TOPEKA, Kan. --- Washburn volleyball begins its season-ending four-match road swing this weekend with trips to Central Missouri and Lindenwood. The Ichabods will look to complete the season sweep against the nationally-ranked Jennies on Friday at 6pm. The team will then try to avenge an early season loss to Lindenwood on Saturday's at 3pm.
CONFERENCE OUTLOOK
Washburn and Lindenwood enter the weekend tied for sixth in the MIAA standings at 7-7. Northwest Missouri's 8-6 mark puts it in sole position of fifth while Central Missouri is comfortably slotted at fourth. Emporia State holds the eighth and final spot for the MIAA tournament at 6-9.
THEY GOT HISTORY
The match with the Jennies will be the second of the season and 68th all-time meeting ... UCM leads the all-time series, 51-16 with a favorable 21-5 record at home ... Saturday's clash with Lindenwood will also be the final match of the regular season and eight meeting all-time with the Ichabods leading the series 6-1 ... the Lions are 0-3 when hosting Washburn all-time.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
The 2017 lineup for the Ichabods features 11 underclassmen on the roster including seven true freshmen ... head coach Chris Herron has relied heavily on the younger players with five freshman seeing regular playing time and with just one upperclassman as a starter ... going into this weekend's match freshmen Genna Berg is the team leader in kills (283) and kills per set (2.92) ... Faith Rottinghaus headlines the list of names for digs (413) and digs per set (4.59) ... Allison Maxwell's .292 hitting paces the team, while her 84 blocks and 0.95 per set are second among the team.
SADLER DELIVERY INC.
Allison Sadler is approaching rare territory as she looks to be become just 23nd player in program-history to record 1,000 assists in a season and just the sixth to do it during their freshman campaign ... previous Lady Blues/Ichabods to reach 1,000 assists in their first season include Kerri Spielman (1990/1,298), Jammie James (1996/1,283), Amanda Dunbar (1998/1,159), Julie Sackman (2003/1,120) and Andi Moran (2005/1,301) with Kate Hampson (1,272) last completing the feat in 2006 ... Sadler's single-season assist total (850) is currently 28th in program-history ... the native of Parkville, Mo., is among the top 85 setters in Division II as she's ranked 67th in total assists and 81st in assists per set (9.44) ... Sadler has distributed 40 or more assists in 11 matches while twice posting 60-assist efforts ... the first came then-No. 18 Central Missouri on Sept. 29, tying Carolyn Raynes for 19th-best single-match performance ... the freshman followed up with a career-best 62-assist outing versus then-No. 8 Central Oklahoma, tying Kate Hampson for 14th-best single-match assist together ... Sadler is currently 18th on the Washburn career assist chart with the third fewest sets played (76) of anyone listed in the Top 20.
AMONG THE BEST
Washburn began the week as one the Top 100 in Division II in 13 of 15 team statistical categories with six top 25 rankings ... the Ichabods' 234 team blocks is eighth-best in the nation and their highest ranking with their 1,314 kills is 17th in the country ... Washburn's other top 25 rankings include team assists (18th/1,228), total attacks (19th/3,745), blocks per set (23rd/2.32) and digs (25th/1,761).
MAXWELL BLOCK PARTY
Leading the charge in the Washburn block effort is Makayla and Allison Maxwell as each are among country's top blockers ... Makayla leads the way as the junior's 118 block is eighth in Division II while her 1.18 blocks per set is 33rd overall ... Allison meanwhile is 99th in the nation in total blocks (84) and 131st in blocks per set 0.95.
RECORD WATCH LIST
• Junior Shayla Conner is among the top 20 in Washburn's all-time assists list ... Conner ranks 20th overall with 608 ... Conner has averaged 194 assists over the last two seasons.
• Junior Makayla Maxwell is 25th on the Washburn's career block chart with 248 ... Maxwell has registered her second consecutive season with at least 100 total blocks ... she has averaged 65 blocks her in last two seasons ... Maxwell is also ninth overall in blocks per set (1.00) and 42nd on the career list in kills (429).
• Senior Taylor Selk is 33rd in hitting percentage (.172), 33rd in blocks per set (0.51) and is 30th in total kills (640).
WEEKLY WRAP-UP
Washburn had a busy weekend as it played four matches in six days to close its home schedule. The Ichabods went 3-1 as they swept Emporia State and Fort Hays State before taking down non-conference foe Oklahoma Baptist in four sets. Washburn's lone loss was a 3-1 decision against No. 7 Nebraska-Kearney.
1,000-WIN CLUB
After starting the 2017 season seven wins shy of 1,000 victories, the Ichabods reached the milestone with a 3-1 victory over Christian Brother (Tenn.) during the Arkansas Tech Invitational on Sept. 15 ... the result made Washburn the 48th program in NCAA volleyball history and 10th Division II member to accomplish the milestone.
MIAA PRESEASON POLL
The Ichabods were predicted to finish third in the MIAA after earning 101 points and one first-place vote. Last season's champion Nebraska-Kearney topped the poll with 120 points and 10 first-place votes, while Central Oklahoma came in second with 105 points and also garnered one first-place nod ... WU finished the 2016 season with a 16-2 conference record and run to the conference tournament finals.
TRADITION OF SUCCESS
The Ichabods have made a habit out of appearing in the NCAA tournament, reaching the milestone 13 times in the past 15 seasons under head coach Chris Herron ... Washburn has won five MIAA Championships under Herron and were runners-ups in 2016 ... In the last five seasons, Washburn volleyball has had 12 All-Americans, including three in 2016.
UP NEXT
Washburn will return to the road next week with trips to Pittsburg State on Thursday, Nov. 9 before heading to Central Oklahoma for the season finale on Friday, Nov. 10. Thursday's match with the Gorillas is slated for 7 pm while the match-up with the Bronchos is set for 6 pm.
