TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 6-ranked Washburn will make its 16th NCAA Tournament appearance this week as the fifth-seeded Ichabods take on No. 10-ranked and fourth-seeded Winona State on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Warrensburg, Mo.

MATCH INFORMATION …
No. 6 Washburn (26-5) vs. No. 10 Winona State (28-4)
Thursday, Dec. 2 | 7:30 p.m. | Warrensburg, Mo. | Multipurpose Building
Tournament page can be found here.
Tickets: $10 adults, $3 seniors/students/children, children two years old and younger are free. Tickets can be purchased online here.
Watch: MIAA Network
Live stats: wusports.com/sidearmstats/wvball
Digital program can be viewed here.
>> No. 1 seeded and top-ranked Central Missouri will host the eight team Central Region tournament. The four quarterfinal matches will be played on Dec. 2 and the semifinal matches will take place on Dec. 3 at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The final remaining two teams will battle in the championship match at 7 p.m. on Dec. 4.

FIRST SERVE …
>> This will mark the first-ever meeting between Washburn and Winona State.
>> The Ichabods last played on Nov. 19 in the MIAA tournament semifinal, falling to No. 4 Northwest Missouri in four sets. WU is now 26-5 on the year.
>> The Warriors hold a record of 28-4 and are coming off a loss in the NSIC tournament championship match.
>> Winona State has done well when playing away from its home court, going 12-0 in true road matches and 9-1 when playing in neutral site matches.
>> The Ichabods are 9-1 in road matches and 3-2 in neutral site matches this fall.
>> WU has played 10 matches against teams ranked in the top-25 this season and has gone 5-5. Six of those matches were against opponents ranked in the top-10.

WASHBURN IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT …
>> Washburn has played 30 matches in the NCAA Tournament and has an overall record of 15-15. In the NCAA regional tournament, Washburn is 13-13.
>> WU is 7-8 in the opening round and 13-11 in NCAA neutral site matches.
>> When competing as the lower seed, WU is 3-8 in the tournament.
>> Washburn was tabbed the No. 5 seed in the 2019 regional tournament and in the 2018 national tournament. When playing as the five-seed, WU has gone 1-2.
>> When competing against the four-seed, Washburn is 2-1.
>> Washburn is 5-3 when playing NCAA matches in Warrensburg. The Jennies hosted the regional tournament in 2009, 2010, and 2011.
>> WU reached the regional final match in 2010 and 2011, but ultimately lost to UCM both times.
>> Seven of the eight teams in this year's Central Region tournament are ranked in the top-15 nationally.
>> In 2019, the Ichabods faced Concordia-St. Paul in the regional quarterfinal match played in Kearney, Neb. and lost a tough five setter.
>> Washburn has won the NCAA regional title twice, first in 2007 against Truman State and then in 2018 against Concordia-St. Paul.
>> There are 10 current Ichabod players who were on the 2018 roster. Current assistant coach Shayla Conner was also on the 2018 squad.

QUICK HITS …
>> Washburn had a program-best eight players receive all-MIAA honors this season, including tying a program-best with five first-team selections.
>> Genna Berg,  Faith Rottinghaus, and Allison Maxwell were all named to the first team for the third time in their careers. Allison Sadler earned her second first team honors and Kelsey Gordon was a first-time first team selection.
>> Sydney Fitzgibbons earned her first all-MIAA award and was placed on the second team and Taylor Antonowich and Jalyn Stevenson were both honorable mentions.
>> This season, Washburn has gone 1-1 in Thursday matches.
>> 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 (15.12 kills/set - first in DII), assists per set (13.70 assists/set - second in DII), and hitting percentage (.296 percent - third in DII).
>> The Ichabods also hold their opponents to a conference-low .140 hitting percentage as well as the lowest in opponent assists (9.7 assists/set), kills (10.7 kills/set), service aces (0.9 aces/set), and blocks (1.4 blocks/set).
>> Maxwell is the only player in the MIAA and one of six players in the nation who are currently hitting above .400 as she has a .438 attacking percentage.
>> Berg and Rottinghaus both set Washburn records for the most kills and digs, respectively, in MIAA postseason matches.
>> In eight MIAA tournament matches played in her career, Rottinghaus is now Washburn's MIAA postseason leader with 205 digs.
>> Berg also competed in eight MIAA postseason matches in her time as an Ichabod and passed Tessa Jones' kills record by one kill with 116 total.

