THE SETUP
After rebound Tuesday at Emporia State, the No. 11 Washburn volleyball team returns to the road for the final time during the 2018 regular season as it faces Fort Hays State Saturday before locking up in a AVCA Top 15 battle with No. 2 Nebraska-Kearney. Both matches are slated for a 6 pm start. 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 Fort Hays State will be the 93rd meeting all-time with the series tied at 46-46.
• Washburn has won the last six matches including a 3-0 decision earlier this season at Lee Arena.
• In Hays, the Ichabods are 16-12 all-time and 10-2 a Gross Memorial Coliseum since 2002.
• Saturday's meeting with the Lopers will be the 36th meeting in the series with Washburn trailing, 11-34.
• The Ichabods ended a three-match losing streak to UNK earlier this season winning 3-1 at Lee Arena.
• In Kearney, WU is 1-6 all-time ... the lone win came on Nov. 12, 2013, marking the only time WU has played UNK in a home-and-home in a season won both matches.

LET'S GO STREAKING
Washburn's 22-0 run to open the 2018 campaign was the best start in program history surpassing a 15-0 start in 2009 ... the streak tied the 2011 mark for second-longest in program-history ... WU's record for longest win streak is 27, set by the 2007 team that finished 38-4.

SET DOMINATION
Washburn has been dominate this season winning 14 of 23 matches in 3-0 fashion ... additionally, the Ichabods have only dropped 13 of 82 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. 

AGAINST RANKED FOES
• Under head coach Chris Herron, Washburn is 62-61 all-time when facing teams mentioned among the AVCA Top 25.
• Saturday's meeting with UNK will be the fourth match against an AVCA ranked opponent ... on Sept. 15, Washburn defeated then-No. 1 UNK in four sets, the Ichabods were receiving votes at the time.
• Since 2002, Washburn is 14-32 when facing a ranked opponent on their home court and 23-33 against those listed among the AVCA Top 10.

TOUGH DEFENSE
• The Washburn defense is among the NCAA Division II Top 20 in opponent hitting percent (9th/0.113), digs per set (12th/19.66), total digs (18th/1,612), while listed 35th in blocks per set (2.16) and 38th blocks (177.5).
• In 21 of 23 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 493 attack errors with the WU front line contributing with 177.5 blocks (4th-most in the MIAA).
• Washburn tops the MIAA team leaderboard in digs per set while listed second in opponent hitting percentage and blocks per set and fourth in digs.

ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK
• Among the national leaderboard, the Washburn offense is among the Division II's top 25, ranking 10th in kills per set (14.45), 15th in assists per set (13.40) and 21st in kills (1185) while listed 28th  in hitting (0.246). 
• 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 tops the assists per set and kills per set categories while its 39.21 attacks per set is second overall.

GET YO MAK ON
• Makayla Maxwell's 614 kills is 32rd-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.
• Maxwell's 342 career blocks is tied with former WU assistant Jessica Fey for 14th on all-time list ... she averaged 123 blocks in her last two seasons and if she continues the trend, would finished her career among the top 10 all-time - she notched 117 last season.
• Maxwell began the weekend eighth among MIAA leaders in hitting (.324) and blocks per set (0.960).

COUNT ON THE HAUS
• Faith Rottinghaus eclipsed the career 1000-dig mark on Tuesday at Emporia State as finished with 23 ... as a result, she is now 23rd on Washburn's all-time list after beginning the year ranked 44th with 579 career digs.
• Nationally, Rottinghaus is 49th in Div. II in digs (424) and digs per set (5.17), marks that have her listed fourth and fifth in the MIAA respectively.
• The sophomore is currently ranked 164th in Division II in career digs, while her career 4.94 digs per set is 23rd-best among the Div. II charts.

COURTSIDE ASSISTANCE
• Shayla Conner continues to the climb the charts, now sitting at 12th on the career assist rankings (1,427) is now 87 behind Tami Dell for 11th and 182 shy of the 10th spot on the career list.
• Conner has reached the 40-assists plateau seven times this season including a career-best 52 against UNK (9/15).
• Conner has a team-best 17 double-doubles for the year and has registered double-double efforts in 11-consecutive matches.
• Nationally, Conner's 767 assists and 9.47 assists per set, place her among the Top 100 and fourth and fifth, respectively, in the MIAA, while her 292 digs heading into the weekend is 15th-best among the MIAA leaders.

ALLI TO THE MAX
• Registered a career-best 24 kills on Oct. 12 against MWSU ... has 14 matches with double-figure kills ... had a seven-match streak (9/14-29) with 10+ kills.
• The sophomore has registered five or more blocks five times this season with a season and career-best 9.0 on Sept. 18 ... is coming off a seven-block performance at Emporia State (10/16).
• Maxwell is among the top 50 in Washburn's record book for career blocks (t-36th/167), kills (43rd/459) and points (46th/557.5).
• Maxwell began the weekend ninth in the MIAA in kills (241) and 11th in hitting (.314) ... defensively, ranked 11th in blocks per set (0.88) and 13th in blocks (69).

NOTHING BUT A G-THING
• Genna Berg entered the weekend with double-doubles in two of her last three matches ... during the span, she has 36 kills and 40 digs.
• Berg's 224 kills is 15th among MIAA leaders while her 3.28 points per set is 12th-best.

EAZY-E
• Erica Montgomery, like rapper Eazy-E, has been skillfully posting solid numbers on attack with double-figure kills in three of the last four outings ... during that four match stretch, she has tallied 51 kills including a season-best 20 against Emporia State (10/16).
• Among conference leaders, Montgomery is 10th in kills per set (2.91) and kills (236).

OTHER NOTABLES
• Taylor Antonowich had three aces and 15 kills Tuesday ... she's had 10 kills four times this season and is averaging 1.87 per set.
• Katie Heeter has been solid on the back line with 178 digs on the year ... had a career-best 19 earlier this season against UNK.

POSTSEASON
With its win Tuesday, Washburn clinched a spot into the first round of the MIAA Championship on Nov. 6. Nebraska-Kearney, also a 11-1 heading into matches Friday, clinched a position. 

ROAD WARRIORS
The Ichabods are 13-0 this season when playing away at Lee Arena including an 8-0 mark in true road contests. In the three last seasons, Washburn is 37-20 when playing away from Lee Arena

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.