By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 20 Washburn University's volleyball team captured the program's first-ever MIAA Tournament title on Saturday evening in St. Joseph, Mo., defeating the No. 2 seed and No. 12-ranked Nebraska-Kearney in four sets.
No. 5 seed Washburn volleyball hoists the MIAA Tournament championship trophy after topping Nebraska-Kearney 3-1 in Saturday night's championship match. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn volleyball poses for a team picture after winning its first MIAA Tournament championship Saturday night in St. Joseph, Mo. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
With the victory, Washburn earned an automatic bid to compete in its 17th NCAA Tournament, which will take place Nov. 17-19.
The complete postseason bracket of location and seeding will be announced Sunday evening at 9:30 p.m. Topeka time on ncaa.com.
Washburn, the MIAA Tournament's No. 5 seed, topped Nebraska-Kearney by the set scores of 25-18, 19-25, 25-22, 25-20 and moved to 24-7 on the year. Nebraska-Kearney is now 28-5 on the season, with three of the Lopers' losses coming against Washburn.
Additionally, the Ichabods have now won five straight matches against Nebraska-Kearney.
At the conclusion of the match, the Ichabod quartet of Jalyn Stevenson, Halle Meister, Sydney Pullen and Kealy Kiviniemi were selected to the All-Tournament team.
In the opening set of Saturday's championship match, the Ichabods trailed 11-8 when they scored eight of the next nine points to jump in front, 16-12.
The Lopers pulled within three at 18-15, but a kill from Ella Waters started a 3-0 mini-run to create some breathing room.
Washburn maintained its lead and Pullen capped off the 25-18 first-set win with a service ace.
Hitters Austin Broadie and Stevenson recorded six kills each in the first set.
After Washburn won the first two points of the second set on UNK errors, the Lopers scored six consecutive points to take the lead.
Midway through the set, Washburn landed three kills in a row to make it a one-point game, 17-16, and force a Nebraska-Kearney timeout.
The Lopers responded with a 3-0 run of their own and eventually evened up the match by scoring five of the final seven points.
After the Lopers scored the first three points of the third set, the Ichabods slowly chipped away at the deficit and tied the game at seven and eight before going on a 5-1 run to jockey in front, 13-11.
Nebraska-Kearney fought back and reclaimed the lead at 19-16 after a 6-1 burst.
Trailing 22-19, the Ichabods benefitted from four errors by the Lopers and rallied with six straight points to come back and win the set, 25-22, and take a 2-1 advantage.
Nebraska-Kearney started the fourth set with a block, but that would be its only lead of the set as Washburn took a 4-2 lead after back-to-back kills from Broadie. The Lopers tied the game at 4-all and stayed within two or fewer points until a kill from Kassidy Pfeiffer started a 5-1 spurt and pushed the Ichabod lead to 12-7.
The Lopers made a late run and landed three consecutive kills to make it a 23-19 set, but a kill from Stevenson made it set point.
Nebraska-Kearney would get one more point on the night before the match ended on a Loper blocking error.
The Ichabods finished the match with a .260 attacking percentage and held the Lopers to hitting .181. WU led in kills, 65-54, and had one more dig, 85-84.
Both teams recorded two aces and 11 blocks.
Broadie, a redshirt freshman, led Washburn offensively as she knocked down a season-high 18 kills for a .359 hitting percentage.
Stevenson was close behind with 17 kills and a .326 attacking percentage and achieved her 14th double-double of the fall as she also scooped up 18 digs.
Meister contributed nine kills and had a match-high eight block assists.
Corinna McMullen recorded 33 assists and had eight digs. Sydney Conner notched 20 assists and landed a service ace.
Pullen led the team with 19 digs and Sophie McMullen had 15 digs.
Emersen Cyza led a trio of Lopers in double-figure kills with 18.
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