TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 1 Washburn wraps up a five-match homestand on Tuesday evening with its sixth top-20 matchup of the season as the Ichabods host No. 15 Nebraska-Kearney. The match is slated to begin in Lee Arena at 6 p.m.

FIRST SERVE …
>> These two teams met earlier this season on Sept. 18 when Washburn defeated then-ranked No. 1 Nebraska-Kearney on the road in four sets, 25-22, 25-20, 21-25, 25-16.
>> The Ichabods are on an eight-match winning streak and hold an overall record of 16-1 to go with a perfect conference mark of 8-0.
>> After starting the year 8-0, the Lopers have gone 5-4 after falling to the Ichabods.
>> Washburn trails in the all-time series against Nebraska-Kearney, 37-13.
>> When playing against UNK in Topeka, Washburn is 6-5.
>> The Ichabods' last home win against the Lopers came on Sept. 15, 2018, when Nebraska-Kearney was ranked No. 1.

QUICK HITS …
>> As a team, the Ichabods lead the conference in hitting percentage (.316 percent - second in DII), kills per set (15.02 kills/set - third in DII), assists per set (13.60 assists/set - fourth in DII), and blocks per set (2.37 blocks/set - 17th in DII).
>> Washburn is one of six teams in Division II to have only lost one match: West Florida (19-1), Shepherd (16-1), Colorado School of Mines (15-1), Cal Poly Pomona (14-1), and Nova Southeastern (13-1).
>> Texas-Tyler is 12-0 and is the only team to be currently undefeated.
>> The Ichabods have led in kills over their opponents, 871-588, and have landed 37 more service aces than they have allowed their opponents.
>> The Ichabods have outscored their opponents in the opening set, 415-260.
>> Ten of Washburn's 16 wins have been sweeps.
>> Wasburn has held eight of its opponents to a hitting percentage below .100.
>> In the four set win at Nebraska-Kearney earlier this season, Washburn held UNK to a season-low .134 hitting percentage while the Ichabods finished with a .240 clip.
>> Four Ichabods finished in double-figure kills led by Jalyn Stevenson's career-best 16 kills to go with 16 digs.

COACH CHRIS HERRON …
>> Chris Herron is in his 20th year leading Washburn and holds a record of 545-108 (.835) while going 260-61 in MIAA play.
>> Herron has led Washburn to five MIAA titles and 15 trips to the NCAA Tournament since taking over the program.
>> He has coached at least one All-American in every year but 2002 and 2017 season.
>> Against Nebraska-Kearney, he is 7-15.
>> Herron is 81-78 when playing teams ranked in the top-25.
>> In three set matches, his teams have gone 364-42.

MIAA CO-SETTER OF THE WEEK …
>> Allison Sadler received MIAA Setter of the Week honors for the second time this season on Oct. 11
>> She averaged 10.43 assists per set and guided an Ichabod offense that hit .311 last weekend.
>> In the sweep over Pittsburg State on Saturday, she recorded her fourth double-double of the season finishing with 38 assists and 13 digs.
>> There has been at least one Ichabod earn an MIAA weekly award in each of the six weeks this season.

IN THE RANKINGS …
>> The Ichabods are ranked the No. 1 team in the nation for the fourth week in a row and are the only team to hold down the top ranking for more than one week this season.
>> Washburn has been ranked in the top-five in 21 of the last 22 official polls (excluding the 2021 spring season), dating back to the final rankings of 2018. The Ichabods were ranked No. 8 in this fall's preseason poll.
>> Prior to this season, Washburn had never been ranked No. 1 before.
>> Washburn held down the No. 2 spot for the first three weeks of the 2008 season and then again in the seventh week during the 2010 season.
>> Four of the top-15 teams in the latest AVCA poll are from the MIAA: Central Missouri is No. 4, Northwest Missouri is No. 9, Nebraska-Kearney is No. 15. Central Oklahoma received votes in the poll for the fourth-straight week.
>> Washburn is already 4-1 against opponents ranked in the top-20 so far this season.
>> During the 2019 season, the Ichabods faced a tough schedule and went 4-4 against opponents ranked in the top-25. Six of those opponents were ranked in the top-10.

LAST TIME OUT …
>> Washburn defeated Missouri Southern, 3-1, and swept Pittsburg State last weekend.
>> The Ichabods rolled to a 25-8 victory in both the first and second set against the Lions before tripping up in the third set, 25-22. Washburn regrouped and closed out the four set win with a 25-14 decision.
>> The Ichabods led in kills, 61-21.
>> Genna Berg finished with a career-high single match attacking percentage of .571 and had 18 kills. She also added seven digs.
>> Allison Maxwell had a dozen kills while hitting .478 and made five blocks.
>> Washburn downed Pittsburg State, 25-14, 25-18, 25-17.
>> Maxwell led with 15 kills and hit .480 and Kelsey Gordon also had double-digit kills with 10.

