TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 1 Washburn continues conference play at home this weekend as the Ichabods host Missouri Southern and Pittsburg State on Friday and Saturday. First serve for both matches are set for 6 p.m. in Lee Arena.
FIRST SERVE …
>> The Ichabods improved to 14-1 (6-0 MIAA) last week with sweeps over Newman and Central Oklahoma.
>> The Lions have lost eight in a row after falling in straight sets at Missouri Western on Tuesday. MSSU is now 3-12 overall and looking for its first conference victory.
>> The Gorillas are looking to get back on track as they've lost three of their last four matches and hold a record of 9-5 (3-3 MIAA). PSU will first take on Emporia State on Friday evening.
>> When playing in Lee Arena this season, Washburn is a perfect 8-0. In 2019, the Ichabods finished with a 13-1 home record.
QUICK HITS …
>> As a team, the Ichabods lead the conference in hitting percentage (.317 percent - second in DII), kills per set (14.96 kills/set - third in DII), assists per set (13.57 assists/set - fifth in DII), and blocks per set (2.42 blocks/set - 19th in DII).
>> The Ichabods have led in kills over their opponents, 763-540, and have landed 31 more service aces than they have allowed their opponents.
>> Washburn is the only team in the MIAA with a perfect record in conference play.
>> The Ichabods have outscored their opponents in the opening set, 365-238.
>> Nine of Washburn's 14 wins have been sweeps.
STANDIN' IN THE HALL OF FAME …
>> Former Washburn All-American Kate Hampson will be recognized on the court Saturday after the first set against the Gorillas as she is one of six former Washburn student-athletes in the 2021 class who will be inducted into the Washburn Hall of Fame.
>> Hampson played from 2006-09 and became the fourth player in program history to earn multiple All-American awards when she earned AVCA third-team honors as a senior in 2009 after earning second team accolades from Daktronics in 2007. She was an all-MIAA first team selection in 2009.
>> She finished her career as Washburn's all-time leader in assists with 5,897, a number that ranks second all-time in MIAA history.
>> Hampson concluded her career first in school history in assists per set (11.75) and service attempts (2,203) as well as third in career double-doubles (55).
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 Missouri Southern, Herron is 29-0, and he is 29-5 when coaching against Pittsburg State.
>> Herron is 81-78 when playing teams ranked in the top-25.
>> In three set matches, his teams have gone 363-42.
IN THE RANKINGS …
>> The Ichabods are ranked the No. 1 team in the nation for the third 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 20 of the last 21 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. 5, Northwest Missouri is No. 10, Nebraska-Kearney is No. 14. Central Oklahoma received votes in the poll for the third-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.
MIAA ATHLETE OF THE WEEK …
>> Washburn is the only team in the conference to have at least one player receive MIAA AOTW honors in all five weeks of this season.
>> The Ichabods have garnered eight total awards by four different players.
>> Libero Faith Rottinghaus was named the league's Defensive Athlete of the Week for the fourth straight week as she continued to dominate defensively, averaging 5.17 digs per set and finished with a perfect reception percentage in two wins last week.
LAST TIME OUT …
>> The Ichabods posted two 3-0 victories last week over Newman and Central Oklahoma.
>> Washburn topped Newman by the set scores of 25-12, 25-19, and 25-12.
>> The Ichabods hit .343 for the match while Newman finished with a .030 attacking percentage. WU led in kills, 46-22, and recorded seven total blocks, which was five more than the Jets.
>> On Saturday, the Ichabods rolled past the Bronchos and held them to less than 16 points in each set (25-15, 25-15, and 25-16).
>> Washburn dominated offensively, as they hit .331 compared to Central Oklahoma's .102 attacking percentage and led 52-28 in kills.
>> Three Ichabods finished in double-figure kills, led by Jalyn Stevenson's 13 to also go with her eight digs and two aces.
>> Setter Allison Sadler achieved her third double-double of the season, registering 45 assists and a career-high 20 digs.
TEAM LEADERS …
>> Berg: Leads the team with 183 kills (3.59/set) and has had double-figure kills in 11 matches played while leading the team in kills in eight matches.
>> Maxwell: Has the fourth-highest hitting percentage in Division II (.462) and leads the conference in total blocks (62), which also ranks 24th in the nation. She has hammered down eight or more kills in 14 of 15 matches played.
>> 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.
>> Gordon: Is third on the team with 126 kills and second in blocks with 45 overall, including seven solo blocks.
>> Stevenson: Has tallied 113 kills on the year and averages 2.22 kills/set and is tied with Rottinghaus for the team lead in service aces (18).
>> Sadler: Averages 9.34 assists per set and is second on the team with 107 digs.
>> Fitzgibbons: Is hitting .414 on the season, which ranks second in the conference and 12th in the country.
MILESTONE TRACKER …
>> Maxwell needs 19 more total blocks to be one of five players in Washburn's history to record 1,000 kills and 400 total blocks.
>> In 34 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 25 kills away from 600 in her career.
>> Sadler is 192 away from 3,000 career assists.
>> Rottinghaus is now second on the all-time career digs list with 2,150 in her time as an Ichabod. She needs 315 to surpass Erica Cowhick, who holds the program's record with 2,464.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION ...
Missouri Southern Lions
>> The Lions finished with a record of 13-18 (6-14 MIAA) in 2019 and played in the MIAA Tournament quarterfinal match.
>> This season, Missouri Southern is hitting .146 and averages 10.8 kills per set.
>> Bonnie Hegarty leads the team with 124 kills and CC Pollard has knocked down 116 total kills.
>> Sophie Mader averages 8.56 assists per set, good for the seventh-highest in the league.
>> Libero Brooklynn McCain has scooped up 185 digs and averages 3.7 digs per set.
>> Kalie Mader is in her fourth year as head coach of the Lions.
>> Washburn has won 31 in a row against Missouri Southern and leads the all-time series, 43-34.
>> When playing the Lions in Lee Arena, Washburn is 19-7.
Pittsburg State Gorillas
>> The Gorillas are 9-5 (3-3 MIAA) to start this season and went 14-16 (9-11 MIAA) in 2019.
>> Pittsburg State is hitting .230 and is second in the conference with 92 total service aces.
>> Setter Brianna Richard is third in the league with 10.24 assists per set.
>> Three players have tallied over 100 kills so far this season, led by Meg Auten's 162 (3.24 kills/set).
>> Hope White (115) and Hannah Martin (101) have also surpassed the century mark in kills this year.
>> Marissa Bates averages 3.98 digs per set and has 13 aces.
>> Jen Gomez is in her sixth year leading Pittsburg State.
>> Former Washburn volleyball graduate assistant, Miranda Rodriguez (2018-20), is in her second year as the assistant coach for the Gorillas.
>> The Ichabods have won the last 23 meetings against the Gorillas with the last five in row being 3-0 sweeps.
>> These two programs have met 90 times and Washburn holds a 69-21 series advantage. WU is also 30-6 when playing PSU in Topeka.
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 wraps up the five-match homestand on Tuesday, Oct. 12 against Nebraska-Kearney before heading to the Show Me State to take on Northwest Missouri and Missouri Western, Oct. 15-16.
