TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 5 Washburn will square off against No. 4 Northwest Missouri for the third time this season on Friday evening in the MIAA Tournament semifinal. First is slated for 8:30 p.m. in Warrensburg, Mo.
FIRST SERVE …
>> The semifinal matches and championship will be held at the No. 1 seed Central Missouri.
>> After a sweep over Pittsburg State in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Washburn improved its record to 26-4.
>> The Bearcats have won six in a row after defeating Fort Hays State in straight sets to open the MIAA tournament and are now 25-4 on the year.
>> Washburn looks to avenge its two losses to Northwest Missouri this season as the Ichabods fell in five in Maryville and then lost 3-0 at home in the regular season finale.
>> WU has played nine matches against teams ranked in the top-25 this season and has gone 5-4. Five of those matches were against opponents ranked in the top-10.
WASHBURN IN THE MIAA TOURNAMENT …
>> Washburn is 14-13 all time in the MIAA Tournament and 4-5 in semifinal matches.
>> WU is also 3-5 in neutral site conference tournament matches.
>> Washburn has played Northwest Missouri three times in postseason action and has gone 2-1.
>> The last time these two programs met in the tournament was on Nov. 19, 2013 when the Ichabods swept the Bearcats in the quarterfinal played in Lee Arena.
>> WU lost its very first MIAA postseason match in 1992 against Northwest Missouri in a neutral site match in Emporia, Kan.
>> Washburn defeated Northwest Missouri in the quarterfinal during the 2006 season.
>> Washburn is now 2-1 all-time as the No. 3 seed and has gone 1-3 versus the No. 2 seed.
>> Genna Berg is now second on Washburn's all-time kills leader in the tournament with 99 kills in seven matches. Tessa Jones had 115 kills in MIAA postseason play.
>> Faith Rottinghaus is second in Washburn's record books with 171 digs in the seven 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 semifinals and championship match will be played in Warrensburg, Mo.
>> The winner of the Central Missouri/Nebraska-Kearney semifinal matchup will play in the championship on Saturday.
QUICK HITS …
>> Washburn had a program-best eight players receive all-MIAA honors this week, including tying a program-best with five first-team selections.
>> This season, Washburn has gone 10-1 in Friday matches this fall.
>> Nineteen of Washburn's 26 victories have been in straight sets.
>> As a team, the Ichabods lead the MIAA in eight of its 12 statistical categories and is ranked in the top-three nationally in kills per set (15.19 kills/set - first in DII), hitting percentage (.302 percent - third in DII), and is second in assists per set (13.73 assists/set - fifth in DII).
>> The Ichabods also hold their opponents to a conference-low .139 hitting percentage as well as the lowest in opponent assists (9.62 assists/set), kills (10.59 kills/set), service aces (0.81 aces/set), and blocks (1.44 blocks/set).
>> Allison Maxwell (.445) and Sydney Fitzgibbons (.407) 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 557-111 (.835) while going 271-64 in MIAA play.
>> Herron has coached Washburn in all of its MIAA tournament appearances except its first in 1992 and has gone 14-12.
>> 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 Northwest Missouri, Herron holds a record of 32-6.
>> In three set matches, his teams have gone 373-43.
>> When playing against nationally-ranked teams, Herron is 82-81.
>> When playing against the Bearcats when they have been in the top-25, he is 2-2.
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 third edition of the NCAA regional rankings were released on Wednesday, Nov. 17 with Washburn slipping one place to No. 4 on the list. Monday, Nov. 22 at 6:30 p.m. CT, the eight teams earning a trip to the NCAA Central Region Tournament will be announced.
LAST TIME OUT …
>> Washburn defeated Pittsburg State on Tuesday evening for the third time this season. WU won by the set scores of 25-19, 25-17, and 25-20.
>> Washburn closed out the night with a .325 attacking percentage while Pittsburg State hit .238.
>> The Ichabods led in kills, 54-34, and recorded exactly 18 in all three sets.
>> Berg led all players with 16 kills.
>> Maxwell knocked down 13 kills and hit .435 while playing part in three blocks in the match.
