PITTSBURGH, Pa. --- For just the second time in program history, Washburn volleyball will appear in the NCAA National Championship, held this year in the Steel City, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Ichabods enter the single-elimination tournament as the fifth-seed and open against fourth-seeded Wingate, Thursday at 7:30 pm (6:30 pm CT) at the AJ Palumbo Center located on the campus of Duquesne University.

THE BRACKET SHAKEDOWN
In addition to the Ichabods, the penultimate weekend of the volleyball season will feature seven other regional champions ... Wingate (N.C.) and Tampa will represent the Southeast and South regions respectively, while American International (Mass.) represents the East ... from the Atlantic region is Wheeling Jesuit (W.Va.), Lewis (Ohio) from the Midwest, Western Washington from the West and Tarleton State from the Southeast. 

As for the pairings, Tampa is the top-seed and will open against eighth-seeded AIC ... the winner of the match will advance to face the winner of Washburn/Wingate in the semifinals Friday, Nov. 30 ... on the otherside, No. 2-seed Wheeling Jesuit opens against No. 7-seed Lewis, with third-seeded Western Washington taking on sixth-seeded Tarleton State. 

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
This is Washburn's first appearance at the NCAA National Championship since playing host to the event in 2007 ... the Ichabods are a combined 14-13 all-time in NCAA postseason play, with an appearance in the semifinals of the NCAA National Championship as their best finish ... in Washburn's last trip to the national event, it topped then-No. 1 Tampa in the five sets during the quarterfinals, before falling in four sets to Western Washington in the semifinals.

THE MIAA AT NATIONALS
As a conference, the MIAA has been represented 13 times in the NCAA Volleyball Championship, most recently by Central Missouri in 2011 ... members have advanced to the semifinals or beyond six times with only two appearances in the championship match, both by Truman (2004, 2005).

ABOUT THE OTHER WU
Wingate University (the other WU), heads to Pittsburgh ranked 24th in the AVCA's last poll release and are 32-1 on the year ...the Bulldogs were the top-seed in the NCAA Southeast Regional after winning the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) regular season and tournament titles ... their lone lost was a 3-1 decision at Anderson (S.C.) on Oct. 26 ... Wingate recorded 17 straight-set wins but have no faced an AVCA nationally ranked opponent all season.

Five Bulldogs earned all-conference team postseason honors including Rachel Alles who was named SAC Player of the Year ... Alles and Phoebe Havenaar were named to the first team, while second team honors went to Anna Holmquist, Hannah Givens and Kori Adams ... Wingate Shelton Collier also garnered post season accolades as he was named SAC Coach of the Year.

Wingate entered the tournament leading the Division II in win percentage (.969), while being listed fourth in kills per set (17.73) and assists per set (14.05), fifth in opponent hitting (.107), 13th in digs per set (19.68) and 21st in hitting (.248). 

THEY GOT HISTORY
Thursday's match with Wingate will be the second-ever meeting ... Washburn won the initial showdown in straight sets (3-0) at the South Carolina Spartanburg Invitational on Aug. 30, 2002, marking Chris Herron's first win victory as head coach of Washburn. 

PULLING RANK
After falling out of the AVCA Top 25 in the 2017 Week 4 release, Washburn went 13 consecutive weeks before rejoining the rankings at No. 21 during the 2018 Week 4 release after toppling then-No. 1 Nebraska-Kearney, 3-1 ... since then the Ichabods have put together an 8-3 mark against ranked opponents including a 5-1 record against the AVCA Top 10 including three-straight wins during the regional tournament.

THE SURVIVOR SERIES
Washburn qualified for the NCAA National Championship after surviving the gauntlet that is the NCAA Central Region Tournament with seven of the eight teams in the tournament ranked among the AVCA Top 10 ... the Ichabods earned their spot in Pittsburgh wins over No. 5 Northern State, No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth and No. 9 Concordia-St. Paul, the two-time defending national champion. 

NO PARTICIPATION AWARDS HERE
Six Ichabods were recognized by the MIAA for all-conference accolades ... Shayla Conner, Erica Montgomery, Allison Maxwell, Faith Rottinghaus and Genna Berg each earned first team honors, while Makayla Maxwell received an honorable mention nod ... Conner and Allison Maxwell each garnered AVCA All-America honors earlier this week ... Allison has also collected all-region awards from D2CCA ... head coach Chris Herron was named AVCA Central  Region Coach of the Year ... assistant coach Lauren Ramatowski was named USMC/AVCA Division II National Assistant Coach of the Year.

