TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn completed an undefeated home-opening weekend with a sweep of Newman on Friday night in Topeka. The Ichabods finish off the three match homestand next Tuesday at 6 p.m. against Emporia State.
All three sets went Washburn's (11-3, 2-2 MIAA) way by double-digits beginning with 25-12 in the first, 25-14 in the second and 25-10 to finish out the match.
The first four points of the match all went to the home squad with two each coming from Jalyn Stevenson and Brynne Topolski. The lead grew to double figures as part of a 5-0 run that was finished off by a kill from Austin Broadie on a pass from Sydney Conner. The Ichabods were able to trade points the rest of the way for an 11-point win in the first set.
After the Jets (3-14, 0-3 MIAA) won the opening point of the second set the next four went to Washburn starting with a block from Topolski and Alex Dvorak. A 6-0 run beginning with a kill by Bella Limback made it a 11-4 score. The Ichabods hit .417 as a team in the set, putting it out of reach with seven straight points after an ace by Taryn Marcum. Newman won three in a row before Washburn finished out the 25-14 victory.
In the third set the Jets trailed by just one at 6-5 early on before the Ichabods went off on an 11-0 run which included three aces by Shannon Frakes. The Washburn defense tightened as the match went on holding Newman to a -.037 hitting percentage as a team in the third set. Kills by Heather Schemper and Abby Leaf finished off the sweep.
The Ichabods hit .337 as a team, their second highest mark of the season, with 43 kills and just 10 errors. On the other end, the Jets were held to a .043 hitting percentage, a season-low for Washburn opponents, and had 22 kills with 18 errors. The home squad led in assists 40-21 and digs, 49-35. They also served eight aces in the match while not relinquishing any.
Fifteen players got in the kill column for Washburn led by Brynne Topolski with seven. Bella Limback went 6-6 on her attacks for six kills. Taylor Rottinghaus led with 15 digs and Corinna McMullen passed out 16 assists.
Ozioma Ajekwu had 10 kills to lead Newman while Natalie Trigo hauled in 13 digs for the Jets.