TEAM LEADERS …
>> Genna Berg: Leads the team with 209 kills and has a conference-best 3.60 kills per set.
>> Allison Maxwell: Has the third-highest hitting percentage in Division II (.465) and leads the conference in total blocks (71), which also ranks 17th in the nation. She is second on the team with 176 kills.
>> Faith Rottinghaus: Averages 6.02 digs/set, which leads in the MIAA and ranks eighth in the nation. She has scooped up 307 digs so far this season and only committed two reception errors 176 attempts.
>> Kelsey Gordon: Is third on the team with 142 kills and second in blocks with 50 overall.
>> Jalyn Stevenson: Has tallied 128 kills on the year and leads WU with 22 service aces.
>> Allison Sadler: Averages 9.47 assists per set and is second on the team with 126 digs.
>> Sydney Fitzgibbons: Is hitting .411 on the season, which ranks second in the conference and 11th in the country. She has knocked down exactly eight kills in each of the past four matches.
>> Chloe Paschal: Recorded three service aces against Pittsburg State and has eight on the year. She has also scooped up 56 digs.

MILESTONE TRACKER …
>> Maxwell needs 10 more total blocks to be one of five players in Washburn's history to record 1,000 kills and 400 total blocks.
>> In 23 more digs, Berg will enter Washburn's history books as the 10th player to have 1,000 career kills and digs. She is also two kills away from 1,300.
>> Gordon is nine kills away from 600 in her career.
>> Sadler is 119 away from 3,000 career assists.
>> Fitzgibbons needs 20 more kills to reach 200 career kills.
>> Rottinghaus is now second on the all-time career digs list with 2,192 in her time as an Ichabod. She needs 273 to surpass Erica Cowhick, who holds the program's record with 2,464.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION ...
Nebraska-Kearney Lopers
>> The Lopers hold a record of 13-4 (4-4 MIAA) with losses to Washburn, Central Oklahoma, Northwest Missouri, and Central Missouri.
>> As a team this season, UNK is second in hitting percentage (.255), assists (13.54/set), and service aces (1.75/set). The Lopers are also eighth in the nation with 14.47 kills per set.
>> In the matchup against the Ichabods earlier this season, three Lopers finished in double-figure kills led by Anna Squiers' 13. Bailee Sterling had 11 kills and Emersen Cyza recorded 10.
>> Setter Maddie Squiers leads the MIAA and is third in Division II with 11.54 assists per set and is also tied for a team-high in service aces with 24. She has also landed 58 kills and is third on the team with 181 digs.
>> Cyza has hammered down a team-high 167 kills and averages 3.04 kills per set.
>> Anna Squiers is second with 160 kills and is hitting .353 on the year.
>> Defense specialist Lindsay Nottlemann averages 5.08 digs per set and has successfully received 195 service attempts with 11 errors for a .947 reception percentage.
>> Rick Squiers is in his 22nd year at the helm for Nebraska-Kearney and held a 675-89 record coming into this season.

2021 SQUAD …
>> There are 13 Ichabods returning from the 2019 squad and they lost just two letterwinners from that team.
>> Ten seniors will take the court for their final season and are joined by two juniors, two sophomores, and one redshirts freshman.
>> Washburn added four freshmen in 2020 and three more for this fall.
>> Two transfer student-athletes also join the team in Jaycee Burghart (Cloud County CC) and Payton Nutter (Concordia-St. Paul).

2019 & 2020 SEASON REWIND …
>> In 2019, Washburn completed its second-straight season ranked as a top-five team in the AVCA national final rankings as the Ichabods checked in at No. 5 in all of Division II.
>> The team finished the season 27-4 and 18-2 in MIAA matches with their only two losses of the regular season coming against Nebraska-Kearney.
>> Washburn started the season undefeated through nine matches while only suffering one set loss amid eight 3-0 sweep victories.
>> The Ichabods were awarded the No. 2 seed in the MIAA Tournament and swept their quarterfinal game against Pittsburg State before falling in five to Central Missouri in the semifinal.
>> Washburn earned its 15th trip to the NCAA Tournament and was tabbed as the six-seed in the Central Region and played against the three-seed and No. 3 nationally-ranked Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears in the quarterfinals.
>> CSP won sets one and three and WU claimed sets two and four to send it to the deciding fifth, which the Golden Bears won  15-8 ultimately ending the Ichabods' season.
>> Although the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the MIAA teams agreed to a shortened conference-only schedule in the spring of 2021 to have the opportunity to compete.
>> Official statistics were not kept, but the competition level remained high and the Ichabods finished with a mark of 14-5 and recorded 11 sweep victories.

TAKE A LOOK AHEAD …
>> Washburn travels to the Show Me State this weekend to take on No. 9 Northwest Missouri and Missouri Western, Oct. 15-16.