ST. LOUIS, Mo. – No. 10 Washburn Volleyball shook off an upset-minded Maryville Saints squad to push its winning streak to six games on Tuesday, Oct. 27, picking up 3-2 (24-26, 25-16, 25-14, 20-25, 15-9) victory to close out its non-conference regular season schedule.
WU (23-2) outhit the Saints (10-14), 68 kills to 55, and had 11.5 blocks as a team (its third highest tally of the season). Four Ichabods recorded double-doubles while three reached double-digits in kills.
Korie Thompson and
Sarah Vicory tied for the team-lead with 16 kills, as Thompson added 17 digs for her second double-double of the season.
Leanna Willer finished with 11 kills to go with 27 digs (her second consecutive 20-dig effort) for a double-double, while
Jordan Hoffman (nine kills) just missed double-digits.
Liz Powell (31 assists, 11 digs) and
Natalie Bates (25 assists, 11 digs) each had double-doubles while sharing time at setter.
In the back row,
Alyssa Carney recorded her second 30-plus dig effort of the season, leading the Icahbods defense with 30.
Carley Swan had six blocks, just ahead of
Taylor Selk (five blocks), who also added eighth kills.
Trailing 7-6 in the first set, Washburn rolled out to a 13-8, with five unanswered to close a 7-1 run. WU kept a solid advantage until 19-15, when MU climbed back to tie it at 21-all. The Ichabods moved to within two of set point (23-21), but again saw the Saints recover with three-straight before taking the set in a win-by-two format, 26-24.
WU fell behind, 5-1 early in the first taking a 12-7 lead thanks to a 11-2 run (that ended with six straight). WU maintained the lead the rest of the way, allowing the Saints within three just three more times the rest of the way. At 18-15, three
Sarah Vicory kills and a MU attack error were part of a four-point run that started Washburn's final push to a 25-16 set two win.
Washburn never trailed in the third set, building an 11-4 lead in the early going thanks to runs of three and five unanswered. MU climbed back to within five (15-10) just once more before a kill from
Carley Swan started a 5-0 run for Washburn that brought the lead to 10 (20-10). The teams finished the set with back and forth play on the way to a 25-14 score that gave WU a 2-1 lead in the match.
It was Maryville's turn to lead throughout the fourth set, tying at it at two games apiece with a 25-20 victory. WU trailed by as many as eight (22-14) in the frame, and though they battled back to within four (22-18) thanks to a four-point rally, the Saints hung on to force a decisive fifth set.
In the fifth, Washburn built a 4-3 lead before the Saints answered with three straight, forcing an Ichabod timeout at 6-4. From there, Washburn responded with a 4-0 run of its own to take the lead for good. Ahead 8-7, Leanna's Willer's 11th kill of the night started a 5-0 breakaway run for Washburn that sent them towards a 15-9 win, sealing the match.
Washburn returns to MIAA play this weekend with rematches at Northwest Missouri and Missouri Western. The Ichabods take on the Bearcats on Friday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m., before closing the weekend in St. Joseph, Mo., on Saturday, Oct. 31, in a 6 p.m., Halloween matchup.