TOPEKA,Kan. -- No. 17 Washburn (5-1) won two matches on day two of the Washburn Invitational in very different ways beginning with a sweep of Midwestern State and a come from behind 3-2 win over Oklahoma Baptist. The Ichabods finish the tournament on Saturday at 2 p.m. against No. 25 Harding.
Match one:
Washburn secured its third straight sweep with set victories of 25-14, 25-13, and 15-15 over the Mustangs in the first match of the day.
Midwestern State came out swinging in the first set leading 4-2. The Ichabods settled in and reeled off 10 straight points ending with back-to-back aces from Bella Limback. The Mustangs picked up a couple of blocks to pull within four points at 13-9 but the rest of the set belonged to the home team. Jalyn Stevenson picked up three aces and a kill as part of a 6-0 run. She finished off the set with a kill to end it at 25-14.
Limback got the first two kills of the second set for Washburn, kicking off a 9-3 start. The Ichabods quickly followed with a 5-0 run which included four straight kills from different hitters. Midwestern State got within six but never closer and the Ichabods were able to wrap up the set 25-13 with a four point stretch ended with an unassisted kill by Rylee Unruh.
Unruh started the third set with a kill and an ace as part of a 4-1 stretch. Both sides went back and forth over the next 20 points with Washburn maintaining a five-to-six-point advantage. The Ichabods defense sparked a 4-0 run with Rachel Schwensen and Iyannah Jackson combining for a block. Defense led the way for Washburn in the third set, as they held Midwestern State to .000 hitting and only eight kills. Schwensen was able to finish the set and match on the offensive end to wrap up the sweep with a 25-15 set.
For the match Washburn hit .262 and held the Mustangs to just .075. Fourteen aces for the Ichabods, led by Stevenson who had six. The Ichabods were flawless receiving not allowing a single ace and kept up the passing with a 37 to 25 assist advantage.
Individually, Stevenson led with 13 kills while hitting .385 and added eight digs. Limback hit .500 with six kills and three assisted blocks. Corinna McMullen had 18 assists and six digs and Sydney Conner had 16 assists and collected four digs. Rylee Unruh chipped in adding six kills and 10 digs.
Midwestern State was led by Riley Rabedeaux who had 11 kills, Alayna Gurrero had 22 assists.
Set two:
Washburn its marathon second match of the day in come from behind fashion by scores of 20-25, 19-25, 25-23, 25-17 and 15-11.
Both teams split the first 14 points of the match and the Bison were able to create separation with a six point burst on miscues from the Ichabods to jump ahead 12-7. Defense and attacking errors for Washburn put them in a 24-16 hole with 12 total errors in the set. They were able to reel off four straight points with kills from three different players before falling 25-20.
Oklahoma Baptist got three straight kills to kick off the second set. After hitting just .02 in the first set the Ichabod offense improved to .175 in the second but was still trailing after falling in the initial hole. A kill by Rylee Unruh made it 18-16 but the Bison were able to six of the next seven points to take control and win the second set 25-19.
Washburn was able to avoid digging an early hole in the third set with both teams tied at six early. A kill by Jalyn Stevenson and two errors on OBU brought the Ichabods from down one to up one and they wouldn't trail the rest of the set. Each side traded four-point bursts through the middle of the set but each time the Bison tied it Washburn has an answer. Finally, Schwensen and Pridgett were able to string together consecutive kills to end the nailbiter set 25-23.
In the fourth set it was the Ichabods getting out to a fast start with a couple of kills from Limback and two aces from McMullen providing a 6-1 cushion. A service error from OBU sparked a seven-point run for Washburn with Schwensen's fingerprints all over it with two blocks and two kills in the burst.
Once the Ichabods reached set point Oklahoma Baptist won three points in a row but Limback ended things at 25-17 with a kill from the middle.
In the fifth an ace from Emma Williams put Washburn on top 6-2. The Bison recovered but the Ichabods were ahead 8-6 at the switch after a kill by Austin Broadie. OBU took four of the next five points to lead before Stevenson knocked down a kill to tie it at 10. Washburn lost the next point but wouldn't drop another with two kills from Schwensen down the stretch helping give the Ichabods a 15-11 fifth set victory.
After hitting .345 and .259 in the final two sets respectively Washburn hit .171 overall in the game with 64 kills. The Bison logged 54 kills at a .151 clip. Washburn got on the ground to log a season high 99 digs as a team and passed for 62 assists.
Schwensen knocked down a team-high 15 kills and hit .317 in the process. Pridgett had 12 and Stevenson had a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs. McMullen tied a season high with 30 assists and added 18 digs. Both setters logged double-doubles with Conner assisting on 23 kills and scooping 13 digs. Rottinghaus led WU with 26 digs and had five assists.
Jh'Kyah Head had 12 kills and five total blocks to lead the Bison and Maci Langford led all players with 32 digs.
