PITTSBURG -- The Pitt State Volleyball team proved to be a challenge for No. 14 Washburn, as the Gorillas took the Ichabods to five sets on Friday (October 21) night in John Lance Arena.

The Gorillas won the first set 25-23, setting up an electric atmosphere for the remainder of the match. Washburn answered with a 25-14 set two win. The Gorillas came back in set three to take the lead in convincing fashion, 25-15, but Washburn prevailed, winning the final two sets, 25-12 and 15-8.

Maggie Highberger put together a double-double for the Gorillas with 17 kills and 20 digs. Taylor Unke put down 10 kills, as she hit .412 for the match. Unke also had three blocks. Zoey Qi added eight kills and four blocks, including one solo block. Ashlen Schwartz led all players in the match with 29 digs.

Pitt State tallied more kills than the nationally ranked Washburn squad, but also had 13 more hitting errors. Pitt State hit .080 for the match, while Washburn hit .151. The Ichabods were also stronger on the block than the Gorillas with 17.0 blocks to 7.0 for Pitt State.

The first set was the most exciting. Pitt State jumped out to an early 6-0 run behind the serve of Highberger. Washburn answered with 4-0 and 3-0 runs to tie the set at 7-7, the first of 10 ties in the match. The Gorillas gained a three-point edge again on back-to-back Highberger kills to go up 15-12. The Ichabods climbed back and the two teams exchanged the lead several times, with the last Washburn lead at 21-20. An Ichabod service error tied the match and a ball handling error gave Pitt State the lead. Qi got her first kill of the match to put Pitt State up 23-21 and force a Washburn time out. The timeout proved effective, as WU scored the next two points to tie the set one final time at 23-23. Zoey Qi put down another kill to give the Gorillas the edge, then a setter dumb by Cal VanBuskirk gave Pitt State the win.

The Gorillas scored the first two points of the third set and although Washburn tied it twice, Pitt State never gave up the lead. Washburn's last tie was at 8-8. From there, the Gorillas used several small runs to build up to a 20-14 lead. Washburn scored one more point, but PSU ended the set on a five-point run on Lauren Maisberger's serve, to win 25-15 and go up 2-1 in the match.

Pitt State was not quite able to sustain their momentum and Washburn took the final two sets for the win.

The Gorillas will continue their five-game home stand on Saturday (October 22) at 6 p.m. against Emporia State.