MARYVILLE, Mo. -- Washburn opened conference play on Friday night with a 3-2 loss on the road to Northwest Missouri State in a match that lasted more than 150 minutes. The Ichabods finish out the road trip against Missouri Western on Saturday at 6 p.m.  

After taking the first set 25-18, Washburn (9-2, 0-1 MIAA) fell to the Bearcats (7-4, 1-0 MIAA) in each of the next two sets 28-26 and 25-19. They forced a fifth set with a 25-19 victory but came up short falling 15-12 in the fifth. Both losses for Washburn this year have come in the fifth set.  

Early on the Ichabods used a 6-0 run sparked by a kill from Jalyn Stevenson to take an 8-2 lead. A 4-0 burst shortly after made the score 13-6. Washburn registered 16 kills while hitting .273 in the set and down the stretch it was the offense that led the way with a kill by Austin Broadie and an ace from Corinna McMullen finishing out the first set.  

The Ichabods went up 3-0 in the third set after a kill by Stevenson from McMullen. Both offenses were rolling in the second set with both teams hitting over .300 in the frame with only five combined errors. Within the first 18 points of the set there were seven ties. Washburn created some space with three kills from Brynne Topolski, Natalie Hedlund and Broadie to go up 16-13. Northwest Missouri won three straight to tie it back up at 18. After the Ichabods had set point at 24-23 the Bearcats responded to tie it, and again after Washburn went up by one two more times. The third time began a 3-0 set-winning burst for Northwest Missouri.  

The third set began much like the second, with six ties within the first 20 points of the set. The Bearcats rattled off four in a row to go up 13-10. Topolski slashed a kill to pull within two but that was as close as Washburn would get in the set as Northwest Missouri went on a 5-0 run to go up by seven. A late 3-0 run for the Ichabods was stifled and the Bearcats took a 2-1 lead in the match.  

In the fourth set Washburn carried the momentum over, jumping out to a 6-2 lead after Hedlund made a solo block in the middle. Northwest Missouri came back to tie the set at eight before the Ichabods used a service error to spark a 7-1 run and go up 15-9. Both sides traded points through the middle of the set until Washburn won three in a row with a block from Topolski and Bella Limback in the middle of the run. The Ichabods held on from there with the defense holding the Bearcats to a .128 hitting percentage in the set to lead the way.  

Northwest Missouri held an early lead in the fifth but Washburn battled back to tie the set at six after a solo block from Alex Dvorak. Five of the next six points went to the home team as they went up 11-7. The Ichabods pulled within one point at 13-12 after Hedlund and Topolski knocked down kills but the Bearcats responded with two straight to finish the match.  

Washburn tallied 70 kills while hitting .257 in the match. Northwest Missouri had 82 kills but logged 23 errors, ten more than the Ichabods, for a .254 percentage. The Bearcats had a 65-61 advantage in assists and led 95-85 in digs.  

Brynne Topolski had a career-high 22 kills while hitting .524 and adding nine digs for Washburn. Austin Broadie had 15 kills and hit .412 and Natalie Hedlund added 12 kills. Corinna McMullen tallied 33 assists and Taylor Rottinghaus paced the team with 24 digs. Both Jalyn Stevenson and Sydney Conner had double-doubles in the match. 

Four players finished with double-digit kills for the Bearcats led by 25 from Abby Brunssen while hitting .440. Payton Kirchhoefer had 21 while Ella Caffery had a match-high 49 assists.