKA, Kan. --- In spite of outhitting No. 8 Central Oklahoma, .261-.214, Washburn Ichabod volleyball suffered a tough loss on Saturday night, dropping a thrilling five set battle, 3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 21-25, 25-17, 13-15) at Lee Arena. 

Washburn (12-7, 3-4 MIAA) opened the match in awe-striking fashion jumping out front early and never relinquished the control as it converted 20-of-32 kill attempts with jsut three errors for a match-best .531 hitting percentage. The Bronchos (20-1, 7-0 MIAA) threatened to level the frame after consecutive kills made brought them within one at 5-4 but that was that was the closest they came for the remainder of the set.

Back-to-back kills from Taylor Selk and Faith Rottinghaus stretched the Ichabod advantage to six midway through the set making it 17-11. The margin held as down the back stretch of the set before two of Selk's 14 kills for night sealed the a 25-20 first set for Washburn.

The Ichabods then dropped the next two sets allowing Central Oklahoma to claim a 2-1 match advantage. The Bronchos won the second set 25-23 but were outhit by the Ichabods, .250-.214. Washburn was then held to sub-.200 hitting in the third as it fell, 25-21.

Erica Montgomery posted eight kills during the two set stretch with six coming in the third frame alone. Genna Berg had registered seven kills over the course of the following sets, while Allison Maxwell tallied five.

Opening the fourth set in a 0-2 hole, Washburn used a 6-1 run to overtake UCO for a 6-3 lead. The Bronchos then tied the frame at 7-7 and again at 8-8 before a 3-0 spurt pushed the Ichabods out front 11-8 and never looked the back as they quickly widened the gap to as much as seven down the back stretch before winning the set, 25-17, to force a fifth and final frame.

Washburn took control of the fifth set early before 3-1 spurt by Central Oklahoma made it 7-6 Ichabods before one of Montgomery's career-high 22 kills gave pushed it to 8-6. After the teams exchanged sides, UCO forced a 9-9 tie as it accounted for three of the next four points. The Ichabods responded with a 4-1 run as it took its final lead of the night at 13-10 but the advantage evaporated as the Bronchos recorded five unanswered to escape with a set and match victory.

The Bronchos were led by Taylor Bevis' match-best 30 kills.

For the second-consecutive week Allison Sadler reached the 60-assist mark, though bested her previous outing on Saturday with a career-high 62 assists. The assist total tied Katie Hampson for the 14th-best single-match performance. Sadler also had four kills, eight digs and two blocks to round out her stat line. Berg finished with 14 kills, while Allison and Makayla Maxwell each had nine. Makayla has had seven blocks. Five Ichabods registered double-figure digs with Faith Rottinghaus leading the way with 19. 

Washburn concludes its homestand next week as it welcomes Southwest Baptist and Missouri Southern to Lee Arena.