TOPEKA, Kan. --- After opening the season with three action-packed weekends of invitational or tournament play, the Washburn Ichabod volleyball team will now focus its attention to conference action. The Ichabods remain on the road for their third consecutive weekend as they open the MIAA slate on Friday at Nebraksa-Kearney (6 pm) before clashing with Fort Hays State on Saturday (6:30 pm).
THEY GOT HISTORY
Friday's match against Nebraska-Kearney will be the 43rd meeting between the Ichabods and Lopers ... UNK ended Washburn's season last year as the teams met in the MIAA Tournament finals ... Washburn went 1-1 against UNK during the 2016 regular season ... the Ichabods are 1-6 when facing Neb.-Kearney on its home court and 10-32 all-time ... Saturday's match with Fort Hays State will the 90th meeting ... Washburn went 2-0 against the Tigers last season ... the Ichabods trail the all-time series 44-45, but are 15-12 when facing FHSU in Hays including 12-straight wins at Gross Memorial since the 2006 season.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
The 2017 lineup for the Ichabods features 11 underclassmen including seven true freshmen ... in their match against Western State on Sept. 2, the Ichabods started five freshmen for the first-time ever under head coach Chris Herron ... going into this weekend's slate of games freshman Genna Berg is third on the team in kills per set (2.51) while classmate Faith Rottinghaus is the starting libero and headlines the list of names for digs (209) and digs per set (4.86) ... Allison Maxwell is second in total blocks (29) while Kelsey Gordon holds that position in blocks per set (0.88) ... Allison Sadler leads the Ichabods in assists (240) and assists per set (7.50).
ACES WILD
The Ichabods enter conference play ranked second in the MIAA in aces per set (1.49) and total aces (64) while being listed nationally at 128th and 62nd, respectively ... the 2017 ace total is the most by the program in the last three seasons through 12 matches ... Washburn is averaging 5.3 aces per matches and is on track to finish the year with approximately 170 aces ... individually, Jade Hodge tops both the Ichabods' and conference rankings with 18 aces while placing 41st in Division II ... Hodge's 0.44 aces per set is second-best in the MIAA and 117th in the nation ... also ranked nationally is Erica Montgomery (134th, 14) and Faith Rottinghaus (170th, 13).
RECORD WATCH LIST
• Junior Shayla Conner is among the top 25 in Washburn's all-time assists list ... Conner ranks 22nd overall with 562 assists and is 27 assists shy of moving into the top 20 ... in her last two seasons, Conner has averaged 194 assists.
• Junior Makayla Maxwell ranks 31st on Washburn's all-time block chart with 184 blocks ... Maxwell has averaged 65 blocks her in last two seasons.
• Senior Carley Swan currently sits at 21st on the Washburn's block per set chart (0.71), 35th in total blocks (163) and is 47th overall in kills per set (0.97).
• Senior Taylor Selk is 32nd in attack percentage (.164), blocks per set (0.50) and is 36th in total kills (525).
• Freshman Allison Sadler is listed 33rd on Washburn career assists rankings with 240.
WEEKEND WRAP-UP
Washburn finished the Arkansas Tech Invitational with a 3-1 mark to move its season total to 9-3 ... the Ichabods opened with 3-1 victory over Christian Brothers for its 1,000 in program-history before ending day one with a 3-2 loss to regional foe, Harding ... Washburn then earned a pair of sweeping wins against Ouachita Baptist and Alabama-Huntsville on the final day ... Makayla Maxwell and Faith Rottinghaus were both named to the all-tournament team.
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.
AVCA STREAKING
The Ichabods begin the weekend slate of games ranked No. 25 and is the first time since Nov. 4, 2003 that Washburn has rounded out the national rankings. The ranking however extends Washburn's top 25 streak to 178 consecutive polls dating back to the final ranking of 2003 and 200 all-time mentions.
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.
