TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 15 Washburn returned home and entered back into MIAA play with a 3-0 sweep over Arkansas-Fort Smith on Friday night inside Lee Arena. The Ichabods will finish out the homestand against Northeastern State on Saturday at 2 p.m. for the first ever meeting between the two teams on the volleyball court.
Washburn (13-3, 2-1 MIAA) got in front early to take the first set 25-19 and came-from-behind to win each of the next two sets 25-22 and 25-21, completing the sweep.
The offense clicked early with the Ichabods leading 9-4 after Hayden Meats took a pass from Lauren Tyler to the floor. After the Lions (13-4, 2-2 MIAA) battled back to within two Washburn launched a 5-0 run starting with a kill from Natalie Hedlund to go up 15-8. Both sides traded points the rest of the way with the Ichabods winning 25-19.
Arkansas-Fort Smith scored the first three points in the second set and pushed the lead to four points at 9-5. Shortly after a 4-0 rally by Washburn put them back in front 11-10 after Emma Siron knocked down a kill. They stayed in front until the Lions scored three straight points to tie the set up at 21-all. After the score was knotted at 22, Meats slashed a kill that started a 3-0 run to end the set.
Just like the second set the Lions scored the first three points in the third set. This time the Ichabods quickly re-took the lead before a four-point rally from Arkansas-Fort Smith put them in front 13-10. The lead stayed in the visitors hands until Washburn scored three straight points to lead 19-17 after a kill from Siron. They would finish the match out with four straight points, kills from Meats and Brynne Topolski and an ace by Taylor Rottinghaus to close out the match.
The Ichabods finished the match hitting .287 as a team with 54 kills while holding the Lions to .179 and 32 kills in the three sets. Digs went 69-51 in favor of the home team as did assists, 50-31.
Hayden Meats led the way offensively with 15 kills while hitting .519. Brynne Topolski had 14 kills and hit .542 while Natalie Hedlund added 11 kills. Taylor Rottinghaus scooped up 23 digs from the back row and served a pair of aces. Shannon Frakes and Lauren Tyler split the setting duties with 21 assists each while Tyler scooped 10 digs for a double-double.
Lydia Pitts landed a team-high 11 kills for Arkansas-Fort Smith.
