TOPEKA, Kan. --- After a three week hiatus, No. 9 Washburn volleyball returns to Lee Arena for homecoming week as it welcomes defending MIAA co-regular season champion Missouri Western and a surging Northwest Missouri. The Ichabods will take on MWSU on Friday before facing NWMSU Saturday, both matches are slated for 6 pm. Live stats and video for each match are available either by visiting wusports.com/live or the team's schedule on wusports.com.
THEY GOT HISTORY
• Friday's match with the Griffons will be the 88th all-time meeting ... Washburn trails the series, 40-47, after dropping both matches in 2017 ... WU is 21-7 all-time when hosting Missouri Western ... since 2002, Washburn is 28-4 when facing MWSU and 17-1 at Lee Arena.
• Saturday's match with the Bearcats will be the 68 all-time meeting ... the Ichabods lead the series, 48-19 ... WU dropped the lone meeting in 2017 ending a 14-match win streak ... since 2002, WU is 32-3 and 17-0 when hosting Northwest at Lee Arena.
LET'S GO STREAKING
Washburn's 21-0 run to open the 2018 campaign is the best start in program history surpassing the previous 15-0 mark set in 2009 ... the streak is tied for third-best in program-history, matching the mark originally set in 2005 (9/21-11/10) and is preceded by a 22-match win streak set in 2011 and a 27-match win streak in 2007.
CREAM OF THE CROP
Heading into the weekend, Washburn is just one of two teams in Division II and one of five across all NCAA divisions left without a loss - Pitt (D1), BYU (D1), Wingate, N.C. (D2), Calvin, Mich. (D3) ... the Ichabods 21 wins to start the week was the second-most in Div. II trailing only UNK (22).
SET DOMINATION
Washburn has been dominate this season winning 14 of 21 matches in 3-0 fashion ... additionally, the Ichabods have only dropped eight of 71 sets they've played ... entering the 2018 campaign, WU had won 308 matches in straight sets with 24 as the record for most three-set victories in a single-season, set in 2008.
TOUGH DEFENSE
• Among the NCAA leaderboard, the Washburn defense is among the NCAA Division II Top 25 in opponent hitting percent (6th/0.105) and digs per set (25th/18.65) while listed 39th in total digs (1,324), 49th in blocks (149.5) and 50th in blocks per set (2.11).
• In 19 of 21 matches, WU opponents have hit sub-.200 for a match, with 11 below the .100 mark including a season-low -.029 against Southeastern Oklahoma (8/25).
• Opponents have combined for 431 attack errors with the WU front line contributing with 149.5 blocks.
• Washburn tops the MIAA team leaderboard in digs per set and opponent hitting percentage and is second in blocks per set ... the Ichabods are fifth in total digs and sixth in total blocks.
ALL OUT ATTACK
• Among the national leaderboard, the Washburn offense is among the Division II's top 20 in most major categories such as kills per set (15th/14.27), assists per set (14th/13.37), hitting percentage (19th/0.257) while ranking 24th in team assists (949) and team kills (1,013).
• The Ichabods attack have hit .250 or better in a match 12 times this season and have surpassed .300 hitting on four occasions including a season-best, .413 versus Southern Arkansas (8/31).
• In the MIAA team leaderboard, WU is among the top two in several categories ... it leads the way in hitting percentage as well assists per set and kills per set, while placing second in aces per set (1.68) and team aces (109).
ACES HIGH
• Washburn's ability to gain points from the service line has it among the nation's top 75 as the Ichabods' 114 aces to start the week was 70th across the Division II landscape, while their aces per set average (1.61) was 87th nationally.
• WU's season-high for aces in a match is 10, which it set 80 Aug. 24 in the season opener with DBU and matched a day later against UCCS.
• Six Ichabods enter the weekend with double-figure ace totals with Faith Rottinghaus and Shayla Conner leading the way with 21 apiece.
• In seven home matches this season, WU had 43 aces, averaging 1.8 per set with Rottinghaus leading the way with 14.
GET YO MAK ON
• Makayla Maxwell's 593 kills is 33rd-overall on the all-time Washburn kills list ... she posted a career-best 272 kills in 2017 and has averaged roughly 157 kills in her last three seasons.
• her 333 career blocks is 16th-best on the Washburn record book ... she now trails WU legend Mollie Lacy (15th, 336) ... Maxwell averaged 123 blocks in her last two seasons and if she continues the trend, would put herself among program's the top 10 all-time - she notched 117 last season.
