TOPEKA, Kan. -- Postseason play begins this week as the No. 5-nationally ranked and No. 3 seed Washburn volleyball team hosts the MIAA Tournament quarterfinal match against the No. 6 seed Pittsburg State on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
FIRST SERVE …
>> The Ichabods closed out the regular season with a record of 25-4 (17-3 MIAA) and tied for second place in the MIAA standings.
>> The Gorillas lost their regular season finale in straight sets to Nebraska-Kearney to finish at 15-14 (9-11 MIAA).
>> These two teams have already met twice this regular season, with Washburn claiming both victories.
>> The Ichabods swept the Gorillas in Lee Arena on Oct. 9 by the set scores of 25-14, 25-18, and 25-17.
>> On Nov. 5 in Pittsburg, Washburn dropped the opening set but rallied to win in four by the set scores of 22-25, 25-12, 25-14, and 25-20.
>> Washburn is 13-2 when playing in Lee Arena this fall.
WASHBURN IN THE MIAA TOURNAMENT …
>> Washburn is 13-13 all time in the MIAA Tournament and 9-2 in quarterfinal matches.
>> WU is also 10-2 when playing conference tournament matches in Lee Arena.
>> Washburn has played Pittsburg State twice in the MIAA tournament and has gone 1-1.
>> This will mark the second-consecutive season the Ichabods will face the Gorillas in the MIAA Tournament quarterfinal.
>> WU swept PSU in the tournament quarterfinal, 25-9, 25-16, and 25-20, on Nov. 21, 2019 in Kansas City.
>> Washburn is 1-1 all-time as the No. 3 seed and has gone 1-0 versus the No. 6 seed.
>> Genna Berg is third on Washburn's all-time kills leader in the tournament with 83 kills in six matches.
>> Faith Rottinghaus is second in Washburn's record books with 154 digs in the six MIAA Tournament matches. Erica Cowhick is atop the list with 194 digs in nine matches played.
>> Washburn has played in four championship matches, but not won an MIAA tournament title.
>> The quarterfinal matches will be hosted by the top-four seeds on Nov. 16 and the semifinals and championship match will be played on the campus of the highest remaining seed on Nov. 19-20.
NEW PROGRAM DIGS RECORD …
>> After scooping up 11 digs in the first set against No. 5 Northwest Missouri, senior libero Faith Rottinghaus broke Washburn's career digs record.
>> Rottinghaus now has 2,480 digs in her time as an Ichabod and is second in career average with 5.41 digs per set.
>> Erica Cowhick played from 2004-07 and closed out her career with 2,464.
>> Both Rottinghaus and Cowhick are from the Topeka area and attended Shawnee Heights HS.
QUICK HITS …
>> This season, Washburn has gone 4-0 in Tuesday matches.
>> Eighteen of Washburn's 25 victories have been in straight sets.
>> Combined in two matches played against Pittsburg State, Washburn has a .292 attacking percentage and averages 15.43 kills per set while PSU hits .119 and knocks down 10.00 kills per set.
>> The Ichabods have led in kills, 108-70, combined in the two wins earlier this season.
>> As a team, the Ichabods lead the MIAA in nine of its 12 statistical categories and is ranked in the top-three nationally in kills per set (15.10 kills/set - first in DII), hitting percentage (.301 percent - third in DII), and assists per set (13.67 assists/set - fourth in DII).
>> The Ichabods also hold their opponents to a conference-low .136 hitting percentage as well as the lowest in opponent assists (9.58 assists/set), kills (10.57 kills/set), service aces (0.82 aces/set), and blocks (1.40 blocks/set).
>> Allison Maxwell (.445) and Sydney Fitzgibbons (.410) are the only two hitters in the MIAA who currently hold an attacking percentage above .400.
COACH CHRIS HERRON …
>> Chris Herron is in his 20th year leading Washburn and holds a record of 556-111 (.835) while going 271-64 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 Pittsburg State, he is 31-5.
>> In three set matches, his teams have gone 372-43.
IN THE RANKINGS …
>> The Ichabods slipped three places to No. 5 in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll after falling to previously-ranked No. 5 Northwest Missouri in the regular season finale.
>> Washburn has been ranked in the top-five in 26 of the last 27 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.
>> The MIAA continues to be well-represented in the nationall poll as Central Missouri checks in at No. 3, Northwest Missouri is No. 4, and Nebraska-Kearney is No. 12.