STRONG START
Washburn is 34-15 in season openers all-time and 22-6 since joining the NCAA and MIAA in 1989 ... Under Chris Herron, the Ichabods have a history of starting the season hot in the first month of play, as it has gone 39-6 over the last three seasons ... All-time under Herron, Washburn is 230-31 in the first month the season ... Since Herron's arrival, the Ichabods have not lost more than four matches in the first month of the season.
HERRON TIDBITS
Ichabod head coach Chris Herron is in his 16th season at the helm and his 19th season in the collegiate ranks ... Herron was inducted into the Kansas Volleyball Association Hall of Fame on June 3, 2017 ... The longtime head coach has gone 457-85 at Washburn ... has gone 211-46 in MIAA matches ... has been named the MIAA Coach of the Year four times ... has led the Ichabods to five MIAA regular-season championships ... has led the program to 13 NCAA postseason berths ... his players have received 32 All-America awards, 63 all-region awards and has had 31 first team All-MIAA selections and 82 overall who have been honored by the conference ... has coached four CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, six CoSIDA Academic All-District selections, six MIAA Academic Excellence award winners (4.00 GPA), 29 MIAA Scholar Athletes (3.50+ GPA and all-MIAA honoree) and 121 MIAA Academic Honor Roll (3.00+ GPA) selections.
ABOUT THE LOPERS
• Nebraska-Kearney enters the weekend at 11-1 overall ... the Lopers are currently ranked fifth in the AVCA Top 25 ... UNK is 5-0 this season when playing at home at Buckle Court at the Health & Sports Center.
• UNK went 35-2 last season and 17-1 in conference play ... the lone conference loss came against Washburn (Oct. 7, 2016).
• Nebraska-Kearney is riding an eight-match win streak following its lone loss to Lewis on Sept. 3.
• UNK is second to Washburn in MIAA opponent hitting percentage, .116-.118, though are the conference leaders with the fewest kills per set against, 10.74.
• The Lopers have seven players with 11 or more total blocks ... Tara Ziegelbein leads the team with 36 (0.92/set) while Lindsey Smith follows with 22 (0.57/set) ... collectively, UNK has 81 blocks this season with 2.08 per set ... Ellie McDonnell leads the team with 4.28 digs per set (167 total).
• The Loper offense is led by Tara Ziegelbein and Kaitlynn Thomas ... Ziegelbein has conference-best .389 hitting percentage with Thomas also among MIAA leaders in kills per set (6th, 3.43) and kills (8th, 127) ... Lindsey Smith second in the MIAA in assists per set (10.97) with a team-best 428 assists and 18 aces.
• 10 of UNK's 11 victories this season came in three-set matches ... the Lopers have only dropped the opening set twice this season.
ABOUT THE TIGERS
• Fort Hays State began the weekend at 8-6 overall ... the Tigers have yet to play at home this season ... FHSU went 5-1 during its final six matches at Gross Memorial Coliseum last season.
• FHSU was 25-9 last season and 11-7 in MIAA action.
• The Tigers went 3-1 in last weekend's MIAA/GAC Crossover Tournament in Bethany, Okla.
• Fort Hays State leads all MIAA teams in kills 686 but are listed seventh in kills per set (12.47) and ninth in hitting percentage (.174) ... the Tigers also top the list for most kills by opponents (668) and are fourth in opponent kills per set (12.15).
• The FHSU offense runs through setter Amirah Bentley who is among conference leaders in assists (455) and assists per set (6th, 9.10) ... Tigers have four players at least 110 kills and 2.00 per set including Kylie Rollman (156, 2.84), Magan Alexander (113, 2.90), Sydney Dixon (112, 2.38) and Callie Christensen (110, 2.00).
• Callie Christensen and Taylor White are the defensive leaders for FHSU ... Christensen tops the MIAA in total blocks (60) and is sixth in blocks per set (1.09) ... White is third in the MIAA in digs (254) and seventh in digs per set (4.62).
• Four of the Tigers' eight wins have come in five-set matches ... FHSU started the week 14-14 during the first two sets of a match.
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.
