MARYVILLE, Mo. – Four Ichabods recorded double-digit kills and five had double-figures in digs, but No. 1 Washburn came up just short in a hard-fought five set match at No. 9 Northwest Missouri on Friday evening. The Ichabods close out the weekend tomorrow (Saturday) evening at Missouri Western.

Washburn lost by the set scores of 25-20, 26-28, 27-25, 15-25, and 7-15 and now hold an overall record of 17-2 (9-1 MIAA).
 
The first set saw six lead changes and nine tied scores as both teams jockeyed in front of each other with scoring runs. The Ichabods took their first lead of the game at 5-4 and increased it to 8-5 before the Bearcats (15-2, 8-1 MIAA) went in front, 9-8. A solo block by Allison Maxwell gave Washburn a 12-10 advantage, but a 5-0 scoring run put Northwest Missouri back on top. A kill from Kelsey Gordon knotted up the score at 17 and sparked a 12-3 run to propel Washburn to an opening set victory.
 
After the first set that was built on scoring runs, neither team scored more than two points in a row in the second frame until the Northwest Missouri had a 3-0 mini run to take a 15-12 lead. Trailing 18-15, Genna Berg got things going for Washburn with a kill and the Ichabods won the next three points to take a one point advantage. There were 19 total ties during the set and there was one at every step of the way starting at 19-19 until the Bearcats won the final two points to split the first two sets with a 28-26 decision.
 
It was more back-and-forth scoring to start the third as neither team held a lead of more than two points until the Bearcats went in front, 10-7. Northwest Missouri maintained its lead and had set point, 24-20, when Berg hammered down a kill that started a run of four consecutive points to tie up the game. The Bearcats won the following point, but the Ichabods stayed resilient and earned the last three points to win 27-25 and go up, 2-1.
 
The Bearcats responded quickly and led from start to finish of the fourth set, 25-15, to force the decisive fifth.
 
The Ichabods won the first point and then tied things up at 2-all, but the Bearcats took the lead and then won eight of the final 10 points to secure the 3-2 match win.
 
Washburn finished the night hitting .187 while Northwest Missouri had a .225 attacking percentage and led in kills, 75-67. The Bearcats also had a slight edge in service aces, 5-3, and blocks, 12-9.
 
Maxwell and Fitzgibbons led the Ichabods with 17 kills apiece. For Fitzgibbons, the 17 kills mark a career-high as she hit .441 on the night and was also a part of five blocks. Berg knocked down 14 kills and Jalyn Stevenson added 11 kills to go with her personal-best 18 digs.
 
Allison Sadler notched her fifth double-double of the season as she registered 57 assists and 20 digs. Faith Rottinghaus led the Ichabods' defensive effort with 36 digs.
 
The Bearcats' Payton Kirchhoefer led all players with a match-high 26 kills.