TOPEKA - Fort Hays State Volleyball fell to No. 2 ranked Washburn on Tuesday evening in straight sets.
The Ichabods won by scores of 25-19, 25-14, and 25-18. Washburn improved to 19-2 overall, 11-1 in the MIAA, while FHSU moved to 10-11 overall and 4-8 in conference play.
The Tigers had a lead for a good portion of the first set and saw their lead reach five at 14-9. From that point, Washburn rallied back to get past the Tigers for good at 19-18 and closed out the set by winning the final five points. The Ichabods went on to cruise in the second and third sets for the straight-set win. Washburn hit a blistering .404 as a team in the match, while holding FHSU to .092.
Isabelle Reynolds led the Tigers with 12 kills in the match, while hitting .226. Riley Tinder and Morgan Christiansen each added five kills. Elysia Glowacz and Olivia Hessman nearly split the assist count right down the middle, Glowacz with 13 and Hessman with 12. Jaden Daffer had a team-high eight digs.
Allison Maxwell and Jalyn Stevenson paced the Ichabods with 10 kills each. Kelsey Gordon was right behind with nine and hit .500 for the match. Allison Sadler distributed 39 assists and Faith Rottinghaus had a team-high 16 digs.
The Tigers will look to bounce back with a pair of home matches this weekend. FHSU hosts Newman on Friday night at 6 p.m., looking for a regular season sweep of the Jets after winning a five-set thriller earlier this season in Wichita. FHSU will look to gain a regular season split on Saturday with Central Oklahoma at 2 p.m.