KEARNEY, Neb. -- No. 7 Washburn started hot and stayed hot Thursday morning to pull off a 3-0 sweep over No. 4 Wayne State College in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Central Regional. The Ichabods will face the No. 6 nationally ranked and No. 2 seed Concordia-St. Paul in the semifinals at 4 p.m. on Friday.
In a second straight season defeating the regions No. 3 seed as the No. 6 seed in the tournament, Washburn (27-4) won the opening set 25-16. They kept rolling to a 25-14 win in the second set before closing out the match coming from behind to win 25-22 over the Wildcats (27-5) in the third.
From point one the Ichabods led, quickly building a 5-1 lead after Keilah Rivers slashed a kill. Wayne State battled to tie the set back up at 11. Washburn responded by winning six of the next eight points, going in front 17-13 after Brynne Topolski slashed a kill. Another kill by Topolski started what would become an 8-1 run to end the first set and win 25-16.
The momentum carried over into the third set with Washburn in front 8-1 after an ace by Rivers. A 5-0 run shortly after put the lead into double-figures at 13-3. Autumn Gibbs served an ace that made it 18-7 as the Ichabods continued to roll. Brooklyn Morrissey finished off the set at 25-14 with a kill on a dish by Sydney Conner.
The Wildcats found some life early in the third, jumping out to a 7-3 lead that grew to 13-6 after four straight points. Kills by Emery Keebaugh and Austin Broadie started a 5-0 rally for the Ichabods but they were met by four points in a row back from Wayne State. Washburn trailed by as many as six more than mid-way through the set but would battle all the way back and tie things up at 20 after Keebaugh slashed another kill. From that point it was all Washburn as they finished the match on a 5-2 run with back-to-back kills by Broadie to move on.
The Ichabod offense improved efficiency in each set, finishing the match hitting .250 with 48 kills. The Wildcats were held to .085 hitting with just 31 kills to 19 errors. Digs went in favor of Washburn 79-61, and they also led 46-29 in assists.
Taylor Rottinghaus led the defensive effort scooping up 25 digs from the back row. Both Autumn Gibbs and Keilah Rivers added 15 digs while Rivers slashed nine kills hitting .348. Austin Broadie eclipsed 1,000 career kills with her team-high 13 on the day. Brooklyn Morrissey had nine kills and hit .467. Running the show both Corinna McMullen and Sydney Conner had 18 assists.
Delaney Miller led Wayne State College with 11 kills, Molly Romano had 25 assists.
