By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
KEARNEY, Neb. – No. 2 ranked Washburn University volleyball wrapped up its season-opening weekend with a perfect 4-0 record as the Ichabods added a 3-0 win over Midwestern State and a 3-1 victory over Sioux Falls on Saturday's final day at the University Nebraska-Kearney Fall Classic. Washburn will play one last non-conference tournament next weekend in Cleveland, Tenn. hosted by Lee University, Sept. 2-3.
The Ichabods swept Midwestern State, 25-14, 25-13, 25-22, and took a 19-25, 25-16, 25-20, 25-11 victory over Sioux Falls.
Jalyn Stevenson
Kealy Kiviniemi
Midwestern State (0-3) scored the opening point of the match, but that would be its only lead of the first set as Washburn quickly jumped in front, 11-5. The Ichabods claimed six of the final seven points in the 25-14 win and Kealy Kiviniemi had three kills during that stretch.
Similar to the first set, the Mustangs got the first point and led 3-2 in the second set when the Ichabods benefited from four consecutive errors to go in front, 6-3. Midwestern State pulled within a point after a pair of Washburn errors, but the Ichabods got back on track and created some space with a 7-2 run that included two blocks, three kills, all from different players, and two service aces.
With the Ichabods holding an 18-12 advantage, Halle Meister landed a kill to start a 7-1 run to secure the second-set victory.
MSU also got the first point of the third set and jumped out to a 4-1 lead.
Bella Limback recorded a kill and the Ichabods scored five unanswered points to take their first lead of the game, 6-4.
The Mustangs continued to fight back and took the lead at 8-7, 10-9 and 13-11 before Washburn reclaimed the lead with a 5-1 run and never trailed again.
Midwestern State attempted to spoil the sweep and pulled within two at 24-22, but Meister closed out the shutout victory with her sixth kill of the match.
The Ichabods finished the morning match hitting .215 while the Mustangs had an .033 attacking percentage. Washburn led in kills (39-30), digs (57-44), blocks (9-5), and service aces (5-0).
Jalyn Stevenson turned in an all-around effort as she led the offense with 10 kills while hitting .368 and was one dig shy of a double-double. She also contributed two service aces, two assists, and two block assists.
Kiviniemi knocked down eight kills and had no errors for a .444 attacking percentage. Meister hit .417 and made a couple solo blocks. Corinna McMullen had a team-high 18 assists and Sydney Conner had 13 assists and six digs.
In the backcourt, Sydney Pullen had 16 digs and Sophie McMullen finished with 12. She also had two service aces. At the net, Kassidy Pfeiffer was a part of a career-high five blocks and also landed a personal-best three kills.
Aaliyah Burras paced the Mustangs with eight kills.
Washburn led 3-2 to begin the match when Sioux Falls (1-3) rattled off five points in a row to take a lead it would maintain for the rest of the game and hand the Ichabods their first set loss of the young season with a 25-19 decision.
Washburn captured the first two points of the second set before back-and-forth scoring ensued to keep the score within two or fewer points.
The Cougars went on a 3-0 mini run to take their first lead of the frame, 6-5, when a kill from Stevenson sparked a 5-0 run to push Washburn back in front, 10-6.
Sioux Falls fought back and leveled the score at 12 and 13 before the Ichabods pulled away by scoring 12 of the final 15 points for the 25-16 win to even the match at one set apiece.
The Cougars led 5-1 and then 10-4 to start the third set, forcing two early Ichabod timeouts.
The Ichabods found their rhythm again and put together a 7-0 tear to take an 11-10 advantage.
Stevenson recorded three aces during that stint. The Cougars went back in front, 13-12, but it was short-lived as Samantha Moburg knocked down a kill to start a 7-2 rally to push Washburn's lead to 19-15. USF trimmed the deficit to two on a couple of occasions, with the final push occurring at 21-19, but the Ichabods won four of the next five points to take a 2-1 lead in the contest.
It was all Washburn in the final set of the day.
Kiviniemi broke the early 1-1 tie with a kill and the Ichabods went on a 7-1 run. Holding an 11-5 lead, Washburn went on another 7-1 rally to push its lead to double-figures, 18-6 on the way to the 25-11 fourth-set victory to seal the 3-1 win.
The Ichabods recorded 51 kills in the match and finished with a .181 hitting percentage while the Cougars had 10 fewer kills and hit .142. Washburn led in blocks, 6-4, and in aces, 13-3.
Stevenson led the Washburn offense for the third straight match and had 15 kills, eight digs, was a part of three blocks and made one solo stop, and landed a career-best five service aces.
Meister hit .417 on the afternoon and notched a career-high 13 kills. Moburg added eight kills.
At setter, C. McMullen handed out 24 assists and Conner had 15. The duo also combined for 14 digs and had two service aces each. Pullen recorded a personal-best 22 digs. S. McMullen contributed four aces, five digs, and two kills.
Two Sioux Falls players landed double-figure kills as Grace Hanel and Sadie Voss had 14 and 10, respectively.
Washburn will play one last non-conference tournament next Friday and Saturday in Cleveland, Tenn. hosted by Lee University.
