KEARNEY, Neb. – The No. 12-ranked Washburn volleyball team won its second five-set marathon of the season against No. 5-ranked Nebraska-Kearney on Tuesday evening to hand the Lopers their second loss of the year. The Ichabods will return home to take on Missouri Western and No. 23 Central Missouri this weekend, Oct. 7-8.
 
Washburn has now won four in a row over Nebraska-Kearney, marking the first time that has ever happened in program history.  
 
The Ichabods won by the set scores of 22-25, 25-19, 25-21, 19-25, and 15-12 to improve its record to 14-3 (6-3 MIAA).
 
To start the match, Washburn jumped out to an early 5-1 advantage and then held a 9-7 lead when Nebraska-Kearney put together a 6-1 run to go up, 13-10. The Ichabods fought back and tied up the set at 15 and 16, but another 6-1 run created some breathing room for the Lopers. Trailing 22-17, Halle Meister knocked down a kill to spark a 5-1 scoring stretch to pull within one. Nebraska-Kearney held on, though, and won the next two points to capture the 25-22 first set win.
 
The Lopers (17-2, 7-2 MIAA) were up 4-3 when the Ichabods went on a 5-1 run to go in front, 8-5. During that stint, Jalyn Stevenson landed three kills. Washburn held on to the lead for the remainder of the set and closed out the frame with four unanswered points to win it 25-19 and even the match at one game each. Stevenson knocked down a team-high six kills on 10 swings with zero errors in the set.
 
After dropping the first two points in the third set, Washburn came storming back and scored 10 of the next 12 to lead 10-4. A 9-3 run chiseled Washburn's lead down to 19-18, forcing an Ichabod timeout. Washburn returned to the court after the timeout and won the next three points before Nebraska-Kearney responded with back-to-back points. The Lopers initially pulled within one at 22-21 after a kill, but the call was challenged by Washburn and overturned to an attacking error ruling to put the Ichabods up, 23-20. Nebraska-Kearney couldn't get any closer as Washburn went up 2-1 in the match with a 25-21 decision in the third.
 
Errors piled up for Washburn in the fourth set as the Ichabods hit a dismal .073 and Nebraska-Kearney never trailed in the game. The Ichabods used a late 4-0 rally to cut the deficit to three at 22-19, but the Lopers won the last three points in a row to force the decisive fifth set.
 
The fifth set was a back-and-forth battle with six lead changes and 10 tied scores. The Lopers had a 3-2 lead and then three UNK errors pushed the Ichabods ahead, 5-3. Nebraska-Kearney won four of the next five points to go up, 7-6. On the following play, another Washburn challenge was successful after what was initially ruled a Washburn hitting error was later determined to be a Nebraska-Kearney blocking error that knotted up the score at 7-all. Behind the service line was Sydney Pullen and she kept the momentum going with a service ace. The Lopers tied up the match at eight and then regained the lead with a 3-1 run to make it 11-10. The score was even at 11 after a UNK hitting error and Halle Meister gave the Ichabods a one-point advantage with a kill. Broadie and Stevenson followed suit with back-to-back kills to make it match point. UNK spoiled one set point with a kill before Meister put the match away with her seventh kill of the evening.
 
Washburn finished the match hitting .233 compared to Nebraska-Kearney's .160 clip. The Ichabods had the edge in kills (65-61), digs (85-82), and blocks (10-6) while the Lopers led in service aces (11-6).
 
Stevenson turned in a career night as she knocked down a personal-best 19 kills and hit .366 while adding 14 digs and four blocks. Broadie and Taryn Pridgett also achieved new career-highs in kills as they collected 12 and nine kills, respectively. Kassidy Pfeiffer and Kealy Kiviniemi chipped in eight kills apiece.
 
Freshman setter Corinna McMullen dished out a season-high 35 assists and scooped up 10 digs for her fifth double-double of the year. In the back court, Sophie McMullen led all players in the match with 24 digs and Pullen racked up 21 digs.
 
Three Nebraska-Kearney players registered double-figure kills, led by Emersen Cyza's 20. Bailee Sterling added a double-double with 16 kills and 10 digs.