October 24, 2017-In a match that saw 20 ties and 11 lead changes, Washburn was able to pull out a 25-20, 25-22, 25-22 victory over Emporia State on Tuesday night's Turnpike Tussle in Topeka, Kan.
Emporia State scored the first three points of the match, getting two kills from Karly Patton, and led 6-3 to open play. With the first set tied at 12, the Ichabods went on a 4-0 run to take a 16-12 lead. Kills by the Hornets Jordan Evans and Jamie Hauptman forced Washburn into a time out at 23-19 before the Ichabods closed out the set with a 25-20 win.
The Hornets jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the second set and led 16-11 after another Evans kill. Washburn then went on a 10-2 run to take a 21-18 lead on a kill by Genna Berg. After an Emporia State time out, Tatum Graves started a 4-0 run by the Hornets with a kill and block assist along with Patton. The Ichabods then scored the final four points to win 25-22 and take a 2-0 set lead.
Neither team led by more than four points in the third set with six ties before Washburn went up 14-10 and forced an Emporia State time out. The Hornets went on a 7-2 run to take a 17-16 lead on a kill by Yuchen Du. With the score tied at 18, Du served what was at first called an ace that would have given the Hornets a 19-18 lead. However Washburn challenged the call and it was overturned on video review giving the Ichabods a 19-18 lead. Shelby Innes was credited with a kill on the next point to again tie the score at 19. Washburn would score two straight to go up 21-19 before the teams traded scores for the next five points until the Ichabods closed out the match with back to back kills from Makayla Maxwell and Erica Montgomery for a 25-22 final.
The Hornets were led by Karly Patton with 11 kills on .391 hitting while Yuchen Du added six kills on .308 hitting with nine digs and 31 assists. She played primarily setter all night as Emma Dixon missed the match with an injury. Allie Maloney had a team high 15 digs for Emporia State.
The Hornets will return to White Auditorium for their final two home matches of the season on Saturday and Sunday. Emporia State takes on #7 Neb.-Kearney on Saturday night at 8:00 p.m.
