FIRST SERVE …
>> The Washburn volleyball team returns to the NCAA Central Region Tournament this week to defend its 2018 title starting with a top-five showdown of last season's championship match. The No. 5 nationally ranked Ichabods, who are the tournament's No. 6 seed, will take on No. 3-ranked and No. 3-seed Concordia-St. Paul (25-7, 16-4 NSIC) in the regional quarterfinal on Thursday, Dec. 5 at noon in Kearney, Neb. Washburn defeated Concordia-St. Paul in five sets a season ago in Kearney to advance to the NCAA National Tournament.
QUICK HITS …
>> Washburn is 2-3 all-time against Concordia-St. Paul with both of the Ichabods' victories coming in five set.
>> The Ichabods finished the MIAA regular season in second and reached the MIAA Tournament semifinal match.
>> The Washburn Ichabods are 4-1 this season in neutral site matches.
>> Twenty of Washburn's 27 wins have been shutouts.
>> Seven of the eight teams in the NCAA Central Region Tournament are ranked in the top-10 in the AVCA national poll.
>> Last season, the Ichabods were the No. 3 seed and defeated No. 6 seed Northern State (25-9, 23-25, 21-25, 25-23, 15-12) in the NCAA opening round.
>> Washburn followed that up with a straight-set semifinal sweep against No. 2 seed Minnesota-Duluth (26-24, 25-18, 27-25).
>> The Ichabods earned their second NCAA title in program history with a five-set victory against No. 4 seed Concordia-St. Paul (25-22, 23-25, 15-25, 25-18, 15-11).
NCAA TOURNAMENT …
>> This will be the Ichabods' 15th trip to the NCAA Tournament and they have an all-time record of 15-14.
>> The Central Regional Tournament will be hosted by top-seeded Nebraska-Kearney for the second-straight year.
>> Regional ticket prices are $10 for adults, $7 for seniors/ages 6-18, $5 college students w/ I.D. All Session Pass is $27 for adults, $18 for seniors/ages 6-18 years old. Go to www.lopertickets.com for purchasing options.
>> Live stats and a free live stream video will be available for each match.
>> Central Missouri, the No. 7 seed, rounds out the three MIAA teams advancing to the NCAA Tournament.
>> The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) has four teams in the regional: Minnesota-Duluth (No. 2 seed), Concordia-St. Paul (No. 3 seed), Northern State (No. 4 seed), and St. Cloud State (No. 5 seed).
>> Oklahoma Baptist received an automatic bid as a representative from the Great American Conference.
>> The Ichabods are 3-0 when playing in the NCAA postseason in Kearney, Neb., and are 13-10 overall when playing at neutral site matches.
>> As the six-seed in the NCAA Tournament, Washburn is 0-2.
>> The Ichabods are 1-3 against No. 3 seed teams in the NCAA Tournament.
>> The winning team from each region will advance to the Elite Eight at the NCAA National Tournament in Denver, Colo., Dec. 12-14.
ALL-MIAA ICHABODS …
>> Seven Ichabods received all-MIAA honors this season with four being selected to the first team.
>> Junior outside hitter Genna Berg was named the MIAA Co-Player of the Year, marking the third time a Washburn player has received the award and first since Jessica Fey in 2012. She also earned a place on the MIAA first-team for the second-straight season.
>> Allison Maxwell and Faith Rottinghaus were named to the first-team for the second-consecutive year while Allison Sadler was a first time selection.
>> Kelsey Gordon and Erica Montgomery were both named to the second-team while Taylor Antonowich received an honorable mention nod.
LAST TIME OUT …
>> Washburn opened the MIAA Tournament as two-seed by sweeping the seven-seed Pittsburg State for the third time this season (25-9, 25-16, and 25-20).
>> The Ichabods recorded their second-highest attacking percentage of the season with a .404 clip.
>> Berg led the team with 17 kills and Maxwell hit .750 in the match with nine kills on 12 attempts with no errors.
>> The Ichabods advanced to the MIAA semifinal where they fell to No. 10-ranked and No. 3 seed Central Missouri in five sets (25-8, 21-25, 25-23, 21-25, 11-15).
