TOPEKA, Kan. --- No. 9 Washburn volleyball wraps up its six-game road trip this weekend as it returns to the Show Me State to take on Missouri Southern and Southwest Baptist. The Ichabods open the slate in Joplin on Friday at 6 pm before going to Bolivar to face SBU at 2 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 in Joplin will be the 75th meeting all-time between Washburn and Missouri Southern ... WU leads the series 40-34 and is carrying a 28-match win streak versus the Lions ... the Ichabods are 16-10 when visiting Joplin.
• Saturday's match will be the 53rd meeting between Washburn and Southwest Baptist ... WU has a commanding 48-4 record all-time against SBU, including a 33-match win streak ... the Ichabods are 17-1 when visiting Bolivar.

STREAKING STARTS
Washburn's 19-0 run to open the 2018 campaign is the best start in program history surpassing the previous 15-0 mark set in 2009 ... the previous record was eclipsed on Sept. 21 with a win at Lindenwood to move to 16-0 and the Ichabods have since been adding to their mark. 

CREAM OF THE CROP 
Heading into the weekend, Washburn is just one of two teams in Division II and one of six across all NCAA divisions left without a loss - Pitt (D1), BYU (D1), Wingate, N.C. (D2), Calvin, Mich. (D3), Johns Hopkins, Md. (D3) ... the Ichabods 19 wins is the most in Div. II and matched only UNK (19-1).

SET DOMINATION
During its win streak, 12 of 19 Washburn's victories have been decided in 3-0 fashion ... additionally, the Ichabods have only dropped eight of 65 sets they've played ... entering the 2018 campaign, WU had won 308 matches in straight sets ... the single-season record for most three-set victories is 24 and was set in 2008. 

TOUGH DEFENSE
• Among the NCAA leaderboard, the Washburn defense is among the NCAA Division II Top 35 in several categories including opponent hitting percent (16th/0.113), digs per set (26th/18.51)  and team digs (28th/1,203), while its blocks (142.5) and blocks per set (2.19) are 29th and 33rd, respectively.
• In 17 of 19 matches, WU opponents have hit sub-.200 for a match, with nine below the .100 mark including a season-low -.029 against Southeastern Oklahoma (8/25).
• Opponents have combined for 394 attack errors, individually, Washburn players have contributed with 142.5 blocks.
• WU tops the MIAA team leaderboard in digs per set and is second  in blocks per set, opponent hitting ... WU is also third in blocks per set and fifth in total digs.

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 (12th/14.31), assists per set (13th/13.42), hitting percentage (19th/0.255), team assists (14th/872), and team kills (16th/930).
• The Ichabods attack have hit .250 or better in a match 10 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 in among the top two in several categories ... it leads the way in assists and kills per set, while placing second in hitting, aces per set (1.68) and team aces (109) ... WU is also fourth in total assists.

ACES HIGH
• Washburn's ability to gain points from the service line has it among the nation's top 50 as the Ichabods' 109 aces is 48th across the Division II landscape, while their aces per set average (1.68) is 76th nationally.
• WU's 2018 season-high for aces in a match is 10, which was set in the season opener versus DBU (8/24) 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 its five MIAA matches, WU has 27 aces with Conner leading the way with seven.

GET YO MAK ON
• Makayla Maxwell's 584 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.
• Maxwell's 329 career blocks is 16th-best on the Washburn record book ... she now trails legends 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.
• Maxwell's .368 hitting percentage is second among the MIAA leaders and her 32nd nationally ... is also third in the MIAA in blocks per set (1.03) and ninth in blocks (58).

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 27th all-time with 893 digs.
• Nationally, Rottinghaus is 65th in Div. II in digs (314) and 90th in digs per set (4.83).
• In the last four matches, Rottinghaus is averaging a team-best 5.20 digs per set while also leading the team 78 digs.

COURTSIDE ASSISTANCE
• Shayla Conner continues to the climb the charts, now sitting at 15th on the career assist rankings with 1,253 and is now 19 shy tying Liz Powell (2014-15) for 14th.
• 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 12 double-doubles for the year and has registered double-double efforts in each of the last six matches.
• Nationally, Conner's 593 assists is 61st-overall with her 9.27 assists per set, good for 97th ... among the MIAA, she places fifth and sixth, respectively, while being listed 15th in digs (215).

ALLI TO THE MAX
• In the last four matches, Allison Maxwell leads the team in kills (55), kills per set (3.67) and hitting (.505) while comitting nine attack errors in 91 swings ... second in blocks (11).
• 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 (t42nd/147), kills (45th/411), points (49th/497.5).
• Among the MIAA leaderboard Maxwell is ranked among the top 10 in kills per set (5th/3.16), hitting percentage (6th/.339) and total kills (8th/193) ... listed 12th in blocks per set (.80) and 15th in total blocks (49)

OTHER NOTABLES 
• Erica Montgomery has 69 kills in seven MIAA matches.
• Genna Berg has 64 kills, 58 digs and 18 blocks in MIAA play.
• Taylor Antonowich is averaging 1.50 kills per set in the last seven matches and is receiving at .946 clip with 70 digs and 12 blocks.
• Katie Heeter has been solid on the backline with 63 digs in her last seven matches and 124 on the year.
• Kelsey Gordon has become a more frequent part of the front line rotation, playing 20 of the last 26 sets ... Gordon has 25 kills (1.25 per set) ... she has seven blocks in that time.

MIAA HONORS
On Monday, Washburn swept the weekly awards for the second time this season as Allison Maxwell (Hitter) and Shayla Conner (Specialist) each garner recognition by the conference. This was Maxwell's second award in as many weeks, while Conner was recognized for the third time in four weeks.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Washburn is 12-0 this season when not playing at Lee Arena including a 5-0 mark in true road contests. In the three last seasons, the Ichabods are 37-20 when not at Lee Arena including 20-16 mark in true road contests.

HALL OF FAME CAREER
On Saturday, Tessa (Jones) Arndorfer will become the fourth former volleyball student-athlete to be inducted into the Washburn Athletic Hall of Fame. The three-time AVCA All-American will join Susan Waller (2007-08), Jill Gassen (2014-15) and 2016-17 inductee, Dani McHenry.

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.