TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 4 Washburn is set for a pair of road matches at Central Oklahoma on Friday evening and then Newman on Saturday afternoon.

FIRST SERVE …
>> After a road sweep over Emporia State on Tuesday, Washburn is now 20-3 overall with a 12-2 mark in MIAA matches.
>> The Bronchos are 17-6 (10-5 MIAA) this fall and have won their last two matches in straight sets.
>> This year, the Jets are 8-13 (4-11 MIAA) and have lost five of their last six matches.
>> Washburn shut out both NU and UCO in Lee Arena earlier this season.
>> The Ichabods are 5-1 in true road matches this season.

QUICK HITS …
>> This season, Washburn has gone 7-1 on Friday matches and 8-1 on Saturdays.
>> The Ichabods are also 4-0 on Tuesdays and 1-1 on Thursdays.
>> As a team, Washburn leads the MIAA in nine of its 12 statistical categories, including hitting percentage (.300 percent - third in DII), kills per set (15.09 kills/set - first in DII), and assists per set (13.71 assists/set - third in DII).
>> The Ichabods also hold their opponents to a conference-low .136 hitting percentage as well as the lowest in opponent assists (9.62 assists/set), kills (10.66 kills/set), service aces (0.84 aces/set), and blocks (1.41 blocks/set).
>> Allison Maxwell (.437) and Sydney Fitzgibbons (.430) are the only two hitters in the MIAA who currently hold an attacking percentage above .400. The next closest hitter is Anna Squiers from Nebraska-Kearney who is hitting .373 on the year.
>> Washburn has won 64 of the 79 sets it has played this season while recording 14 sweep victories.
>> Washburn has had at least 12 sweep victories every season since Coach Herron took over the program in 2002.
>> The Ichabods have hit above .300 in 14 matches and held their opponents below .100 in 11 matches.
>> WU is currently third in the MIAA standings with a conference mark of 12-2. Central Missouri leads league at 13-1 and although Northwest Missouri also has two conference losses, the Bearcats have played one match less than Washburn so far and are 11-2.

COACH CHRIS HERRON …
>> Chris Herron is in his 20th year leading Washburn and holds a record of 551-110 (.835) while going 266-63 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 Central Oklahoma, Herron is 12-7.
>> He holds a perfect 9-0 record against Newman.
>> In three set matches, his teams have gone 368-42.

IN THE RANKINGS …
>> The Ichabods slid two places in the latest AVCA rankings to No. 4 after falling in four sets against previously No. 3-ranked Central Missouri last week.
>> Washburn has been ranked in the top-five in 23 of the last 24 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.
>> Washburn was atop the AVCA national poll for four weeks and prior to this season, WU 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.
>> For the eighth straight week, four of the top-10 teams in the AVCA poll are from the MIAA: Alongside Washburn is Central Missouri at No. 2 and Northwest Missouri at No. 3, Nebraska-Kearney is tied for No. 15.
>> The NCAA Central Region is always tough and this year is no different. There are 10 total teams from the Central Region that are ranked in the top-25.
>> Washburn is 5-3 against opponents ranked in the top-20 so far this season. Four of those matches were a top-10 battle.

LAST TIME OUT …
>> Washburn swept Emporia State for the second time this season by the set scores of 25-16, 25-16, and 25-21.
>> The Ichabods finished the match with a .262 hitting percentage while holding the Hornets to a .043 mark.
>> Eleven Ichabods recorded at least one kill.
>> Allison Maxwell led the team with eight kills and hit .412 in the match.
>> Berg recorded six kills and eight digs to go over the 1,000 digs mark in her career. She is now the 10th Washburn player to surpass 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career.
>> Allison Sadler recorded 25 assists and eight digs.
>> Faith Rottinghaus led all players with 24 digs.
>> Freshman Taryn Pridgett knocked down a career-best three kills on four swings.

