TOPEKA, Kan. -- Senior libero Faith Rottinghaus became Washburn's all-time leader in digs on Saturday evening, but it wasn't enough as No. 5 Northwest Missouri defeated No. 2 Washburn in the regular season finale, 3-0. The Ichabods will return to Lee Arena on Tuesday, Nov. 16 to host the MIAA Tournament quarterfinal match as the No. 3 seed against the No. 6 seed Pittsburg State.
Rottinghaus led all players with 22 digs in the match and now has 2,480 digs in her time as an Ichabod. The previous record had stood for 14 years as Erika Cowhick set it in 2007.
At the conclusion of the match, Washburn's senior class of Taylor Antonowich, Genna Berg, Alaina Dunlavy, Sydney Fitzgibbons, Kelsey Gordon, Madison Johnson, Allison Maxwell, Payton Nutter, Rottinghaus, and Allison Sadler were recognized for their contributions to the program.
Washburn lost by the set scores of 17-25, 18-25, and 16-25. The Ichabods closed out the regular season with an overall record of 25-4 and went 17-3 in MIAA play to finish tied for second in the conference standings.
It was wire-to-wire to start the match as there were six lead changes with tie scores at each step of the way through the first 10 points until the Bearcats (24-4, 17-3 MIAA) put together a 4-0 run to go in front, 13-10. The Ichabods responded with a 4-1 run with three kills from Berg to knot up the score at 14. Northwest Missouri scored five of the next six points to reclaim the lead and then closed out the game with a 6-0 run to win the first set.
The Ichabods jumped out to a 5-2 advantage in the second frame, but the Bearcats came clawing back with an 8-1 run to go in front 10-6 and led for the rest of the set.
The Bearcats took an early lead yet again and held an 11-3 advantage in the third. Washburn put together a late 3-0 mini run, but it was not enough as Northwest Missouri closed out the sweep with a kill.
Washburn was held to a season-low .096 hitting percentage while Northwest Missouri hit .276 in the match. The Bearcats led in kills, 45-31, and in blocks, 8-7.
Genna Berg had a team-high nine kills and Allison Maxwell finished with seven.
For the Bearcats, Payton Kirchhoefer led all players with 17 kills and had a .517 hitting percentage in the match.
