MARYVILLE, Mo. - Senior Abby Brunssen kept bringing the kills Friday night in Bearcat Arena as the Northwest Missouri State University volleyball team scored a five-set win over No. 24-ranked Washburn.

Brunssen put up a career-high 25 kills and hit .440 with five block assists. Brunssen saved her best for the fifth set when she powered the Bearcats with six kills on 10 swings.

Northwest (7-4 overall, 1-0 MIAA) won by set scores of 18-25, 28-26, 25-19, 19-25 and 15-12. Northwest won its fifth straight match and its seventh victory in eight matches in knocking off the Ichabods (9-2 overall, 0-1 MIAA) in the first MIAA match of the season for both squads. 

The five-set match featured 31 ties and 11 lead changes, but none more than in a pivotal second set. Washburn had taken the first set, 25-18, and looked to gain a two-set lead and claim control of the match. The Ichabods opened up an 18-15 lead when Bearcat head coach Amy Woerth exercised a timeout. Northwest responded out of the timeout to run off four straight points and take a 19-18 advantage. The set was then knotted at 19-19, 20-20, 21-21, 22-22, 23-23, 24-24, 25-25 and 26-26. Northwest stared down a set point at 26-25 in favor of Washburn, but a service error by the Ichabods leveled the set at 26-26. Payton Kirchhoefer put Northwest up 27-26 and then Ella Caffery and Brunssen combined on a stuff block to clinch the 28-26 win for the 'Cats and even the match at 1-1. The second set featured 18 ties and five lead changes.

Northwest kept the momentum going in the third set to take a 2-1 lead with a 25-19 victory. However, Washburn drew back even with a 25-19 win of its own in the fourth set, which set the stage for the fifth and final set in front of 795 fans in Bearcat Arena.

Northwest took a 4-2 lead after Brunssen knocked down a couple of kills to begin the fifth. Northwest bounced out to an 11-7 lead after two timeouts from Washburn head coach Chris Herron. The Ichabods drew to within 13-12 before Kirchhoefer landed a kill near the back line. Washburn challenged the call, but the call was upheld and Northwest owned a 14-12 advantage. A combo block from Kate Frakes and Caffery finished off the Ichabods as the Bearcats claimed the 15-12 win in the fifth.

Northwest will be back in action Saturday at 6 p.m. against Emporia State in Bearcat Arena.

NOTES: Brunssen tallied her second 20-plus kill match of her career with the 25-kill effort ... Brunssen has posted 33 career double-figure kill matches ... Kirchhoefer secured her seventh career 20-kill match and first of the season with 21 kills (.340 hitting percentage) ... Olivia Dir captured her 11th career double-double, and sixth of the season with 12 kills and 21 digs ... Kyah Luhring surpassed the 1,000-kill mark in her career with a season-high 27 digs ... Luhring is credited with 1,025 career digs ... Luhring has had at least 20 digs in 18 career matches ... Kasidy Mohwinkle nearly matched her career-high with 13 kills ... it is the fourth double-figure kill total of Mohwinkle's collegiate career ... Ella Caffery had a season-high 49 assists along with four blocks, seven digs and two kills ... Northwest has won nine of the last 13 meetings with Washburn ... Washburn leads the all-time series, 52-30.