Washburn celebrates a kill from Allison Maxwell during Friday's five-set loss to Northwest Missouri in the MIAA Spring Tournament. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University put itself in position to advance to the MIAA Spring Volleyball Tournament semifinals, but the Ichabods were unable to close things out Friday at Lee Arena, dropping a five-set heartbreaker to Northwest Missouri State .
After dropping a 25-20 first-set decision to the Bearcats, Washburn bounced back to take the next two sets, 26-24 and 28-26, and led 9-5, 12-8, 18-15 and 19-17 in the fourth set before Northwest took control down the stretch for a 25-22 victory.
That set up a fifth and final set and the Bearcats never trailed en route to a 15-12 victory that earned 13-2 Northwest a berth in an 11 a.m. semifinal Saturday against Central Missouri while Washburn finished its season 13-5.
Washburn coach Chris Herron said the Ichabods' inability to close out the fourth set was the difference-maker.
"When it was 18-15, (Northwest) called a time out and I told (the girls), 'We can't let them go on a run,' and the first thing we did was make an error,'' Herron said. "Then they went on a run. So then we had to call timeouts and when it goes from 18-15 us to (22-20) them, we started walking on eggshells and we played not to lose.
"If you play not to lose against a good team, you're not going to win.''
Northwest seized the momentum in the fifth set when it went up 3-0. Then, after Washburn came back to force a 3-3 tie, the Bearcats scored the next 2 points and went on to lead 9-5 and 14-10 before closing out the match.
"You've got to be able to string runs together and we didn't get any runs,'' Herron said. "We started out the game with a missed serve and that really kinds of set the tone.''
The Ichabods took 5-1 and 14-10 leads in the opening set, but Northwest took the lead for good at 18-17 and close out the 25-20 win on a kill from Bethany Elkins.
WU trailed as late as 20-19 in the second set and there were ties at 23 and 24 before the Ichabods closed out the set with kills from Allison Maxwell and Genna Berg.
Washburn's Genna Berg spikes the ball during Friday's MIAA Tournament match against Northwest Missouri. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Northwest led 24-23 in the third set and there were ties at 24, 25 and 26 before Washburn pulled out the win on a pair of Berg kills.
Washburn's Allison Sadler (12) sets the ball during Friday's MIAA Spring Volleyball Tournament match against Northwest Missouri. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods took a 20-19 lead late in the fourth set on a kill from Kelsey Gordon, but Northwet took the lead to stay with 3 straight points.
Apart from the 3-point rally to tie the set at 3-3, Washburn never could get much going in the decisive fifth set.
The tournament semifinals are scheduled for 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday, followed by the championship match at 4 o'clock.
NORTHWEST MISSOURI 3, WASHBURN 2
Northwest Missouri def. Washburn, 25-20, 24-26, 26-28, 25-22, 15-12.