TEAM LEADERS …
>> Genna Berg: Leads the team with 280 kills and is third in the conference with 3.54 kills per set. She has also made 44 blocks and tallied 114 digs.
>> Allison Maxwell: Has recorded eight or more kills in 22 of 23 matches played. She is fouth in the nation with a .437 hitting percentage. She is also third in the conference with 91 total blocks.
>> Faith Rottinghaus: Averages 6.49 digs per set (third in Division II) and has 513 total digs (fifth in Division II). She has just two reception errors in 259 total attempts for a .992 reception percentage. Her last error occurred on Sept. 4 against Northern State.
>> Kelsey Gordon: Is third on the team with 184 kills and fifth in the MIAA with a .338 hitting percentage. She had a season-high four digs at Emporia State.
>> Jalyn Stevenson: Has racked up 174 kills on the year. She was a part of a career-high five blocks at ESU.
>> Allison Sadler: Leads the team with six double-doubles as she averages 10.31 assists per set (third in the MIAA) and is second on the team with 182 digs.
>> Sydney Fitzgibbons: Is second in the conference and seventh in the nation with a .430 attacking percentage.  She has hit .400 or better in 16 matches this fall and has not committed more than three errors in any match this season. She had five kills on seven swings with zero errors against the Hornets.
>> Taylor Antonowich: Is third on the team with 158 digs. Had eight digs and two kills at ESU.

MILESTONE TRACKER …
>> Berg will also move up to No. 8 on the all-time kills list in 27 more kills.
>> Stevenson is 26 kills away from recording 200 this season.
>> Gordon needs 67 more kills to reach 700 total.
>> Rottinghaus is second on the program's all-time career digs list with 2,356 in her time as an Ichabod. She needs 109 to surpass Erica Cowhick, who holds the program's record with 2,464.
>> She is also nine service aces away from 100 in her career.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION ...
Central Oklahoma Bronchos
>> In 2019, UCO's season came to an end in the MIAA Quarterfinal match and finished the year with a record of 18-13 (10-10 MIAA).
>> The 17-6 (10-5 MIAA) Bronchos are hitting .229 and average 13.5 kills per set. They also lead the MIAA with 19.44 digs per set.
>> Courtney Lane has been their offensive leader this year, averaging 3.56 kills per set which ranks second in the MIAA, and leads the conference in points per set (4.02). She also has 16 service aces and 36 total blocks on the season.
>> Katie Le has been a big reason UCO leads the conference in digs. She is second in the MIAA in total digs with 471 and averages 5.81 per set.
>> Jenna Karp contributes 2.28 kills per set and leads the team with 93 total blocks.
>> Amanda Desch does a little of everything for Central Oklahoma as she averages 6.57 assists per set while also landing 62 kills and leads the team with 20 aces.
>> Edgar Miraku has led the Bronchos for nine years and holds a 200-68 record as the head coach.
>> The Ichabods lead the series, 15-9, and have won the last two matches played in Edmond.
>> Washburn defeated Central Oklahoma 25-15, 25-15, and 25-16 on Oct. 2.
>> The Ichabods hit .331 while the Bronchos finished with a .102 percentage. WU led in kills, 52-28.
>> Stevenson led the Ichabods with 13 kills and added eight digs and two service aces.
>> Karp led UCO with eight kills. Amanda Desch finished with a double-double with 17 assists and 11 digs.

Newman Jets
>> After going 1-28 (1-19 MIAA) in 2019, the Jets are 8-13 (4-11 MIAA).
>> The team has a .172 hitting percentage and averages 12.1 kills per set. They are also third in the conference averaging 2.22 blocks per set.
>> Two Newman players rank in the top-10 in the conference for kills as Salome Romp is fifth with 3.43 kills per set and Riley Daugherty's 3.21 kps lands her at eighth on the list.
>> Daugherty also leads the team with 308 total digs and averages 3.95 digs per set.
>> In the front row, Jada Key has made 75 total blocks while Imani Jones has recorded 65 total blocks with 33 solo stops.
>> Jenna DeVore has tallied 528 assists (6.77 assists per set) and is tied for a team-high in service aces with 11.
>> Jose Lugo is in his third year leading the Jets.
>> Washburn leads the all-time series, 21-7, and has won the last 11-straight meetings while only dropping two sets.
>> The two teams have played three matches against each other since Newman joined the MIAA for the 2019 season and Washburn has swept all three matchups.
>> Washburn has never lost when playing Newman in Wichita, holding a 6-0 mark.
>> WU topped NU on Oct. 1 by the set scores of 25-12, 25-19, and 25-12.
>> The Ichabods hit .343 and held the Jets to a .030 clip. Washburn led in kills, 46-22.
>> Stevenson notched nine kills and hit .474 on the night and added eight digs.
>> The Jets were led by Daugherty with eight kills and 13 digs.

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 goes on its final road trip of the regular season to Pittsburg State and Missouri Southern, November 5-6.