TOPEKA, Kan. --- The Washburn Ichabod volleyball team continues non-conference play with their second of three invitationals as when they go to Rolla, Mo., to take part in the Missouri S&T Middle of Everywhere Classic on Sept. 8-9. It'll be the first road test of the season for the Ichabods. Washburn opens day one play against William Jewell (10 a.m.) and Upper Iowa (7 p.m.) before facing Ohio Dominican on day two 12 p.m. Washburn's fourth and final match will be determined based on standings.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
The 2017 lineup for the Ichabods features 11 underclassmen including seven true freshmen ... in their match against Western State, 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 leads the team in kills per set (2.13) while classmates Faith Rottinghaus and Kelsey Gordon top major defensive categories with Rottinghaus headlining digs (56) and digs per set (3.73) with Gordon doing the same in blocks (13) and blocks per set (0.87) ... Allison Sadler holds second in assists (48) and assists per set (5.33) ...
HODGE IS ACES
Junior Jade Hodge started her 2017 campaign in style as she registered 10 services aces during the opening weekend including a career-best five aces against East Central on Sept. 1, tying a single-match mark for ninth-best in program-history ... the weekend output is season-career best surpassing the previous mark of six aces last season ... the Dover, Kan., native leads the conference.
NEW TO TOWN
The weekend trip will be Washburn's first-ever time in Rolla, Mo. ... the Ichabods have previously faced host Missouri S&T but the contest was at Lee Arena in 2007.
MIDDLE OF EVERYWHERE
The Middle of Everywhere Classic will feature eight teams broken up into two pools (Green & Gold) ... Washburn is in the Gold Pool along with William Jewell, Upper Iowa and Ohio Dominican ... the Green Pool consists of Ashland, Christian Brothers, Missouri S&T and Pittsburg State ... the winner of each pool will face-off in a championship match on Saturday, Sept. 9 ... all matches will be played at the Gale Bullman Multipurpose Building.
WEEKEND WRAP-UP
Washburn completed its season opening weekend ... it's for the first-time since 2001 a Washburn volleyball team has begun a season at 3-1 ... the loss to Arkansas Tech was first season opening defeat since 1997 and ended the Ichabods' perfect 36-0 record during the rejuvenated Washburn Invitational ... the Ichabods picked up their first victory sweeping East Central, 3-0 ... Washburn followed its first win with a second as it cruised past Western State by the same score ... in the weekend finale, Washburn went the distance to secure the win against Missouri-St. Louis as the Ichabods forced a fifth set after being down 2-1 to begin the fourth.
1,000-WIN CLUB
Washburn volleyball began the 2017 season seven wins shy of it's 1,000th victory in program history ... the Ichabods now stand just four wins away from the milestone ... to date, the feat has only been accomplished by 46 NCAA programs across all divisions, with nine Division II members ... the last school to reach 1,000 program victories was Division III member, McDaniel College (Md.).
THEY GOT SOME HISTORY
Washburn will face William Jewell for the first-time in five seasons with the last meeting being Nov. 6, 2012 with the Cardinals playing host ... the Ichabods lead the all-time series, 6-1, including 4-1 record with matches on neutral sites ... The matches against Upper Iowa and Ohio Dominican will be Washburn's first-ever meeting with the respective foes.
THE PECKING ORDER
The Ichabods head into the weekend ranked No. 18 in the first regular season AVCA Coaches' Poll. The ranking extends Washburn's top 25 streak to 176 consecutive polls dating back to the final ranking of 2003 and 193 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 42-7 over the last three seasons ... All-time under Herron, Washburn is 227-30 in the first month the seaso ... 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 begins his 16th season at the helm and his 19th season in the collegiate ranks.
• Washburn is 15-1 in season openers under Herron's direction.
• Herron was inducted into the Kansas Volleyball Association Hall of Fame on June 3, 2017.
• The longtime head coach has gone 454-84 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.
TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE
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.
#GoBods
