TOPEKA, Kan. --- For the third consecutive season Washburn will face Missouri Western in the quarterfinals of the MIAA Volleyball Championships. The Ichabods finished the conference slate at 8-10 while the Griffons grabbed a share of the regular-season title at 16-2. Tournament play opens Tuesday at 7 pm in St. Joseph.
THE BRACKET SHAKEDOWN
The Ichabods enter the postseason as the seventh-seed with Missouri Western claiming the No. 2-seed. Nebraska-Kearney owns the top spot and will host No. 8-seed Emporia State. Third-seed Central Oklahoma will face No. 6-seed Northwest Missouri, while the No. 4-5 match will feature Central Missouri playing host to Lindenwood.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Tuesday's appearance will be Washburn's 21st MIAA Volleyball Championship match in since becoming a member and 10th consecutive since the tournament returned in 2012 after a four-year hiatus. The program's first berth into the conference postseason was during 1992 campaign. Washburn is 10-10 all-time with a 7-1 record in the quarterfinals, having advanced to the semifinal round in each season since 2004. The match also marks the first time since 2003 that Washburn will travel for the opening leg of play. History has not been kind to Washburn as it is 0-5 when playing as the lower seed.
SCOUTING THE GRIFFONS
• Missouri Western went 22-9 during the regular season.
• The Griffons are riding an 11-match win streak including victories in their last nine matches at home this season.
• 11 of MWSU's 22 victories this season have come in three sets with eight others being decided in four sets. The Griffons are 3-0 when being forced to a fifth set.
• Collectively, MWSU among the Top 50 teams in Division II in several categories including assists per set (38th/12.77), hitting percentage (50th), team blocks (43rd), and kills per set (42nd) with Top 25 rankings in total kills (23rd) and team assists (17th).
• Amongst the MIAA the Griffons rate in top half of most categories except opponent hitting percentage (7th/.174) as well as blocks and blocks per set as they are listed seventh.
• Lauren Murphy is the top setter in the conference while ranking 11th nationally with 11.58 assists per set, while her 1,093 assists for the season is also a league-best mark and earning her 10th in Division II.
• Stephanie Doak's 414 kills this season is third-best among conference leaders while landing her at 33rd in nation. Doak holds the same spot in the conference with kills per set (3.80) and is listed among the Top 50 in country.
• The MWSU offense has four hitters with marks above .200 including Doak (.215), Alli Tauchen (.256), Taylor Shellby (.255), and Rachel Losch (.286).
• Kayla Ruff anchors the back line averaging 5.15 digs per set with just 15 reception errors in 464 attempts. Ruff's digs per set mark in fourth-best in the MIAA and 54th nationally.
• Tauchen is the team's blocks leader with 1.08 per set. Losch follows at 0.80 per set.
THEY GOT HISTORY
Tuesday postseason clash marks the second clash of the season between the Ichabods and Griffons, with Missouri Western winning the initial showdown, 3-1. This is will be the 88th all-time meeting. The Ichabods trail the series 41-46 but are 15-12 all-time when facing MWSU on its home floor. The Ichabods are 3-0 all-time when facing Missouri Western in the quarterfinals of the MIAA postseason.
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. Heading into this week's matches freshmen Genna Berg is the team leader in kills (345) and kills per set (3.03) ... Faith Rottinghaus headlines the list of names for digs (552) and digs per set (4.68) ... Allison Maxwell is second on the team in hitting (.273), blocks (98) and blocks per set (0.93).
SADLER DELIVERY INC.
Allison Sadler continues to inch closer to rare territory as she looks to be become just 23rd 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 freshman 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 (971) is currently 16th 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 (9.19) ... 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.
AMONG THE BEST
Entering the final weekend of the regular season, Washburn was among the Top 100 teams in Division II in 13 of 15 team statistical categories with six top 25 rankings ... the Ichabods' 249 team blocks is 10th-best in the nation and their highest ranking ... their 1,421 kills is 21st in the country ... Washburn's other top 25 rankings include team assists (23rd/1,330), total attacks (23rd/4,086), and digs (18th/1,935).
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 139 block is sixth in Division II while her 1.19 blocks per set is 31st overall ... Allison meanwhile is 104th in the nation in total blocks (98) and 137th in blocks per set (0.93).
RECORD WATCH LIST
• Junior Shayla Conner is among the top 20 in Washburn's all-time assists list ... Conner ranks 20th overall with 664 ... Conner has averaged 194 assists over the last two seasons.
• Junior Makayla Maxwell is 20th on the Washburn's career block chart with 269 ... her 139 blocks in 2017 is tied for 17th in best single-season totals in program-history while her 1.19 blocks per set is 13th among single-season rankings ... she is listed ninth overall for career blocks per set (1.02) and 39th on the Washburn all-time list in kills (468) ... Maxwell has registered her second consecutive season with at least 100 total blocks ... she has averaged 65 blocks her in last two seasons.
• Senior Taylor Selk is 35th in hitting percentage (.165), 31st in blocks per set (0.52) and is 30th in total kills (667).
• Freshman Genna Berg's 3.03 kills per set is 37th in single-season rankings while her .167 hitting percentage has listed 34th on the career charts.
• Freshman Faith Rottinghaus' 4.68 digs per set this season is the eighth-best single-season mark while her 552 digs places her 14th on single-season rankings and tied for 45th on the career lists.
WEEKLY WRAP-UP
The Ichabods ended the regular season 1-1 with a 3-1 victory over Pittsburg State before falling to No. 12 Central Oklahoma by the same score.
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
The remainder of the season will determine on the outcome of Washburn's own match as well as the rest of the bracket. The semifinal and finals of the MIAA Volleyball will be hosted by the highest remaining seed after the opening round of play