>> Berg notched her 15th double-double of the season with 23 kills and 15 digs.
>> Montgomery became the 22nd player in Washburn history to eclipse 1,000 kills as she landed 13 in the match.
>> Rottinghaus and Pullen had a career night defensively as they scooped up 40 and 21 digs, respectively.
>> Antonowich was a force at the net with a career-high seven block assists.
>> Sadler dished out 49 assists to go with her 15 digs for her 12th double-double of the year.
ICHABOD LEADERS IN THE MIAA …
>> At the conclusion of the MIAA regular season and tournament, the Ichabods finished in the top-three in 10 different statistical categories.
>> The Ichabods led the league in kills/set (14.40) and service aces/set (1.42).
>> The Washburn defense also held their opponents to the lowest average in assists/set (9.35), kills/set (10.25), digs/set (15.81), and the second-lowest opponent hitting percentage (.129).
>> Several Ichabods ranked in the top-10 throughout the conference statistics list.
>> Sadler topped the MIAA in assists/set, averaging 11.12.
>> Antonowich led the conference with 0.35 service aces/set with Berg right behind in second with 0.34
>> Berg also had the second-best kills/set average in the league with 3.89.
>> Maxwell finished in the top-10 in hitting percentage with a .298 clip for seventh.
>> Two Ichabods finished in the top-six in blocks as Gordon averaged 0.92 blocks/set and Maxwell was close behind at 0.91/set for fifth and sixth, respectively.
>> Rottinghaus was third in digs/set with 5.58.
NATIONAL RANKS …
>> Washburn volleyball has been ranked in the AVCA Top-25 Poll for the past 23-straight rankings, dating back to Sept. 17, 2018. The team has also been in the top-five for the entirety of this season.
>> The Ichabods are seventh in the nation in kills/set, 17th in assists/set, and 22nd in digs/set.
>> Washburn is seventh in winning percentage (.900).
>> Sadler's assists/set average is the 18th-best in all of Division II.
>> Rottinghaus is currently 27th in the nation in digs/set and Berg is 35th in kills/set.
HEAD COACH CHRIS HERRON …
>> Chris Herron is in his 18th season leading the Washburn volleyball program and holds an overall record of 531-106 and is 254-61 in MIAA matches.
>> Herron's career collegiate winning percentage of .818 is sixth-best among active Division II coaches and is 17th-best all-time in D-II.
>> Herron has led Washburn to every NCAA appearance in its program history and had a stretch where he reached the tournament every season for 12-straight years (2004-2015).
>> He is 15-14 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
MILESTONE TRACKER …
>> Antonowich is five shy of 600 career digs and is 21 kills away from hitting 300.
>> Maxwell is 25 kills short of 900 and just five solo blocks away from making 50 in her career.
>> Freshman Sydney Pullen is four digs from making 200 this season.
>> Rottinghaus is now fourth all-time in career digs and will bump up to third in 40 more digs.
>> With eight more kills, Berg would move up to No. 19 on Washburn's all-time career kills list.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION ...
Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears
>> The Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears improved to 25-7 after winning their sixth NSIC Tournament Championship. They are 8-1 in neutral site matches.
>> The Golden Bears are no stranger to the NCAA Tournament as they have danced their way to 17-straight appearances with nine NCAA Division II National Championship titles in the past 12 years and have a record of 69-7 in postseason play.
>> The team won seven of those nine titles consecutively (2007-2013), an NCAA (all division) record and fourth-longest Division II women's championship streak of any sport.
>> CSP moved up to third in the latest AVCA Poll and will be the No. 3 seed in the Central Regional Tournament.
>> As a team, the Golden Bears are hitting .244 and are averaging 14.3 kills/set while their opponents are at a .181 attacking percentage and 11.6 kills/set.
>> They lead the nation in team kills (1,746) and team assists (1,637).
>> Jasmine Mulvihill is hitting .303 and leads the team with 500 kills for an average of 4.27 kills/set, which is the third-highest average in the NSIC.
