By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 6 seed Washburn started hot and stayed hot Thursday morning to pull off a 3-0 sweep over No. 3 seed Wayne State College in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Central Regional in Kearney, Neb.
No. 6 seed Washburn advanced to the second round of the NCAA volleyball tournament with a 3-0 sweep over No. 3 seed Wayne State. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods will face No. 2 seed Concordia-St. Paul in the regional semifinals at 4 p.m. on Friday.
Friday marked the second straight season that Washburn defeated the region's No. 3 seed as the No. 6 seed in the tournament.
Washburn (27-4) won the opening set, 25-16. The Ichabods kept rolling in a 25-14 second-set win before closing out the match with a come-from-behind 25-22 win over the Wildcats (27-5).
From point one the Ichabods led, quickly building a 5-1 lead after Keilah Rivers slashed a kill. Wayne State battled to tie the set at 11, but Washburn responded by winning six of the next eight points to go in front 17-13 after a Brynne Topolski kill. Another kill by Topolski started what would become an 8-1 run to end the first set.
The momentum carried over into the second set with Washburn in front 8-1 after an ace by Rivers. A 5-0 run shortly after put the lead into double-figures at 13-3. Autumn Gibbs served an ace that made it 18-7 as the Ichabods continued to roll. Brooklyn Morrisey finished off the set at 25-14 with a kill on a dish by Sydney Conner.
The Wildcats found some life early in the third set, jumping out to a 7-3 lead that grew to 13-6 after four straight points. Kills by Emery Keebaugh and Austin Broadie started a 5-0 rally for the Ichabods but the Ichabods were met by four points in a row from Wayne State.
Washburn trailed by as many as six more than midway through the set but would battle all the way back and tie things up at 20 after Keebaugh slashed another kill. From that point it was all Washburn as they finished the match on a 5-2 run with back-to-back kills by Broadie to move on.
The Ichabod offense improved efficiency in each set, finishing the match hitting .250 with 48 kills. The Wildcats were held to .085 hitting with just 31 kills to 19 errors. Digs went in favor of Washburn 79-61, and they also led 46-29 in assists.
Taylor Rottinghaus led the WU defensive effort, scooping up 25 digs from the back row. Both Gibbs and Rivers added 15 digs while Rivers slashed nine kills hitting .348.
Broadie eclipsed 1,000 career kills with her team-high 13 on the day. Morrisey had nine kills and hit .467. Running the show, both Corinna McMullen and Conner had 18 assists.
Delaney Miller led Wayne Statewith 11 kills, while Molly Romano had 25 assists.