RECORD START
Washburn's 22-0 run to open the 2018 campaign was the best start in program history surpassing a 15-0 start in 2009 and tied the 2011 mark for second-most consecutive wins in program-history.

BLOCK PARTY
Washburn has been hosting a season long block party as its 288.5 blocks is ninth-best in Division II while its 2.29 blocks per set is 23rd-overall ... during the regional tournament Washburn averaged 9.67 blocks during the three-match weekend ... the Ichabods have registered double-figure block totals eight times this season including three times in their last five matches ... on Nov. 10, Washburn posted a 20-block effort in MIAA tournaments finals, for the first time in over a decade for its best single-match performance of the season.

BLOCK PARTY HOSTS
The Ichabod blocking efforts has been led by Allison and Makayla Maxwell with the duo combing for 236 blocks while accounting for 30 of the team's 58 solo blocks ... Makayla began the week averaging 1.02 blocks per set for 86th on the national leaderboard while her 118 total blocks was 60th-overall ... Allison meanwhile started with a team-best 120 blocks, 47th in Division II, while landed just inside the Top 100 with a per set average of 0.99 (99th).

KEEP THEM AT BAY
In 32 of 36 matches this season Washburn has held opponents to sub-.200 hitting with 15 below the .100 mark ... as a result the Ichabods began the week ranked 15th in Division in opponent hitting percentage (.125) ... during the regional tournament Washburn faced three of the top teams listed among Division II in hitting (Northern State, 1st (.298); Concordia-St. Paul, 2nd (.283); Minnesota-Duluth, 5th (.273) -- in each match the Ichabods held their counterparts to near season lows ... opponents this season are averaging 11.06 kills per set and approximately 39 kills per match.

STRAIGHT KILLIN IT
Washburn began the week ranked ninth in Division II in total kills (1,776) and 23rd in kills per set (14.10) ... the Ichabods have registered 60 or more kills seven times with a season-best 72 at Nebraska-Kearney (11/10) ... during the regional tournament, Washburn amassed 169 kills in 13 sets.

HITTING THERE SPOTS
The Ichabods have hit .250 or better 15 times this season and have surpassed .300 on four occasions ... Washburn's best outing was a .413-clip against Southern Arkansas (8/31) ... as result, the Ichabods began the week listed 37th on the Division II leaderboard in hitting (.323).

DOUBLE-TROUBLE
This season Washburn has seen a total of 40 double-doubles split between four players ... Shayla Conner leads the quartet with a team-best 25 ... Genna Berg has 11, Taylor Antonowich with three and Allison Maxwell with one ... Conner's double-double total this season alone puts her at 10th in on the Washburn career-list, while the 36 for her career is seventh-best.  

ACES WILD
Washburn began the week ranked 68th in Division II with 177 aces with four Ichabods notching 25 or more ... freshman Taylor Antonowich leads the charge with a team-best 31 after totaling seven during the regional tournament ... Shayla Conner follows with 29, Faith Rottinghaus has 28 and Genna Berg completes the quartet with 25.

ROAD WARRIORS
Away from Lee Arena, the Ichabods have thrived putting together an impressive 21-1 record, including an 11-0 mark in neutral site matches ... during the 22 match stretch, Washburn has won 65 of 80 sets it has played ... in neutral sites venues the attack has averaged 14 kills per set behind .231 hitting while the defense has held opponents to .123 hitting with 10.9 kills per set.

TRADITION OF SUCCESS
The Ichabods have made a habit out of appearing in the NCAA tournament, reaching the milestone 14 times in the past 17 seasons under head coach Chris Herron ... in the last seven seasons, Washburn volleyball has had 12 AVCA All-Americans, including three in 2016.

500-WIN CLUB
After helping Washburn become just the 10th NCAA Division II program to 1,000 victories last season, head coach Chris Herron became the 14th active coach in Division II to record 500 victories with a single-program. with 3-1 win over Central Oklahoma on Nov. 9 during the MIAA Championship.

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 has grown to eight sports with the addition of soccer, tennis, and cross country and indoor/outdoor track and field.