By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
CLEVELAND, Tenn. – No. 2 Washburn volleyball wrapped up its non-conference tournament schedule and moved to 8-0 on the season with wins over Saint Leo and Trevecca Nazarene on Saturday at the Lee Invitational.
Halle Meister had a big day for Washburn in the Lee Invitational on Saturday, helping the Ichabods improve to 8-0 on the season. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods took a 25-8, 21-25, 25-19, 25-16 win over Saint Leo and a 25-20, 25-20, 25-21 win over Trevecca Nazarene to complete their tournament appearance.
It was all Washburn in the opening set against Saint Leo as the Ichabods led start to finish. Washburn closed out the set with four straight points, including three kills from three different Ichabods.
The Washburn offense hit .481 with 14 kills while the Lions had six kills and six attacking errors in the frame.
It was a different story in the second set as the Lions found their groove offensively and benefitted from Ichabod miscues.
Washburn led 3-2 before Saint Leo (4-3) put together a 10-3 run to go in front, 12-6.
Trailing 14-9, Halle Meister knocked down a kill for WU to spark a 5-0 rally to knot up the score.
The Lions continued to attack and captured eight of their final 11 points by way of kills and evened the match at one game apiece with a 25-21 victory.
In the third set, Saint Leo led 7-4 when Bella Limback's kill started a 5-1 stretch for the Ichabods to put them on top, 9-8.
The Lions scored the next point before Washburn broke the tie with six unanswered points to go up, 15-9, and held on to the lead for the rest of the set.
Meister hammered down her fifth kill of the set to finish off the 25-19 win. The Ichabods knocked down 18 kills in the set compared to the Lions' eight.
It was a battle early again to start the fourth as Saint Leo held an 8-6 advantage when Washburn put together a run of four kills from three different Ichabods and a service ace by Jalyn Stevenson to take its first lead of the set at 11-8.
The Lions pulled within one at 11-10 and 12-11 but that would be as close as they would get as the Ichabods extended their lead and won the match-clinching game, 25-16.
The Ichabods finished the match hitting .343 and the Lions had a .246 hitting percentage.
Washburn led in kills, 61-42, and landed 14 service aces, which was 10 more than Saint Leo. The Lions had the advantage in blocks, 7-3.
Three Ichabods finished in double-figure kills, led by Meister's career-high 16 while hitting an impressive .565.
Kassidy Pfeiffer was also efficient on the attack and achieved a career-best 12 kills on 19 swings and zero errors for a scorching .632 hitting percentage.
Freshman Limback made the start and had her first double-digit kill match with 10 and hit .364.
The McMullen sister duo recorded 10 of Washburn's 14 service aces as they landed five apiece. Sophie McMullen led the team with 25 digs and Corinna McMullen dished out 27 assists.
The Lions also had three players with 10 or more kills with Ally-Reese Williams and Elizabeth Sandoval leading the way with 11 kills each.
The Ichabods never trailed in the first set against Trevecca Nazarene and jumped out to a quick 5-2 advantage.
The Trojans got within one at 8-7 when Meister knocked down a kill and Stevenson followed with three kills in a row to push the Washburn lead to 12-7.
Washburn extended its lead to 21-13 after a 5-0 run that saw four kills from three different Ichabods and an ace by Sydney Pullen.
The Trojans trimmed the deficit down to three points at 23-20, but the Ichabods held on and won the opening frame, 25-20.
Washburn got out to another early lead in the second set and was up 10-5 when Trevecca Nazarene (5-3) picked up the next five points to tie the score.
A kill from Meister ended the Trojans' run and started a 6-2 scoring stretch for the Ichabods to put them back in front, 16-12.
TNU battled back and trailed by one point at 19-18 and 20-19, but WU was able to keep the Trojans at bay and close out another 25-20 set with three consecutive kills from Meister, Pfeiffer, and Stevenson.
After the Ichabods scored the first two points of the third set, the teams went back and forth to keep it a one or two-point Washburn lead until the Trojans were able to have the first 3-0 run of the game and jockey in front, 9-8.
Samantha Moburg laid down a kill and the Ichabods won five of the next six points to reclaim the lead at 14-10.
The Trojans fought back and used a 5-1 stint to make it a one point affair, 18-17.
The teams traded points again for the next seven points in a row to keep Washburn's lead within two or fewer until a TNU attacking error was followed by kills from Pfeiffer and Kealy Kiviniemi to create some space and put WU at match point, 24-20. The Trojans recorded one last point before Kiviniemi sealed the set and match with another kill.
Washburn completed the match hitting .336 and Trevecca Nazarene hit .275. The Ichabods led in kills (47-38) and digs (49-45) while the Trojans had the advantage in blocks (6-4) and service aces (9-6).
Stevenson achieved a .433 hitting percentage and landed a team-high 14 kills. Meister was right behind with 13 kills and finished her second consecutive match above .500 as she notched a .524 attacking percentage.
At setter, C. McMullen had 23 assists and Sydney Conner had 15.
In the backcourt defensively, Pullen had 12 digs and S. McMullen was credited with 10.
Emma Grace Rosson led the Trojans, hitting .500 with 12 kills.
The Ichabods will return to Topeka to begin MIAA play on Friday against Fort Hays State.
