ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- No. 18 Washburn volleyball was knocked out of the MIAA Tournament in the quarterfinal round as the No. 3 seed Ichabods fell in three sets to the No. 6 seed Pittsburg State on Thursday afternoon inside the Civic Arena. Next up, the NCAA Selection Show will determine Washburn's postseason fate on Sunday, Nov. 15 at 9 p.m. on NCAA.com
The Gorillas (23-8, 7-5 MIAA) took the opening set 25-19 and remained consistent throughout the match, winning 25-18 in the second set and 25-20 in the third to close it out, snapping a 34-match winning streak for the Ichabods (23-7, 9-3 MIAA) in the all-time series.
The match opened with a 7-4 run for Pittsburg State to go in front, it quickly expanded to a seven-point lead after five points in a row. With the score at 20-12 Washburn battled back with four points in a row starting first with a kill by Natalie Hedlund. They pulled within three points after Morgan Sears slashed a kill but that was as close as they got as the Gorillas hit .333 as a team in the set to close it out 25-19.
In the second set the Ichabods got off to a quicker start, leading 4-2 after Sears and Hayden Meats combined for a rejection at the net. Shortly after though a run of seven straight points for Pittsburg State put them in control at 10-5. Washburn battled to stay close, putting back within three points after Brynne Topolski was able to land back-to-back kills. Another run by the six seed, this time a 6-1 run put them up by eight. The Gorillas traded points the rest of the way to win 25-18 and lead 2-0 in the match.
Pittsburg State quickly took control in the third set, building a 12-6 lead and later expanding it to seven points at 17-10. A 4-0 run from Washburn, beginning with a kill by Sydney Buscher, brought the Ichabods back within three at 19-16 but the Gorillas came right back with two points in a row. Three more times the Ichabods pulled within three points but each time Pittsburg State had an answer as they closed out the match with a 25-20 third-set victory.
Hitting over .300 in all three sets, the Gorillas finished the match hitting .333 with 42 kills. Washburn was not far behind in kills, finishing with 39, but hit just .130 in the match. Digs went 44-43 to Pittsburg State who also had a narrow 40-37 advantage in assists. Blocking was the largest advantage for the Gorillas as they led 10-3 at the net.
Brynne Topolski finished with a team-high nine kills for Washburn while Hayden Meats and Morgan Sears each had seven, Sears hit a team-best .333 in the match. Shannon Frakes led the team with 17 assists and added five digs while Taylor Rottinghaus scooped up 16 digs in the back row.
Crystal Smith led the Pittsburg State offensive attack with 17 kills on 20 swings hitting .800 in the match. Jase Wallace and Brynna Zoeller each dished out 18 assists.
