By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- No. 6 Washburn University volleyball opened the Sioux Falls Classic with a 3-0 sweep over Black Hills State on Thursday afternoon.
Junior Emma Siron (left) led Washburn with 15 kills in Thursday's 3-0 sweep over Black Hills State. [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods return to action with two matches on Friday, taking on Upper Iowa at 10 a.m. and Sioux Falls at 7 p.m. on Day 2 of the tournament.
Washburn (5-0) was relentless on the offensive end, winning 25-14 in the opening set before closing out the match with 25-21 and 25-13 sets to take down the Yellow Jackets (2-3).
Early on in the first set the Ichabods doubled up Black Hills State 8-4 after a kill by Brooklyn Morrisey.
Throughout the middle of the set Washburn went on a 7-2 run, pushing the lead to 19-12.
The Ichabods offense churned out a .447 hitting percentage as a team in the first set as they cruised to a 25-14 win.
The Yellow Jackets responded with a 7-4 start to the second set.
Washburn re-took the lead on kills by Emma Siron and Brynne Topolski to lead 9-8. After the lead traded hands twice more it was Siron and Topolski that took over down the stretch, scoring the final four points of the set as part of a 4-1 run to end the set 25-21 and put the Ichabods up 2-0 in the match.
Washburn jumped in front of Black Hills State early in the third set, leading 14-7 after a 4-0 run and kill by Siron.
The Ichabods continued to pile on offensively, growing the lead to double-digits after Shannon Frakes set up Kennedy Derk for a kill that sparked a 5-0 burst. The Ichabods finished the set hitting .400 as a team to win 25-13.
For the match Washburn also hit an even .400 with 53 kills to just seven errors. On the other side of the net the Yellow Jackets hit .163 with 30 kills.
The Ichabods doubled the assist tally of Black Hills state at 48-24 while also leading 47-40 in digs.
Siron led the offensive charge with 15 kills while hitting .483 and adding six digs with three aces. Topolski and Morrisey each had nine kills with Morrissey hitting .615.
Frakes tallied 39 assists and nine digs while Taylor Rottinghaus returned from a two-match absence to scoop a team-high 16 digs.
Izzy Saiki led Black Hills State with eight kill and had three digs.
