KEARNEY, Neb. – The fifth-ranked Washburn volleyball team forced a fifth set in the NCAA Central Region quarterfinal match, but the Ichabods were unable to complete the comeback against third-ranked Concordia-St. Paul as they fell 3-2 on Thursday afternoon. The Ichabods finish the season 27-4 while the Golden Bears improve to 26-7 and advance to the NCAA Regional semifinal tomorrow.
 
Concordia-St. Paul, the No. 3 seed in the tournament, won by the set scores of 27-25. 22-25, 26-24, 19-25, and 15-8 over the No. 6 seed Ichabods. CSP landed one more kill than WU, 61-60, and also led in digs, 90-85.  The Golden Bears finished with a .178 attacking percentage while the Ichabods hit .138 in the match.
 
The first set was close the whole way as there were six tied scores and four lead changes. The Golden Bears went on an 8-2 run close out the opening frame, 27-25. The Ichabods hit .211 and recorded 19 kills in the set, led by Allison Maxwell's seven.
 
In the second set, the Ichabods put together a 5-0 run to take an 11-6 advantage early on. The Golden Bears knotted up the score at 17 and 19, but Washburn held on and won the final two points with a block by Erica Montgomery and Kelsey Gordon and then a kill by Gordon to cap off the 25-22 victory.
 
Similar to the first set, the third frame was close the whole way as the score stayed within four points or less the entire time. The Ichabods grabbed their first lead of the set at 22-21 and then tied the score at 24-all, but Concordia-St. Paul won the next two points in a row to take a 2-1 advantage.
 
Taylor Antonowich got the fourth set started on a strong note with a service ace. After back-and-forth scoring by the teams, the Ichabods won three-straight points to go in front 11-8 and never relinquished their lead as they won the set 25-19.
 
It was nip-and-tuck to start the fifth as the teams exchanged points for the first six points until CSP rattled off four-consecutive points to lead 6-3. The Ichabods got within four points at 11-7 after a Golden Bear service error, but CSP continued the attack and won the clinching set, 15-8.
 
Gordon hit .368 in the match and recorded a career-high 18 kills. Maxwell also added 18 kills and she and Gordon were a wall at the net as they were both a part of five block assists. Genna Berg notched her 16h double-double of the season with 19 digs and 14 kills. Setter Allison Sadler also recorded a double-double with 51 assists and 12 digs. Faith Rottinghaus scooped up a team-best 25 digs and Antonowich landed three of Washburn's six aces.