TOPEKA, Kan. – The No. 12-ranked Washburn volleyball squad came up just short in a five-set, nearly three hour battle to No. 19 Central Oklahoma on Friday evening. The Ichabods will conclude homecoming week hosting Newman on Saturday at 6 p.m.
 
The Ichabods drop to 18-5 (10-5 MIAA) on the season after losing to the Bronchos by the set scores of 26-24, 22-25, 25-23, 31-33, and 12-15.
 
Washburn found itself down 20-12 in the opening set when the Ichabods started their comeback. The Ichabods went on a 4-1 run and benefited from three Broncho errors before going on a 6-0 tear to level the score at 22. After a UCO point, Washburn knocked down two-consecutive kills to make it set point, 24-23. The Bronchos spoiled the set point with a kill, but Jalyn Stevenson and Kealy Kiviniemi had the last say for Washburn with a pair of kills to secure the 26-24 victory.
 
Central Oklahoma (21-4, 11-4 MIAA) got out to a hot start in the second set and won the first four points and quickly extended its lead to 7-2. Although the Bronchos never trailed in the set, Washburn fought back and tried for another comeback and pulled within one at 23-22 after a 5-1 run. The late rally fell short, though, as the Bronchos evened the match at one game apiece with a 25-22 win. UCO finished the second frame with 21 kills while WU landed 17 and committed just one error.
 
In the third game, Washburn held a 10-8 lead when Central Oklahoma went on an 8-1 scoring stretch to jump in front, 16-11. The Ichabods responded with a 6-3 run to make it a two point deficit at 19-17. A kill from Central Oklahoma gave it a 23-20 advantage, but that would be the final point it scored in the set as Austin Broadie hammered down a kill to start a 5-0 run and WU won the final point on a net error called on the Bronchos.
 
The Bronchos picked up the first three points in the fourth set and led 19-15 when the Ichabods started to chip away yet again. A 5-2 Washburn run that consisted of three Central Oklahoma attacking errors made it just 21-20 in favor of the Bronchos. UCO went up by two twice when a couple of errors proved costly again for the Bronchos and tied the score at 23-all. The teams traded points for the next six in a row before Washburn went up 27-26 with two-straight points. The jockeying back-and-forth continued as UCO went up 28-27 and then WU led 29-28. A service error gave Washburn a 31-30 lead, but Central Oklahoma won the 33-31 marathon after benefiting from three-consecutive Ichabod errors.
 
In the final stanza, the Ichabods jumped out to a big 8-2 lead to get things going. Washburn went up 11-6 when Central Oklahoma used six unanswered points to go in front, 12-11. Broadie landed another timely kill to knot up the score, but UCO completed the come-from-behind fifth set win with a 3-0 run.
 
Both teams finished the night with exactly a .193 attacking percentage. Central Oklahoma had the advantage in kills (80-68), digs (134-130), and aces (7-4) and both teams made the same number of blocks with eight.
 
Stevenson tied her career-high in kills and had 19 to go with 25 digs. Halle Meister hit an even .500 in the match and had 15 kills and was a part of three blocks. Kiviniemi and Broadie each contributed nine kills.
 
Setters Corinna McMullen and Sydney Conner each notched a double-double. C. McMullen finished with 31 assists and 14 digs while Conner had 22 assists and a season-high 23 digs, nearly doubling her previous personal-best. Sophie McMullen scooped up a team-high 34 digs.
 
Four Bronchos finished with double-figure kills led by Jenna Karp's match-high 20. Lindsey Houran finished with 66 assists and 19 digs and Jaedyn Evans led all players with 36 digs.