ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Washburn volleyball team captured the program's first-ever MIAA Tournament title on Saturday evening, defeating the No. 2 seed and No. 12 ranked Nebraska-Kearney Lopers in four sets. With the victory, Washburn has earned an automatic bid to compete in its 17th NCAA Tournament that will take place Nov. 17-19. The complete postseason bracket of location and seeding will be announced Sunday evening at 9:30 p.m. CT on ncaa.com.
 
Washburn, the tournament's No. 5 seed, won by the set scores of 25-18, 19-25, 25-22, 25-20 and move to 24-7 on the year. Nebraska-Kearney is now 28-5 on the season with three of its losses coming against Washburn. Additionally, the Ichabods have now won five-straight matches against Nebraska-Kearney.
 
At the conclusion of the match, the Ichabod quartet of Jalyn Stevenson, Halle Meister, Sydney Pullen, and Kealy Kiviniemi were selected to the All-Tournament team.
 
In the opening set, the Ichabods trailed 11-8 when they scored eight of the next nine points to jump in front, 16-12. The Lopers pulled within three at 18-15, but a kill from Ella Waters started a 3-0 mini run to create some breathing room. Washburn maintained its lead and Sydney Pullen capped off the 25-18 first set win with a service ace. Hitters Austin Broadie and Stevenson recorded six kills each in the first frame.
 
After Washburn won the first two points of the second set on UNK errors, the Lopers scored six-consecutive points to take the lead. Midway through the set, Washburn landed three kills in a row to make it a one-point game, 17-16, and force a Nebraska-Kearney timeout. The Lopers responded with a 3-0 run of their own and eventually evened up the match by scoring five of the final seven points.
 
After the Lopers scored the first three points of the third, the Ichabods slowly chipped away at the deficit and tied the game at seven and eight before going on a 5-1 run to jockey in front, 13-11. Nebraska-Kearney fought back, though, and reclaimed the lead at 19-16 after a 6-1 burst. Trailing 22-19, the Ichabods benefited from four errors by the Lopers and rallied with six-straight points to come back and win the set, 25-22, and take a 2-1 advantage.
 
Nebraska-Kearney started the fourth set with a block, but that would be its only lead of the set as Washburn took a 4-2 lead after back-to-back kills from Broadie. The Lopers tied the game at 4-all and stayed within two or fewer points until a kill from Kassidy Pfeiffer started a 5-1 spurt and pushed the Ichabod lead to 12-7. The Lopers made a late run and landed three-consecutive kills to make it a 23-19 affair, but a kill from Stevenson made it set point. Nebraska-Kearney would get one more point on the night before the match ended on a Loper blocking error.
 
The Ichabods finished the match with a .260 attacking percentage and held the Lopers to hitting just .181. WU led in kills, 65-54, and had one more dig, 85-84. Both teams recorded the exact same number of aces (two) and blocks (11).
 
Broadie, a redshirt freshman, led Washburn offensively as she knocked down a season-high 18 kills for a .359 hitting percentage. Stevenson was close behind with 17 kills and a .326 attacking percentage and achieved her 14th double-double of the fall as she also scooped up 18 digs. Meister contributed nine kills and had a match-high eight block assists.
 
Corinna McMullen recorded 33 assists and had eight digs. Sydney Conner notched 20 assists and landed a service ace. Pullen led the team with 19 digs and Sophie McMullen had 15 digs.
 
Emersen Cyza led a trio of Lopers in double-figure kills with 18.
 
2022 MIAA Volleyball Championship All-Tournament Team
Jaedynn Evans - Central Oklahoma
Sydney Huck - Central Oklahoma
Emersen Cyza - Nebraska Kearney
Peyton Neff - Nebraska Kearney
Fallon Stutheit - Nebraska Kearney
Payton Kirchhofer - Northwest Missouri
Alyssa Rezac - Northwest Missouri
Meg Auten - Pittsburg State
Kealy Kiviniemi - Washburn
Halle Meister - Washburn
Jalyn Stevenson - Washburn
Sydney Pullen - Washburn