The Ichabods traveled to Golden, Co. Friday and Saturday for the Colorado Mines Classic where they faced four opponents and came out with a .500 record. The Bods dropped to 11^th in the AVCA to end a 53 week stay in the top 10.

“We are learning a lot about ourselves right now to get prepared for conference. (We) need to take a loss every now and then to see what (we) need to work on,” said Sami McHenry, senior defensive specialist.

Washburn first faced 22^nd ranked Central Washington where the Bods won the first two sets and dropped the last three to lose in five sets. Freshman hitter Leanna Willer led the game with 19 kills while fellow freshman hitter Sarah Vicory added 11 of her own. Senior setter Abby Wittman had 42 assists and senior libero Kelsey Lewis had 22 digs. Three players added at least five blocks; Willer with seven, redshirt freshman hitter Hannah Frierdich had six, and Vicory had five. The team had 54 kills on the game with a .177 hitting percentage while Central Washington averaged .132.

The Ichabods dropped three of five sets to Grand Valley State on Friday. Junior hitter Marissa Cox led the team with 24 kills while Willer added 16. Senior libero Courtney Churchman had 25 digs and Wittman had a double-double with 19 digs and 54 assists. Washburn hit .144 percent on the game while Grand Valley State hit .147. This is the first time since 2006 that the Bods have lost back to back regular season matches.

Washburn went five sets with Tarleton State on Saturday but came out on top. Cox had 20 of the teams’ 65 kills while senior hitter Corrinne Stringer added 13. Vicory had five digs and Churchman had 24 digs. Wittman added another double-double with 57 assists and 21 digs. The team hit .161 percent against .169 from Tartleton State.

In the Bods’ final game of the tournament, they swept Western Oregon in three straight sets. Stringer had a team high 15 kills while sophomore hitter Korie Thompson had 10 of her own to add to 47 team kills. Wittman had 36 assists. Lewis had 12 digs while Wittman and Churchman both added 9. The Ichabods finished the match with a .317 hit percentage as opposed to Western Oregon’s .078.

With 189 assists this weekend, Wittman moved to fourth on the all time career assists list at WU. Her total is now 2,714.

Washburn is now 6-2 on the season with a two game win streak to protect. The Bods will be in action again on Tuesday, Sept. 17 at Emporia State at 7 p.m. for the first conference game of the season.

“We want to come back with a W. We all really want this win after this weekend,” McHenry said.