By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The mantra for Washburn University's volleyball team all season has been one at a time.
After Friday's 3-1 national semifinal win over No. 2 seed Western Washington, it's down to one more.
The third-seeded Ichabods earned their first-ever shot at a national championship with a 25-23, 25-21, 27-29, 25-11 win over the No. 2 seeded Vikings and will now face the winner of Friday's second semifinal between top seed Tampa and No. 5 Gannon Saturday at Tampa's Bob Martinez Athletics Center.
"I think what it amounts to is we stay true to ourselves,'' senior Kelsey Gordon, an Emporia native, said of Washburn's postseason run. "We stay true to our teammates, we stay true to what Washburn is and we try to play the best match possible within outselves.
"We rely on our teammates, we rely on our bench, we rely on the coaches to give us a good game plan and we just want to go out and play good, fun volleyball.''
Washburn's volleyball team celebrates during its 3-1 NCAA semifinal win Friday in Tampa, Fla. [Photo courtesy of Joy Smith/Washburn Athletics]
Washburn, now 31-5, set the stage for the semifinal when it took a tight two-point win in the first set.
The Ichabods took a 20-17 lead on an ace from senior Faith Rottinghaus and then went in front 22-19 on a kill from freshman Jalyn Stevenson.
Western Washington got within a point at 22-21, 23-22 and 24-23 before Sydney Fitzgibbons ended the set with a kill.
Washburn jumped out in front 13-5 and 22-9 in the second set but had to sweat out a Western Washington rally before holding on for the four-point win.
The Ichabods fought back from 23-20 and 24-21 deficits in the third set to put themselves in position for a sweep, but the Vikings survived three match points to force a fourth set with a 29-27 win.
Washburn left no doubt in the fourth set, however, going in front 19-8 on the way to a dominating 25-11 victory.
"They fought,'' senior Allison Maxwell said of the Vikings. "They definitely gave us a run for our money and I think that does help prepare us, especially mentally, for the match (Saturday).
"We are mentally tougher now. We know we can come back from a little setback.''
The Ichabods spread the wealth in the win, with four WU players finishing with between 11 and 15 kills on the day.
Washburn senior Kelsey Gordon delivers a kill in the Ichabods' 3-1 win over Western Washington on Friday in Tampa, Fla. [Photo courtesy of Joy Smith/Washburn Athletics]
Maxwell led the way with 15 kills, followed by Gordon with 14, senior Genna Berg with 12 kills and Stevenson with 11.
Senior Allison Sadler was rock solid as the Ichabods' setter, finishing with 50 assists, while Rottinghaus compiled 26 digs from her libero position.
Taylor Antonowich had four service aces in the match while Berg had three assists.
Now the Ichabods take aim on history after after reaching the semifinals in two previous national tournaments.
"We're going to go into it obviously with the mindset that whoever we play we're going to beat them,'' Washburn coach Chris Herron said. "Both of those teams are outstanding from what we saw yesterday and so it should be a heck of a match.''
MATCH RESULTS
Washburn def. Western Washington, 25-23, 25-21, 27-29, 25-11.
