ST. CHARLES, Mo. --- Behind efficient hitting late and a balanced team effort defensively, the Washburn Ichabod volleyball team bested Lindenwood, 25-19, 22-25, 25-11, 25-12, Friday evening in St. Charles, Mo. With the result, Washburn pushed its win streak to 16 straight and in the process set a new record for best start in program-history.  

The Ichabods, which also improved to 4-0 in the MIAA, registered 50 kills while hitting .250 for the match. After tallying 14 errors and posting a .125 hitting mark during the in the opening two frames, the Washburn offense found its rhythm surrendering only four points off attack attack errors as it hit a combined .458 during the third and fourth sets, including a match-best .577 in the third. 

Lindenwood, which conceded a total of seven errors between sets one and two, were left hitting .160 for the match, after hitting .000 in the fourth with 10 of its 21 attack errors.

The opening set began with back-and-forth early until Washburn used back-to-back kills from Genna Berg and Taylor Antonowich to spur on a 4-0 run, pushing the score to 7-3. After leading by as much as five and pushing the score to 16-11, the Lions battled back and pulled within one as they used a 5-1 rally to make it 17-16. 

Coming out of a timeout, a focused Ichabod squad roared out to their largest lead as a 7-1 run set up set point at 24-17. During the run Lindenwood committed five errors while a pair of kills from Allison Maxwell kept the momentum going. Lindenwood registered a pair of points late though it was not enough as Erica Montgomery buried one of her eight kills of the night to give Washburn a 1-0 match advantage.

A quick 4-2 lead to start the second for Washburn soon disappeared as the Lions put together a 6-2 run. With Lindenwood now leading 8-6, the Lions controlled the rest of the frame as they hit .237 while the Ichabods were held to .109 hitting and surrendered eight attack errors. Trailing 23-19, Washburn made a late push rattling off three straight points to trim the LWU margin to one. The effort those was not enough as the Lions leveled the match a one-set apiece.

After five ties marked the beginning of the third Washburn tore past Lindenwood as it put up points in bunches. The Ichabod spree began with four unanswered points Shayla Conner, Makayla Maxwell and Montgomery each landed kills to make it 9-5. A pair of 3-0 spurts allowed WU to open its margin to eight, before another 4-0 run pushed them the gap to double-figures at 19-8. The Ichabods eventually closed the stanza on a 6-3 rout.

Tied at seven, Washburn broke the deadlock behind a 4-0 run as Kelsey Gordon and the Maxwells each recorded a kill. Leading 12-10, Washburn put the set and match out of reach as it strung together six-straight points. From there the Ichabods cruised to a 25-12 decision to claim the match and earn it 16th-straight victory.

The Washburn attack was led by Allison Maxwell who finished with a match-best 15. Also registering a match-best was Faith Rottinghaus who tallied 16 digs. For the second consecutive match Berg and Shayla Conner each recorded double-doubles. Berg finished with 10 kills and 11 digs, while Conner had 31 assists and 10 digs. 

The Ichabods return to action tomorrow when they visit Warrensburg to take on No. 13 Central Missouri at 2 pm.