TOPEKA, Kan. --- Washburn volleyball will try to continue their winning ways this weekend when it hops on the bus and treks down to western Texas as it takes part in the LCU Chaps Classic in Lubbock, Texas.
THE SCHEDULE
Washburn will face a pair of regional opponents in Arkansas-Monticello and Southwestern Oklahoma in addition to squaring off with Lubbock Christian and St. Mary's (Texas). The Ichabods open day one with UAM at 11 am and host LCU at 6 pm, before facing SWOSU and StMU on day two at 11 am and 3 pm respectively.
THEY GOT HISTORY
Washburn has a combined 9-0 record against Arkansas-Monticello, Southwestern Oklahoma and St. Mary's (Texas), while Friday night's match-up with Lubbock Christian with the first-ever meeting.
STRONG START
For the 16th time in 17 seasons, the Ichabods began the season at 4-0 ... since 2002, Washburn as complied a 57-11 record during the second week of the season, which includes a 12-3 mark during over the course of the last four seasons ... Washburn improved to 35-15 in season openers all-time and 23-6 since joining the NCAA and MIAA in 1989 after defeating Dallas Baptist to open 2018 ... under Chris Herron, Washburn has a history of starting the season hot as it is 64-1 during the season opening weekend since his start in 2002 ... in the first month of play, the Ichabods have gone 40-11 over the last three seasons ... all-time under Herron, Washburn is 234-31 in the first month the season.
SWEEPING SUCCESS
Washburn's six victories decided in 3-0 fashion during the first two weeks of the season marks the first since 2016 the team has started the year with six or more three-set wins ... since 2015, the Ichabods are 10-1 during the final week of non-conference action with eight matches being decided in no more than three sets ... entering the 2018 campaign, Washburn has won 308 matches with the score 3-0 ... the most shutout wins in a season is 24, recorded in 2008.
ACES HIGH
In first three of four matches to begin the season, Washburn's first point of the match has been an ace ... the Ichabods are averaging 2.12 service aces per set as a team and as a result are ranked 36th in Division II ... WU's 55 total aces meanwhile is 26th-best in the nation ... the Ichabods' season-high for most aces in a single match this season is 10, which they hit established in the season opener vs. Dallas Baptist (8/24) and a day later against UCCS ... the record for most aces in a match is 19 and was set on Aug. 31, 2002 at Lee Arena in a four-set match versus Anderson (S.C.) ... Washburn's single-season record for aces as a team is 327 and was set in 1984 ... Faith Rottinghaus leads the team with 14 aces, good for 39th in Division II, while her 0.54 aces per set is 74th on the NCAA Division II landscape ... Carol Williams' 98 aces in 1975 is the most in a single-season, while Lindsey Kersting and Abby Wittman share the mark for most aces in a single-match with seven ... Kersting set the record on Oct. 20, 2001 before Wittman matched the mark on Sept. 24, 2013.
CREAM OF THE CROP
With an 8-0 record heading into the weekend slate, Washburn is just one of 15 teams in Division II with an unblemished record ... the Ichabods join the company of perennial powers Barry, Northern Michigan, Palm Beach Atlantic, as well as fellow MIAA member and reigning No. 1 Nebraska-Kearney ... all began the week at 8-0.
NEW FACES
Coach Herron welcomes five freshman to the 2018 roster including Emma Palasak, Taylor Antonowich, Sydney Fitzgibbons, Halle Meister and Alaina Dunlavy. Palasak is an outside hitter from Bentonville, Ark., who was a two-time conference selection and won a state title as a freshman ... also an outside hitter, Antonowich hails from Newton, Kan., and led her team to three consecutive KSHAA Class 5A state tournaments and Divsion I Ark Valley league titles ... Fitzgibbons is a middle hitter from Papillion, Neb., and earned three Nebraska Class A all-state honors ... listed simply as a hitter, Meister is from Omaha, Neb., and was a two-time Nebraska Class B all-state selection ... a setter from Hesston, Kan., Dunlavy finished her high school career with 1,109 assists and was a two-time first team Kansas 3A all-state selection ... among to the upperclassmen mix is junior Katie Heeter who transferred from Kansas City Kansas CC where she appeared in 42 matches and registered 385 kills and 579 digs for her career with the Blue Devils.
TOUGH DEFENSE
The Washburn defense has picked up where it left off in 2017 as the Ichabods continue the 2018 campaign among the nation's best in defensive hitting percentage as opponents are hitting .112, good for 27th-overall ... last season the Ichabods where tops in the MIAA in blocks per set (2.32) and 22nd in Division II, while also racking up 281 blocks, 17.94 digs per set and 2,171 digs, each placing Washburn third among the league leaderboard ... this season Washburn heads into the weekend with 50.5 team blocks and a 1.94 per set ... Makayla Maxwell is 12th on the MIAA leaderboard with 0.79 blocks per set.
ALL OUT ATTACK
Through eight games this season, the Washburn offense is clicking as its among the best in Division II in hitting percentage (fourth, .297); kills per set (ninth, 14.31); aces per set (36th) and assists per set (eighth, 13.54) to name a few ... individually, Allison Maxwell is fronting the Ichabod attack with a team-best .372 hitting percentage and is listed 57th nationally ... Genna Berg follows with a .317 mark, while Taylor Antonowich, Makayla Maxwell and Erica Montgomery are hitting .260 or better ... early on, the offense is running through Shayla Conner who's 221 assists this season is seventh-best on the MIAA leaderboard.
RECORD WATCH LIST
• Allison Sadler started the season listed 16th on Washburn's career assists chart with 996 ... she now has 1,048 assists for her career and is 111 shy of tying Amanda Dunbar for 15th on Washburn's all-time list.
• Makayla Maxwell is 184 kills shy of 30th on the all-time kills list ... posted a career-best 272 kills in 2017, though is averaging roughly 157 kills per season ... her 278 career blocks is 19th-best on the Washburn record book, surpassing Shawna Wildeman (1988-89) ... Maxwell is averaging 123 blocks in her last two seasons and if she follows suit, would put herself among program's the top 10 all-time.
• Faith Rottinghaus began the year ranked 44th with 579 career digs ... she has since added to her total is has climbed to 37th all-time with 697 digs ... her six aces against DBU on Aug. 24 was tied for third-best in a single-match.
• Shayla Conner is 18th on the Washburn career all-time rankings with 881 ... over the last three seasons, Conner averaged about 224 assists per year with her 283 assists in 2017 as a single-season career-best.
500-WIN CLUB
After helping Washburn become just the 10th NCAA Division II program to 1,000 victories last season, head coach Chris Herron began the 2018 campaign 29 wins shy of 500 since taking over at Washburn in 2002. Herron, who's already the winningest coach in program-history, also started the year six wins shy of 550 for his overall career.
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.