• Maxwell began the week third among MIAA leaders with a .368 hitting percentage (42nd in Div. II) ... she is also sixth in the MIAA in blocks per set (0.98) and ninth in blocks (62).
COUNT ON THE HAUS
• Faith Rottinghaus began the year ranked 44th with 579 career digs ... she has since added to her total and is now 25th all-time with 926 digs.
• Nationally, Rottinghaus is 66th in Div. II in digs (347) and 75th in digs per set (4.89).
• In the last three matches, Rottinghaus is averaging a team-best 5.22 digs per set with a team-high 47 digs.
COURTSIDE ASSISTANCE
• Now with over 1300-career assists, Shayla Conner continues to the climb the charts, now sitting at 13th on the career assist rankings (1,306) passing Andi Moran and Liz Powell and is now 303 assists shy the 10th spot on the career list.
• Conner has reached the 40-assists plateau five times this season including a career-best 52 against UNK (9/15).
• Conner has a team-best 14 double-doubles for the year and has registered double-double efforts in each of the last eight matches.
• Nationally, Conner's 646 assists is 74th-overall with her 9.23 assists per set, good for 99th ... among the MIAA, she places fourth and fifth, respectively, while being listed 16th in digs (238).
ALLI TO THE MAX
• In the last three matches, Allison Maxwell has 18 kills with 2.00 kills per set and hitting .256 with seven blocks.
• Recorded career-bests in kills (20) and hitting (.586) in a win at Central Oklahoma (9/28).
• Maxwell is among the top 50 in Washburn's career record book for total blocks (t-41st/152), kills (45th/419) and points (49th/508).
• Among the MIAA leaderboard, Maxwell is eighth in kills per set (3.00), 10th in hitting percentage (.356) and kills (201), while defensively listed 13th in blocks per set (.0.81) and 18th in total blocks (54).
OTHER NOTABLES
• Over the course of the last three matches, Erica Montgomery has 25 kills (2.78/set) ... she has 193 kills this season.
• Genna Berg has 27 kills in the last three matches and is hitting a .367 ... posted a career-best .409 hitting (10-1-22) Friday at SBU.
• Against the MIAA, Taylor Antonowich is averaging 1.63 kills per set with five aces and 14 blocks.
• Katie Heeter has been solid on the backline with 73 digs in her last nine matches and 134 on the year ... had a season-best 19 in win over UNK (9/15).
• Kelsey Gordon has become a more frequent part of the front line rotation, playing 24 of the last 32 sets ... during that time she has 29 kills (1.21 per set) and seven blocks.
• WU is undefeated when outscoring their opponents.
MIAA HONORS
Washburn has won six weekly accolades. Led by Shayla Conner who shares the conference lead with UCM's Ally Offerdahl, as each has been recognized as MIAA's top specialist three times. Allison Maxwell has been twice named the league's top hitter with Makayla Maxwell also being named once.
HOME SWEET HOME
The 2018 campaign marks the 29th season volleyball has called Lee Arena home ... the Ichabods are 7-0 when playing at home this season and have won last contests dating back to Oct. 28, 2017 ... since 1990, Washburn has enjoyed a fair amount of success as it began the year with a 286-105 all-time record ... during its time at Lee Arena, WU has gone perfect four times, the last being 2016 when it went 15-0 ... in 2007, WU recorded the most wins (17) at Lee Arena in program-history ... that season Washburn also hosted the NCAA Division II National Championship despite being the No. 4-seed ... over the last 15 seasons, the Ichabods have continuously been ranked among NCAA Division II's top 15 in attendance.
HOMECOMING TIDBITS
• First match during homecoming was 1973, location unavailable.
• First match in Topeka during homecoming was Oct. 6, 1984 against Fort Hays State, WU won, 3-1.
• WU is 16-21 all-time when on the same day as homecoming Saturday and 8-6 when playing at home.
• Since 2002, WU is 6-2 when playing at Lee Arena on homecoming and 9-3 overall ... WU has played Missouri Western eight times, far and away the most of any other opponent and is 6-2.
50TH SEASON
The 2018-19 academic year marks the 50th season of women's athletics at Washburn University, which began with volleyball, basketball, softball, field hockey and gymnastics. Although, field hockey and gymnastics are no longer available, the offerings for female student-athletes have grown to eight sports with the addition of soccer, tennis, and most cross country and track and field.