>> The second edition of the NCAA regional rankings were released on Wednesday, Nov. 10 with Washburn moving up one place to No. 3 on the list. Eight of the top-10 teams in the final Central Region rankings will advance to the NCAA Tournament.
LAST TIME OUT …
>> Washburn went 1-1 to close out the regular season with a sweep against Missouri Western and then suffered its first 3-0 loss of the season at the hands of No. 5 Northwest Missouri.
>> In the 25-9, 25-15, and 25-11 dominating win over Missouri Western, Washburn finished the match with a scorching .426 hitting percentage while the Griffons hit .064.
>> WU led in kills, 53-21, and in blocks, 9-3.
>> Berg knocked down a team-best 13 kills and hit .542 on the night.
>> Maxwell also finished in double-figure kills, recording 10 kills on 12 swings with zero errors for an .833 hitting percentage.
>> In the loss to NWMSU, Washburn was held to a season-low .096 hitting percentage while Northwest Missouri hit .276 in the match. The Bearcats also led in kills, 45-31.
>> Berg had a team-high nine kills and Maxwell finished with seven.
TEAM LEADERS …
>> Genna Berg: Leads the team with 352 kills and is second in the MIAA with 3.59 kills per set. She has recorded double-figure kills in 20 of the 29 matches played.
>> Allison Maxwell: Has hammered down 309 kills this year and is third in the nation with a .445 hitting percentage. She is also second in the conference with 1.08 blocks per set and her 3.15 kills per set ranks ninth in the league.
>> Faith Rottinghaus: Averages 6.50 digs per set (third in Division II) and has 637 total digs (eighth in Division II). She is also second on the team with 27 service aces.
>> Kelsey Gordon: Is third on the team with 236 kills and fifth in the MIAA with a .354 hitting percentage. She has knocked down eight or more kills in 17 matches this fall.
>> Jalyn Stevenson: Leads the team with 28 service aces. Against Missouri Western, recorded nine kills, five digs, and two blocks.
>> Allison Sadler: Has recorded a team-best seven double-doubles. She is third in the league with 10.55 assists per set and is second on the team with 2.29 digs per set.
>> Sydney Fitzgibbons: Is second in the conference and seventh in the nation with a .410 attacking percentage. Had six kills and seven blocks against the Griffons.
>> Chloe Paschal: Notched her sixth double-figure digs match with 10 against MWSU.
MILESTONE TRACKER …
>> Berg currently has 1,467 career kills and will pass Dani McHenry to move up to No. 7 on the all-time kills list in 25 more kills.
>> Gordon needs 15 more kills to eclipse 700 total.
>> In 21 more kills, Fitzgibbons will have 300 in her career.
>> Rottinghaus is five service aces away from 100 in her career.
>> Sadler will pass 3,400 career assists in 36 assists.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION ...
Pittsburg State Gorillas
>> The Gorillas finished the regular season sixth in the conference standings with a record of 15-13 (9-11 MIAA).
>> The team is hitting .206 and averages 12.9 kills per set.
>> Meg Auten leads the offense with 3.46 kills per set, which ranks fourth in the MIAA. She is also second on the team with 2.70 digs per set.
>> Janae Thurston holds a .270 hitting percentage and contributes 2.69 kills/set.
>> Hope White has been a wall at the night with 51 total blocks, including 22 solo stops. She also adds 2.36 kills per set.
>> Brianna Richard is sitting in fourth in the MIAA with 10.22 assists per set. She also leads the team with 31 service 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 25 meetings against the Gorillas and hold a 71-21 series advantage.
LAST TIME AGAINST ...
Pittsburg State Gorillas
>> After dropping the opening set, Washburn won in four by the set scores of 22-25, 25-12, 25-14, and 25-20.
>> The Ichabods hit .331 in the match while the Gorillas finished with a .137 clip.
>> WU also led in kills, 61-43, and in digs, 56-47.
>> Maxwell hit a sizzling .600 in the match and led the Ichabods with 14 kills on 20 attempts with just two errors. She also had five blocks.
>> Berg landed 13 kills and Gordon contributed 11 kills and hit .500.
>> Paschal had four of Washburn's six service aces.
>> Thurston had a team-high 14 kills for the Gorillas.
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 …
>> A Washburn win on Tuesday would advance the Ichabods to the MIAA Tournament semifinal match, which will take place Nov. 19-20 on the campus of the highest remaining seed.
