ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – No. 20 Washburn volleyball is heading to the MIAA Tournament championship match after taking down the tournament's top-seed and No. 10 nationally ranked Northwest Missouri in four sets on Friday evening. The semifinal match was a back-and-forth battle and each set was decided by two points with three of the four sets going to extra points. The No. 5 seed Washburn will face the No. 2 seed and No. 12 ranked Nebraska-Kearney Lopers on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Washburn will be looking for its first-ever MIAA tournament title after playing in four previous championship matches (2005, 2006, 2016, and 2018). The last two times Washburn was in the final it was against Nebraska-Kearney. The Ichabods have defeated the Lopers twice already this season and have won four in a row against them dating back to last year.
Washburn won by the set scores of 24-26, 25-23, 26-24, and 29-27 to improve its overall record to 23-7 and end Northwest Missouri's 12-match winning streak. The Ichabods have now won three of their last four matches, with all three victories against opponents ranked in the top-25.
The Ichabods got out to a hot start and won six of the first seven points and led 12-6 when Northwest Missouri (24-6) slowly climbed back into the game. The Bearcats trailed 22-20 and knotted up the score with a 3-1 run.
Sophie McMullen knocked down a kill to give the Ichabods set point, but they couldn't hold on as Northwest Missouri won three-straight points to claim the opening frame, 26-24.
The second set consisted of 12 ties and five lead changes with plenty of back-and-forth scoring. Northwest Missouri was up, 17-14, when Washburn took its first lead since 10-7 with a run of five-consecutive points. The Bearcats tied the set at 19, 21, and 22 and went in front 23-22 when it was the Ichabods' turn to end the set with a 3-0 mini run and even the match at one game apiece.
In the third game, the score stayed within four or fewer points the entire way. Northwest Missouri built a 14-12 lead after a 7-1 run when the Washburn attack started firing away.
Halle Meister recorded the first kill of a 6-2 run that propelled the Ichabods ahead, 18-16.
Jalyn Stevenson had three kills during that run. The Bearcats fought back and knotted up the set at 22-all, but the Ichabods reached set point after a kill from Stevenson and an ace by
Sydney Pullen. Northwest Missouri made things interesting again and scored two in a row to spoil set point and level the score at 24. Stevenson came through once more and knocked down back-to-back kills to give the Ichabods a 2-1 lead in the match. The sophomore outside hit .417 in the third with six kills on 12 swings and one error as well as nine digs.
Northwest Missouri went up 7-3 early in the fourth and benefited from three-straight Washburn errors. The Ichabods slowly chipped away one point at a time and with a few mini runs to keep the score within reach. The Bearcats went up, 22-17, after a 5-1 run when the Ichabods made their move. Meister recorded a kill on a Bearcat blocking error that ignited a 7-1 tear to put Washburn at match point, 24-23. The Bearcats would not go down easily and tied the score at 24, 25, and 26 before reaching set point themselves at 27-26. Stevenson landed her sixth kill of the set to tie things up again and that would be the final tie of the marathon as Northwest Missouri committed back-to-back attacking errors to end the match.
Washburn hit .220 for the match and limited Northwest Missouri to a .175 clip. The Ichabods had the advantage in kills (68-64) and blocks (11-8), but the Bearcats had two more aces (9-8). Both teams had exactly 121 digs.
After a slow start, Stevenson made up for it and finished with a team-high 16 kills and tied for a team-best in digs with 26.
Kealy Kiviniemi hit .310 and landed 15 kills and
Ella Waters was right behind with a season-high 14. In the middle, Meister and
Kassidy Pfeiffer were a part of five blocks each and totaled a combined 12 kills.
Defensively, Pullen had 26 digs and recorded a team-high three service aces. S. McMullen contributed 21 digs and two aces.
The freshmen setter duo of
Sydney Conner and
Corinna McMullen both recorded a double-double. Conner notched a season-high 31 assists and scooped up 17 digs and McMullen finished with 22 assists and 12 digs.
The Bearcat offense was led by Payton Kirchhoefer's 26 kills on 75 attack attempts. She also had 23 digs. Abby Brunssen had 13 kills and Jaden Ferguson rounded out the double-figure kills leaders with 11 to go with a match-high 33 digs.
