HAYS, Kan. --- The No. 25 Washburn Ichabod volleyball team picked up its first conference victory of the season Saturday as it swept Fort Hays State (8-8, 0-2 MIAA) in straight sets, 28-26, 25-17, 25-16. With the result, the Ichabods improved to 10-4 on the year and 1-1 in MIAA action.
Allison Sadler was the catalyst to the Washburn attack as registered 42 assists and added six kills.
Genna Berg had a match-best 13 kills while
Allison Maxwell and
Erica Montgomery each finished with nine kills.
Faith Rottinghaus led the defensive effort for the Ichabods with a team-best 14 digs. Makayla and
Allison Maxwell meanwhile combined for eight blocks.
The opening set was the most closely contested match of the evening as it featured 14 ties and five lead changes. Washburn trailed early but rallied back to assume a narrow 14-13 and stopped a Tigers' 3-0 spurt. After a flurry of back-and-forth action and four ties, Fort Hays State moved out to a 19-17 advantage. The Ichabods again battled back and leveled the set at 21 with consecutive kills from
Makayla Maxwell and
Genna Berg. See-saw action then followed as both sides saw themselves knotted three more times meanwhile pushing the score to 25-25. The Tigers inched closer by making it 26-25, but the door was slammed shut as
Taylor Selk notched a kill before a Rottinghaus ace made it 27-26. Washburn then secured the set an 1-0 match advantage with a block from Selk and
Makayla Maxwell to win 28-26.
Trailing 3-1 to start the second set, the Ichabods responded with a 4-1 run claiming a 5-4 lead. After pushing the score to 10-9, Washburn saw its advantage slip away as FHSU tallied four of the next five points taking a 13-11 lead. The Ichabods then retaliated with a 9-1 run as they seized a 20-14 cushion and never looked back en route to a 25-17 victory.
With momentum squarely in their corner, the Ichabods began the third set with five unanswered points before pushing the score to 10-3. The cushion was then trimmed to three as a FHSU rattled off the next four points to close the WU lead to 10-7. The Ichabods however remained unfazed as they eventually assumed a double-digit advantage at 19-9. The Tigers brought the WU advantage to single-digits but it was not enough as Washburn completed the sweep with a 25-16 result.
Washburn outhit Fort Hays State for the match, .310-.113. The Tigers were held to sub-.200 hitting in the second (.139) and third frames (-.025) while the Ichabods hit a match-best .359 in the second and .286 in the third.
Washburn returns to action on Tuesday, Sept. 26 when it travels to face Emporia State at 6 p.m.
