EMPORIA, Kan. --- No. 11 Washburn volleyball bounced back on Tuesday night as it downed Emporia State, 3-1 (25-17, 25-14, 23-25, 25-23). With the result, the Ichabods improved to 23-1 overall, 11-1 in the MIAA.
A nip-and-tuck match, the sides battled to 19 ties and had 10 total lead changes. The match saw a combined 46 attack errors, 23 apiece, as Washburn out hit Emporia State, .186 to .139, while holding a 12-kill advantage, 62-50. Washburn defense eclipsed 100-digs for the third this season and notched 12 blocks.
Erica Montgomery paced the WU attack with a match-best 20 kills and finished with a .320 hitting percentage.
Makayla Maxwell added nine kills.
Genna Berg and
Shayla Conner contributed to the cause with double-doubles performances. Berg finished with 15 kills while Conner dished out 44 assists, both had 19 digs.
Faith Rottinghaus had a team-best 23 digs, while
Allison Maxwell registered a team-high seven blocks.
Emporia State was led by Jordan Evans and Taylor Otting, each had 12 kills.
Set 1: Trailing 5-4, the Ichabods used a kill from Conner to level the frame before adding five more to take a 10-5 lead. Emporia State battled back with a 6-2 rally cutting the the WU margin to one, 12-11. Washburn would not trail though a pair of ESU attack errors helped it to a 14-12 lead. From there the Ichabods controlled the tempo as they closed with an 8-1 run, taking the set, 25-17.
Set 2: A back-and-forth frame, the teams played to five ties during the first 10 points. Washburn then took tallied back-to-back pints to take narrow 7-5 lead. The Hornets then forced a 8-8 tie behind a 3-1 spurt before claiming a brief one-point lead. Back-to-back kills from Berg nudged WU to a 11-9 advantage and it never looked back. Leading 13-12, the Ichabods steamrolled to a 2-0 match lead, closing the frame with a 12-2 run.
Set 3: Fueled by a 7-0 run midway through the set Emporia State erased Washburn's four-point advantage pulling out front, 15-11. A pair of Ichabod timeouts did little to slow ESU attack as it eventually opened an eight-margin, 21-13, behind a 6-2 run. Trailing 23-17, Washburn trimmed its deficit to one behind a 6-1 run. The Ichabods however were unable to complete the comeback as it dropped the set, 25-23.
Set 4: Washburn controlled early as it rolled out a 4-1 lead with consecutive kills from
Taylor Antonowich,
Makayla Maxwell and a pair from Berg. Leading 12-7, ESU pieced together a 4-0 rally narrowing the WU margin to one. ESU continued to threaten pulling within one on five more occasions before finally drawing even at 21-21. After ties at 22 and 23, timely blocking by
Shayla Conner and
Makayla Maxwell set up match-point which Montgomery claimed with a booming strike to secure the match, 25-23.
Up next: Washburn will return to action Friday at Fort Hays State before closing its road schedule on Saturday at No. 2 Nebraska-Kearney, both matches are slated for a 6 pm start.
