MARYVILLE, Missouri - The No. 3-ranked Washburn Ichabods took advantage of late surges in each set to propel the visitors to a 3-0 win over the No. 19-ranked Northwest Missouri State University volleyball team on Friday at Bearcat Arena.
The three-set match featured 36 ties and 18 lead changes. The third set alone had 17 ties and seven lead changes. Washburn won by set scores of 25-20, 25-15 and 27-25. The Ichabods move to 25-2 overall and 17-2 in MIAA play, while Northwest drops to 19-8 overall and 12-7 in league action.
Washburn posted a four-point lead at 8-4 and kept the margin at four when it took a 12-8 advantage. Northwest used 6-1 run to take a 14-13 lead. Following a 15-15 tie, Washburn scored three straight points to force a Northwest timeout. The Ichabod lead did not dip below two points the rest of the set and the visitors claimed a 25-20 opening set win. Washburn hit .244 with 19 kills, while Northwest hit .171 with 10 kills. Washburn sided out at 60%, while Northwest sided out at a 48% clip in the first set.
The second set had 13 ties and seven lead changes. However, only one of those lead changes occurred after a 15-15 when the Ichabods churned out 10 straight points to win the set, 25-15. Washburn hit .238 with 14 kills and only four attack errors. Northwest was held to nine kills and hit .053 with seven attack errors. Washburn sided out at 68%, while Northwest sided out at 41% in the second.
The Bearcats came out strong in the third set and built a 10-7 lead before the Ichabods were forced to burn a timeout. Washburn eventually took a 17-15 lead of its own, which forced Bearcat head coach Amy Woerth to use her first timeout of the set. The Bearcats responded out of the timeout and took a 20-19 lead. Washburn head coach Chris Herron took his second timeout of the set as the Bearcats held a late advantage. The Ichabods returned the favor with a three-point run to take a 22-20 lead and have the Bearcats use their final timeout of the set. Northwest trailed 23-22 and then got a kill from Bethany Elkins and an attack error by Washburn's Kelsey Gordon to give the Bearcats a set point. Gordon got a kill of her own to even the set at 24-24. Elkins tallied a solo block to give Northwest its second set point, but Gordon came back with another kill to level the set at 25-25. The Ichabods used a combo block from Allison Maxwell and Allison Sadler to give Washburn its first match point. The Ichabods took advantage of the opening and closed out the three-set win with an Erica Montgomery kill.
Northwest will honor its four seniors (Genny Cruz, Briley Downing, Maggie Murphy and Jordyn Musselman) prior to Saturday night's match vs. Emporia State. First serve against Emporia State is slated for 6 p.m. in Bearcat Arena.
NOTES: Morgan Lewis led Northwest with 11 kills, while hitting .400 ... Maddy Ahrens notched 24 assists and went over the 1,000-assist mark this season ... Ahrens has accumulated 1,015 assists in 2019 ... Ahrens was credited with a match-high five blocks ... Hallie Sidney registered a team-best 14 digs.
--- Northwest Athletics ---