TOPEKA, Kan. – No. 12 Washburn earned its 10th sweep victory of the season as the Ichabods downed Newman in straight sets on Saturday evening. The Ichabods will play a pair of midweek matches against Pittsburg State and Missouri Southern next week to close out the home schedule in Lee Arena for the season.
Washburn won by the set scores of 25-12, 25-16, and 25-23 to improve its record to 19-5 (11-5 MIAA).
Newman (8-18, 3-13 MIAA) won the first two points of the match before the Ichabods rattled off a 12-3 run to leap in front, 12-5. Washburn used a 5-0 run to extend its lead to double figures at 20-10 and ended the first set 25-12 victory with four-straight points.
The Jets took an early 3-1 lead in the second frame when Washburn went on a 12-0 scoring barrage.
Kealy Kiviniemi was responsible for four of the seven kills during that run. The closest Newman could get was six points at 19-13 as Washburn cruised to the 25-16 win to lead 2-0 overall.
The third set was nip-and-tuck with nine ties and three lead changes throughout the frame. Newman held a close 6-5 lead when miscues plagued the Jets and the Ichabods benefited from three errors during a 4-0 run to take their first lead of the set, 9-6. The Jets rallied back and knotted up the score at 12, 13, and 14 before a big block from
Kassidy Pfeiffer and
Austin Broadie broke the tie and started a 5-0 Washburn run. The Jets trailed 22-19 and quickly regained the lead 23-22 with a 4-0 run that saw two service aces.
Sophie McMullen hammered down a kill to level the score at 23-all and then had the final kill to help the Ichabods preserve the sweep with the 25-23 decision.
Washburn finished the match hitting above .284 and recorded 13 or more kills in every set while limiting Newman to a .071 attacking percentage. The Ichabods had the advantage in kills (43-30), blocks (6-4), and digs (65-48), but the Jets landed twice as many aces than the Ichabods, 6-3.
Jalyn Stevenson notched her eighth double-double and led the Ichabods with 15 kills to go with 11 digs and two service aces. Kiviniemi hit .440 with 12 kills on 25 swings and just one error.
Corinna McMullen handed out 27 assists and had seven digs. Libero
Sydney Pullen scooped up a team-best 14 digs.
The Jets had a balanced attack and were led by Abby Borough and Hannah Brisco, who contributed seven kills each.
