ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- No. 2 Washburn had its eight-match winning streak snapped on Friday night in a 3-2 road loss to No. 23 Missouri Western. The Ichabods will look to bounce back on Saturday in Maryville, Mo. Against Northwest Missouri with first serve set for 3 p.m.
The match marked the first time in conference play that Washburn (20-2, 9-2 MIAA) played five sets. After the Griffons (17-5, 9-2 MIAA) took the first set 25-21 it snapped a 24 set winning streak for the Ichabods going back to the Sept. 27 meeting with Missouri Western, which has handed Washburn both its losses this season. Set two went in the Ichabods favor, 25-19, with the next two split each way 13-25 and 25-17. The decisive fifth set was won by Missouri Western 15-12 to take the match.
The first set was taken control of by the Griffons as they went on a 6-1 run to lead 9-6. Washburn battled back, tying the match at 13 on a kill by Keilah Rivers and going ahead briefly at 15-14. Another 6-1 burst by Missouri Western pushed them in front 22-18 as the Ichabods were unable to overcome the late deficit, falling 25-21.
In the second Washburn got out to an early 6-3 lead capped off by a Sydney Conner ace. Both teams traded 5-0 runs in the middle of the set, ending with a 15-13 Ichabod lead on an Austin Broadie kill. Washburn finished the set with three straight points and the final two coming on aces by Bella Limback to even up the match with a 25-19 win.
Missouri Western responded quickly, leading 13-4 in the third after an 8-0 rally. The Ichabods won four points in a row, two coming on kills by Layla Collins, before the Griffons went on another 8-0 run pushing the lead into double figures. They would go on to take the set 25-13.
After an 8-8 tie Washburn won four straight in the fourth, starting and ending with kills from Brynne Topolski to go in front 12-8. They held the lead between 2-5 points until going on a late 5-0 run to go up 24-16 after another kill by Topolski. Keilah Rivers finished off the set with a kill to win 25-17 while the Ichabod defense held the Griffons to just a .071 hitting percentage.
Washburn took the first two points of the fifth set but quickly fell behind 4-3. The lead grew to three points after the switch but the Ichabods battled back, winning three in a row to tie the set at 11. After a 12-12 tie the final three points went to Missouri Western as they took the match 15-12 hitting over .400 in the final set.
On the day the Ichabods hit .163 as a team with 57 kills while the Griffons hit .208 with 58 kills. Washburn held a 82-81 advantage in digs while assists were exactly even at 55 for each team.
Brynne Topolski and Austin Broadie led the team offensively with 12 kills each. Corinna McMullen posted 23 assists with 10 digs while Taylor Rottinghaus scooped up 27 digs.
Taylor Russell paced Missouri Western with 12 kills and Anna Weberg made 31 digs.
