BOLIVAR, Mo. --- Washburn volleyball notched its 14th sweep of the season on Saturday afternoon as it wrapped up a six-match road trip with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-16, 25-14) victory over Southwest Baptist in Bolivar, Missouri. With the result, the Ichabods pushed their season record to 21-0 while sitting atop the MIAA standings at 9-0.

Washburn dominated both sides of the net, out hitting the Bearcats, .281 to .-010, while holding the SBU attack to 16 kills, a season-low for an opponent. The Ichabods meanwhile registered 43 kills on 96 swings with 16 errors. The Southwest Baptist front line finished with seven team blocks.

With five Ichabods tallying three or more kills in the effort, Erica Montgomery led the way with a match-best 14 while hitting an efficient .308 mark. Taylor Antonowich followed as she contributed with nine kills and a team-high three aces.

Shayla Conner produced another well-rounded performance notching her 14th double-double of the year as she dished out 27 assists and dug up 10 attack attempts. Faith Rottinghaus also tallied double-figure digs finishing with a match-best 17.

SBU was led by Dana Neal who had six kills, while Delanie Tipton and Kayln Bitner had three blocks each.

Set 1: A pair of early ties did little to shake the Ichabods confidence as they took control of the opening frame, 6-2, thanks in part to a 4-0 run and never looked back. After SBU trimmed the margin to 8-6, Montgomery buried back-to-back kills to push the WU advantage to 11-6. The Bearcats again pulled within arm's length bringing the score to 14-10 but any hope of a rally was quickly dashed as WU blitzed past with an 11-1 run and claimed a 1-0 lead. 

Set 2: Washburn opened with a 5-1 lead early as Antonowich had two kills to help the cause. SBU though battled back beginning with a 4-1 run to cut the Ichabod margin to 6-5. After WU nudged the score to 8-6, the Bearcats claimed their first lead of the afternoon behind a 3-0 spurt. The lead was quickly recovered by Washburn as Montgomery tallied a pair of kills in a 3-0 spurt making it 11-9. SBU then forced a tie at 12-12. Washburn though answered back by putting together five straight as it began to pull away at 17-12 before accounting for eight of the final 12 points of the set. 

Set 3: Trailing 5-2, Washburn used back-to-back kills from Antonowich and Allison Maxwell as part of a 4-0 run. The Bearcats then forces ties at six-all and seven-all, before the Ichabods were able to double-up and claim a 14-7 advantage as a result of a 7-0 rally. The run was spurred on by Montgomery who buried three kills during the stretch while Antonowich chipped in with an ace. Southwest Baptist did not go away quietly however as it pieced together a 4-0 run before a 2-2 exchange saw the Bearcats cut the lead to three, 16-13. Undeterred, the Ichabods responded with a 6-0 run, pulling out to a 22-13 margin eventually completing the sweep with a 3-1 run.

Up next: Washburn returns to Lee Arena for homecoming weekend as it hosts Missouri Western on Friday, Oct. 12 and Northwest Missouri on Saturday, Oct. 13. Tickets for both matches are available at wutickets.com or at the Washburn Ticket Office.