Ichabod volleyball starts on top
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Team work: The team puts their hands up in celebration of winning their first set of the season on its way to a 3-0 match victory.
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Winning mindset: The team receives its pre-game pep-talk from coach Shayla Connor. The team gets into a winning mindset as they are about to win 3-0.
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Short break: Senior, Genna Berg(1), takes a breather after an intense rally. Faith Rottinghaus(21), Jalyn Stevenson(10), and Allison Maxwell(8) encourage each other after scoring a point.
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They did that: The team celebrates after another point scored. The Ichabod’s started the first set by taking the first three points.
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I believe I can fly: Senior, Taylor Antonowich(6), jumps to serve the ball in the first set of Washburn’s 3-0 victory.
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Bringing the heat: Allison Maxwell(8) Lands with excitement after executing a block. In total, Maxwell blocked 8 kills.
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Welcome back: Senior, Payton Nutter(4), is sent in to sub. The rest of the team welcomes her to the court.
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All ears: Coach Shayla Conner talks to the team between sets. Halle Meister(16), Payton Nutter(4), and Kelsey Gordon(14) listen on for instruction.
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Up front: Freshman, Taryn Pridgett(18); Junior, Halle Meister(16); and Senior, Allison Maxwell(8) bond on the court while waiting for the serve. Maxwell achieved a hitting percentage above .429.
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You’ve got this: Allison Sadler(12) serves the ball. Payton Nutter(4), Genna Berg(1), Madison Johnson(17), and Halle Meister(16) power clap along the sideline.
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Up, up and away: Genna Berg(1) serves the ball. Genna will end the night as the top scorer with 10 kills and 3 blocks.
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Head in the game: Taylor Antonowich(6) prepares herself to serve the ball. By the end of the night there would be a total of four aces for the Ichabods.
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Good times: The team comes together to celebrate after earning another point for the Ichabod’s. Between all three sets the combined score was 75-36.
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Here we go: Taylor Antonowich(6) on the approach to serve the ball. She finished with one of the teams four service aces.
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On top: Sydney Fitzgibbons(11) serves the ball. Sydney ended the match with 4 kills and 4 blocks.
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Eye on the ball: Freshman, Jalyn Stevenson(10) on the approach to set the ball. Jalyn will go on to score one of the 4 aces for Washburn.
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Calm before the storm: Sophomore, Rece Rainey(2) serves the ball in the Ichabods 3-0 match victory.
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Together on three: The team celebrates after their first match this season, which ended in a 3-0 sweep.
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Serve it up: Freshman, Jalyn Stevenson(10) on the serve. The rest of the team cheers from the sidelines.
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Strength: The team comes together at the end of the match, the ending score was a sweep of 3-0.
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We’re ready: Allison Sadler(12) prepares to serve the ball. Allison ended the night with a total of 18 assists and 12 digs.
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Big time: Allison Sadler(12) serves the ball. Allison ended the night with a total of 18 assists and 12 digs.
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United: The whole team stops to honor America by listening to the National Anthem.
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Bring it in: The team celebrities after earning a point in the third set which they won with a score of 25-9.
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We did it: The team celebrates after earning a point. Madison Johnson(17) and Faith Rottinghaus(21) congratulate their teammates in a volley well done.
After 637 days between matches, Washburn Volleyball returned to action on Thursday when they welcomed Cameron University into Lee Arena. In the team’s last official season back in 2019, they went 27-4 and entered 2021 ranked number eight in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll.
“We kind of all talked about it at the beginning of the match like, this is what we came here to do, this is two years in the making and we were excited to get out there and be a team together,” said senior middle hitter Kelsey Gordon.
In the first set, Washburn started out strong controlling possession of the ball jumping out to an 8-3 lead. Cameron would make a push back, bringing the first set to 11-8 after back-to-back kills. The Ichabods responded quickly with runs of kills of their own to make it 17-9. Washburn continued the strong play to clean up the first set, taking it 25-11. Senior outside hitter Genna Berg led the team with five kills in the set and senior setter Allison Sadler delivered nine assists.
The second set was the same for the Ichabods as they jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead and took advantage of four attack errors by the Aggies in that time. Washburn did not stop there as they got in a groove, scoring nine of the next ten points. Cameron would still be heard from as they took advantage of service errors and caused attack errors by the Ichabods, bringing the score to 22-14. Washburn would recover to close out the set 25-16 and take a 2-0 lead. Senior hitter Allison Maxwell had six kills in the set and senior libero Faith Rottinghaus recorded six digs.
“We transitioned really off and on the net, we had some good touches on our ball and had good ball control but there are always things to work on,” said Gordon who finished the match with eight kills.
The third set was more of the same for the Ichabods as they started the set with a 6-1 advantage. This time they would not slide in the middle of the set, even as the team went deeper into its bench, leading to a 25-9 set victory. That gave Washburn a clean sweep on the day and moved the team to 1-0 on the season as seven players recorded kills in the final set alone.
“We were able to play every kid on the team and that to me is the biggest plus, that every kid got a little bit of experience,” said head coach Chris Herron.
The Ichabods return today as they play host to Minot State University on the final day of the Washburn Invitational.
Edited by: Madison Dean
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