TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 15 Washburn (7-1) did not trail in the first two sets and rode the early momentum to a 3-0 win over No. 7 Nebraska-Kearney (9-1) to open conference play on Friday night. The Ichabods will put a six-match winning streak on the line Saturday as they host Fort Hays State at 2 p.m.
Offense led the way for Washburn which hit .307 as a team en route to 25-22, 25-22 and 25-15 set wins. Rachel Schwensen was at the front of the attack as she registered 17 kills while hitting .593.
Jalyn Stevenson set the tone by knocking down the first two kills of the match and four in the first eight points to take a 6-2 lead. The Ichabods created separation with a 4-0 burst beginning with a kill from Rylee Unruh and ended it off with a kill by Bella Limback. The Lopers won three points in a row to pull within three but never got closer and Washburn was able to win the opening set by three, 25-22.
Washburn gave itself a 4-0 cushion to start the second set, with the head and tail of the run marked by kills from Schwensen. An ace from Limback put the Ichabods up 9-3 where the deficit stayed into the middle of the set. Nebraska-Kearney won six out of seven points with efficient hitting to make it a 15-13 set. Washburn reeled off four in a row right back to regain the lead.
An ace and a few errors from Washburn brought the Lopers right back into it down the stretch and made it 23-22. Out of a timeout the Ichabods had an answer in back-to-back kills from Limback and Unruh to go up 2-0. Nebraska-Kearney outhit Washburn .344 to .295 in the set, but the Ichabods knocked down 21 kills to only 13 from the Lopers to overcome errors and take the set.
Nebraska-Kearney got its first lead of the match at 2-1 in the third set, eventually going up 3-1. Schwensen knocked down two kills in a row to tie it and spark a 5-0 run forcing a UNK timeout. Washburn created separation with Schwensen and Limback teaming up twice to knock down two blocks with a kill from Limback sandwiched between them to go up 15-9. Washburn's offense hit .444 in the final set to cruise after that with Schwensen ending the match on her 17th kill.
The Ichabods slammed 51 kills in the match with just 16 errors, compared to just 38 kills for the previously undefeated Lopers. Washburn held a substantial 66 to 37 dig advantage, led by Taylor Rottinghaus collecting a game-high 23.
In addition to her 17 kills on 27 attempts Schwensen added three blocks. Stevenson finished with a 10 kill and 12 dig double-double while hitting .292. Corinna McMullen had a match-high 24 assists and collected 15 digs for a double-double as well. Sydney Conner had 17 assists and Rottinghaus added five to her dig total.
Rylee Unruh knocked down 10 kill and added nine digs, while Austin Broadie had six kills and hit .455.
Jaden Ferguson had 10 kills for Nebraska-Kearney while hitting .243 to lead the Lopers.