>> Sadler recorded her eighth double-double of the year with 43 assists and 10 digs to go with three kills and an ace
TEAM LEADERS …
>> Genna Berg: Leads the team with 368 kills and is second in the MIAA with 3.64 kills per set. She has recorded double-figure kills in 21 of the 30 matches played.
>> Allison Maxwell: Has hammered down 322 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 3.19 kills per set ranks eighth in the league.
>> Faith Rottinghaus: Averages 6.48 digs per set (third in Division II) and has 654 total digs (eighth in Division II). She has a reception percentage of .987 and has successfully passed 299 service attempts with just four errors.
>> Kelsey Gordon: Is third on the team with 247 kills and fifth in the MIAA with a .360 hitting percentage. She recorded seven kills on eight swings in the first set against PSU and finished the night hitting .526 with 11 kills.
>> Jalyn Stevenson: Leads the team with 28 service aces. Against the Gorillas, she had six digs and five kills.
>> Allison Sadler: Has recorded a team-best eight double-doubles. She is third in the league with 10.66 assists per set and is second on the team with 2.32 digs per set.
>> Sydney Fitzgibbons: Is second in the conference and seventh in the nation with a .407 attacking percentage.
>> Taylor Antonowich: Had nine digs against Pittsburg State and has totaled 208 on the year.
MILESTONE TRACKER …
>> Berg currently has 1,483 career kills and will pass Dani McHenry to move up to No. 7 on the all-time kills list in nine more kills.
>> Gordon needs four more kills to eclipse 700 total.
>> In 17 more kills, Fitzgibbons will have 300 in her career.
>> Antonowich needs two more blocks to reach 100 career total blocks.
>> Rottinghaus is five service aces away from 100 in her career.
>> Sadler will reach 3,500 career assists in 93 assists.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION ...
Northwest Missouri Bearcats
>> The Bearcats have won six matches in a row and finished tied for second in the MIAA standings with a 17-3 conference mark and are currently 25-4 after defeating Fort Hays State in the MIAA Tournament quarterfinal.
>> NWMSU had seven players earn all-MIAA honors.
>> Northwest Missouri has faced six teams ranked in the top-15 this fall and have gone 4-3. Three of those matches went to five sets.
>> NWMSU is third in the conference with a .255 hitting percentage and its 14.84 kills per set ranks second in the league and fourth nationally.
>> MIAA Freshman of the Year Payton Kirchhoefer leads the MIAA with 3.91 kills per set and is 14th in DII with 368 total kills. She has had 25 matches with double-figure kills.
>> Kelsey Havel, an all-MIAA first teamer, contributes 3.17 kills per set, which ranks ninth in the conference, and 3.14 digs per set.
>> Also an all-conference first team selection is setter Alyssa Rezac, who is second in the MIAA and fifth in the nation with 11.72 assists/set. She also averages 2.61 digs per set and has made 23 blocks.
>> Hannah Koechl is seventh in the league with 4.75 digs per set.
>> Amy Woerth is in her 10th year as the head coach and holds a record of 149-111.
>> These two programs first played in 1976 and Washburn leads the all-time series, 50-22.
>> Northwest Missouri holds a slight edge in neutral site matches, 4-3.
LAST TIME AGAINST ...
Northwest Missouri Bearcats
>> The Bearcats were the first team all season to defeat Washburn in three sets with a 25-17, 25-18, and 25-16 decision to close out the regular season on Nov. 16.
>> Washburn was held to a season-low .096 hitting percentage while Northwest Missouri hit .276 in the match.
>> Program history was made during the first set as Rottinghaus scooped up 11 digs to surpass 2,465 in her career and become Washburn's all-time digs leader.
>> Berg had a team-high nine kills and Maxwell finished with seven.
>> For the Bearcats, Kirchhoefer led all players with 17 kills and had a .517 hitting percentage in the match.
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 Friday would advance the Ichabods to the MIAA Tournament championship match, which will take place Nov. 20 in Warrensburg against the winner of the Central Missouri/Nebraska-Kearney semifinal matchup.
