PITTSBURG, Kan. -- Three Ichabods finished in double-digit kills as No. 3 Washburn defeated Pittsburg State in four sets on Friday evening. Washburn will wrap up the weekend tomorrow (Saturday, Nov. 6) at Missouri Southern at 7 p.m.
 
Washburn improved its record to 23-3 (15-2 MIAA) after winning by the set scores of 22-25, 25-12, 25-14, 25-20.
 
The match started with back-and-forth scoring and the Ichabods held a 9-7 advantage when their errors began to pile up and the Gorillas (13-12, 7-10 MIAA) took the lead with a 10-2 run. Down 23-13, Washburn came alive and clawed its way back into the set by scoring nine out of the next 10 points and spoiled five game points for the Gorillas. The rally came up short, though, as the Pittsburg State won 25-22 on a Washburn service error.
 
The Ichabods rebounded in the second set and got out to a 6-2 lead. Washburn led 10-8 when a kill from Kelsey Gordon started an 8-2 run to push its lead to 17-10. The Ichabods closed out the 25-12 victory with six-consecutive points and hit .524 in the frame.
 
Washburn continued its attack in the third set as it landed 19 kills and recorded a .485 hitting percentage. The Ichabods trailed 5-4 when they used a 5-1 run to take the lead. The Gorillas fought back and pulled within one point at 10-9 when a kill by Genna Berg sparked an 8-2 spurt to create some space. Allison Maxwell capped off a 5-0 run as she swatted down a kill to give the Ichabods a 2-1 advantage in the match with a 25-14 set win.
 
Both teams jockeyed for the lead with scoring runs in the fourth set as there were six lead changes and nine ties. The Gorillas led 12-9 when the Ichabods went on a 6-1 run and benefited from three errors committed by Pittsburg State to move in front, 15-13. PSU reclaimed a lead at 16-15 and 17-16 before dropping two points in a row and then evened the game at 18-all, but that was as close as it got. Washburn broke the 18-18 tie and won seven of the last nine points to close out the 25-20 triumph.
 
Washburn finished the night with a .331 attacking percentage while Pittsburg State hit .137. The Ichabods led in kills, 61-43, and in digs, 56-47.
 
Maxwell hit a sizzling .600 in the match and led the Ichabods with 14 kills on 20 attempts with just two errors. She also made five blocks, including one solo stop. Berg landed 13 kills and Gordon contributed 11 kills and hit .500.
 
Allison Sadler was one dig shy of a double-double as she finished with 49 assists and nine digs to go with four kills on five attempts. Faith Rottinghaus recorded 19 digs and Chloe Paschal had four of Washburn's six service aces.
 
Janae Thurston had a team-high 14 kills for the Gorillas.