>> Tori Hanson has landed a team-high 42 aces.
>> Setter Payton Nutter averages 10.10 assists/set and has tallied 1,161 assists this season.
>> Defensively, Hanson leads the team with 540 digs (4.62/set).
>> Three players have over 80 total blocks, led by Kennedy Brady who has made 106 blocks including nine solo stops.
>> Brady Starkey is a three-time AVCA National Coach of the Year and is in his 17th season leading the Golden Bears. He holds a career record of 548-65 for a .894 winning percentage, the highest among active Division II coaches.
>> Starkey has led the Golden Bears to all nine of their NCAA Championship titles and has reached the NCAA Tournament each season he has coached.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE GOLDEN BEARS ...
Nov. 17, 2018
Washburn 3 (32-4)
Concordia-St. Paul 2 (24-9)
KEARNEY, Neb. — For the first time since 2007 Washburn volleyball is the among the final eight teams standing, after knocking off the winner of nine of the last 11 national titles, Concordia-St. Paul in five sets, 25-22, 23-25,15-25, 25-18, 15-11, Saturday to win the NCAA Central Region Championship.
With the landmark victory, the Ichabods improved to 32-4 while head coach Chris Herron earned career win number 503.
Washburn finished with three in double figure kills as Erica Montgomery led the way with a team-best 16, while Genna Berg and Allison Maxwell followed with 13 each. Shayla Conner steered the attack with 47 assists while digging up 13 attacks.
Makayla Maxwell was a presence at the net defensively as she tallied a game-best eight blocks including one solo. Allison Maxwell followed with seven blocks. Berg chipped in with five while adding 14 digs. Katie Heeter led Washburn in digs with 15.
Collectively, the Ichabod attack hit .203 with 57 kills while the defense held the Golden Bears (24-9) to sub-.200 hitting for just the third time all season as they converted at .189 clip with 73 kills. The Washburn defense also controlled the net out blocking CSP, 14-10.
Washburn started the match quickly using a 3-0 spurt to take a 5-2 lead with a kill from Berg while Taylor Antonowich landed one of two aces on the night. The advantage however was short lived as the Golden Bears answered back with a 5-0 run. Concordia then controlled the frame till late as a 6-1 run helped the Ichabods level the score at 18.
The Ichabods then used a 4-0 run to claim a 22-19 lead a controlled from their as kills from Gordon, Makayla Maxwell, and Berg secured the opening opening set point.
With momentum on their side, the Ichabods blitzed CSP early with a 9-1 run to begin the second. The Golden Bears pulled together however knocking WU off balance with an 11-0 sprint. Trailing 16-11, the Ichabdos rang up a 6-1 run tying the frame at 17. Washburn would tie the frame five more times including at 22-all, before CSP closed on a 3-1 run, tying the match at 1-1.
It was Concordia-St. Paul in the fourth as it used a 10-2 run early and never looked back. Trailing 15-8, WU put together a 4-1 run to pull within four with kills from Gordon and Berg while the Maxwell combined for assisted block but it was not enough to the close the gap. The Golden Bears though continued to thrive as they assumed a double-digit lead en route to taking a 2-1 match advantage.
Again falling behind early, Washburn recovered to hold leads of 5-3, 9-4 before using a 6-1 late to pull out a 21-10 advantage. CSP put together a late rally with a 6-2 run cutting the WU margin to 23-16 but a pair of timely kills from Montgomery was enough to secure the point, tying the match at 2-2.
In the decisive fifth, it was all Washburn early as it jumped out a 5-1 run with kills from Gordon and Berg. Allison Maxwell landed a heavy strike midway through giving the Ichabods an 8-4 advantage as the teams switched ends. CSP threatened with a 3-0 spurt after the turn to cut the margin to one, 8-7. Leading 11-10, Conner sparked a 3-0 run, setting up Allison Maxwell who punched the Ichabods ticket to the national tournament in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Following the match, the All-Tournament Team honors were announced with Conner, Berg, Montgomery and Allison Maxwell each garnering recognition. CSP also had four representatives, while Minnesota Duluth and Harding had two awardees each.
