WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Sophomore outside hitter Jalyn Stevenson's career night offensively helped the No. 17-ranked Washburn volleyball team to a four-set victory at No. 24 Central Missouri on Friday evening. The Ichabods will play the final match of the regular season at Missouri Western on Saturday at 3 p.m.
 
Washburn won by the set scores of 25-21, 25-21, 22-25, and 25-19 to complete the regular season sweep of Central Missouri after defeating the Jennies in Topeka in straight sets on Oct. 8.
 
In the first set, the Ichabods (21-6, 13-6 MIAA) trailed 14-11 when a kill from Halle Meister started a 12-3 scoring tear to give Washburn its first lead since the 3-2 mark. Central Missouri (18-10, 13-6 MIAA) fought back and spoiled Washburn's set point three times, but Meister put away the 25-21 set win with her fourth kill of the frame.
 
The second set saw 13 tie scores and four lead changes. The teams took turns scoring one point at a time through the first seven points when the Jennies used a 5-1 run to take a 7-4 advantage. The Ichabods answered with three-consecutive points to level the score and briefly took a one point lead twice before the Jennies used a 6-3 run to jockey back in front, 16-14. Sophie McMullen stopped the UCM momentum with a kill and Washburn won six of the next seven points to reclaim the lead at 20-17. During that run, Washburn made three blocks at the net. Central Missouri could get no closer than two points as Washburn claimed its second 25-21 set win. Stevenson was responsible for seven of Washburn's 16 kills in the frame.
 
In the third, Central Missouri broke a 3-all tie with a 7-1 stint to jump ahead, 10-4. Washburn trimmed the deficit to three points on three occasions and used a late 4-1 run to pull within two at 24-22, but Central Missouri held on for the 25-22 victory.
 
Washburn took its first lead of the fourth set at 8-7 after a 4-1 run and would never trail again. The Jennies leveled the score at 11, 13, and 14 but the Ichabods pulled away midway through the set with an 8-3 scoring stretch to go up, 22-17. Washburn closed out the match scoring six of the final eight points and won, 25-19.
 
Washburn finished the match with a .251 attacking percentage and held Central Missouri to a .228 clip. It was fairly evenly matched down the stat line as the Jennies had one more kill than the Ichabods, 62-61, and had the edge in digs, 88-83, while Washburn had one more assist, 56-55, and out blocked Central Missouri, 11-8. The Ichabods recorded all six service aces that occurred in the match.
 
Stevenson turned in an impressive performance on the court as she knocked down a personal-best 24 kills while hitting .370 and added 17 digs. Her 24 kills in a four set match is tied for ninth all-time and four kills behind the program record. The last Ichabod to have 24 kills in a four set match was two-time All-American Allison Maxwell on Oct. 12, 2018. Kealy Kiviniemi had a .400 attacking percentage with nine kills. S. McMullen and Austin Broadie each recorded eight kills. The duo also contributed defensively as McMullen scooped up a match-high 25 digs and Broadie totaled six blocks with one solo stop.
 
Corinna McMullen led all players with 28 assists and had two of Washburn's six aces. Sharing time at setter was Sydney Conner, who notched a double-double with 23 assists and 11 digs.
 
Kersti Nix paced the Jennies' offense with 23 kills and added 11 digs and was a part of two blocks. Tiffany Little also had double-figure kills with 11.