SMART BODS …
>> Rottinghaus and Maxwell were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team two weeks ago and will advance to the All-America ballot which will be announced in mid-December.
>> Rottinghaus is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American (2019, 2020) and is the only Washburn player to be named to the first team twice.
>> The MIAA released its volleyball academic honor roll and all 17 eligible Ichabods earned a place on the honor roll with a GPA above 3.0. The conference will announce freshman and newcomer academic awards at the conclusion of the 2021-22 academic year. 
>> Additionally, five Ichabods (Antonowich, Fitzgibbons, Gordon, Maxwell, and Rottinghaus) received Scholar-Athlete accolades for earning all-MIAA honors and having a GPA above 3.5.
>> Rottinghaus, Antonowich, and Samantha Moburg earned the prestigious MIAA Academic Excellence Award with a perfect 4.0 GPA.

COACH CHRIS HERRON …
>> Chris Herron is in his 20th year leading Washburn and holds a record of 557-112 (.833) while going 271-64 in MIAA play.
>> Herron has coached Washburn in all of its NCAA Tournament appearances.
>> Herron has led Washburn to five MIAA titles and 16 trips to the NCAA Tournament since taking over the program, including two national semifinal appearances (2007 and 2018).
>> He has had at least one All-American player in every year but 2002 and 2017 season.
>> Herron has never faced Winona State.
>> When playing against nationally-ranked teams, Herron is 82-82.

IN THE RANKINGS …
>> The Ichabods checked in at No. 6 in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll after being ranked fifth during the final week of the regular season.
>> Washburn has been ranked in the top-10 this entire season.
>> 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 national poll as Central Missouri checks in at No. 1, Northwest Missouri is No. 4, and Nebraska-Kearney is No. 12.

LAST TIME OUT …
>> Washburn lost to Northwest Missouri for the third time this season on Nov. 19 in the MIAA Tournament semifinal match. The Ichabods lost 3-1 by the set scores of 26-28, 18-25, 25-18, and 20-25.
>> Washburn finished the night with a .180 hitting percentage while Northwest Missouri hit .162.
>> Both teams landed exactly 54 kills and Washburn led in digs, 94-89.
>> NWMSU had 10 service aces to WU's four, but the Ichabods led in blocks, 9-7.
>> Berg led the Ichabods with 17 kills on 72 attempts and added 14 digs.
>> Gordon hit .419 in the match and landed 16 kills.
>> Maxwell had six blocks including one solo stop to go with seven kills.
>> Sadler recorded 45 assists and had 12 digs.

TEAM LEADERS …
>> Genna Berg: Leads the team with 385 kills and is second in the MIAA with 3.67 kills per set. She has recorded double-figure kills in 22 of the 31 matches played. Sixteen of those matches she has had 14 or more kills.
>> Allison Maxwell: Has hammered down 329 kills this year and is third in the nation with a .438 hitting percentage. She is also second in the conference with 1.10 blocks per set and her 3.13 kills per set ranks ninth in the league.
>> Faith Rottinghaus: Averages 6.55 digs per set (third in Division II) and has 688 total digs (fifth in Division II). She has had 19 matches with 20 or more digs.
>> Kelsey Gordon: Is third on the team with 263 kills and fifth in the MIAA with a .364 hitting percentage. She  recorded nine of Washburn's 19 kills in the first set against Northwest Missouri.
>> Jalyn Stevenson: Is tied with Rottinghaus with a team-best 28 service aces. She also has totaled 220 kills and 209 digs in her first college season.
>> Allison Sadler: Has recorded a team-best nine double-doubles. She is third in the league with 10.68 assists per set and is second on the team with 2.35 digs per set.
>> Sydney Fitzgibbons: Is second in the conference and seventh in the nation with a .399 attacking percentage. She has hit .400 or better in 19 matches this fall.
>> Taylor Antonowich: Scooped up 15 digs in an impressive defensive effort against Northwest Missouri.

MILESTONE TRACKER …
>> Berg is now seventh on Washburn's all-time kills list with exactly 1,500 in her career. She will move up to sixth in a dozen more kills.
>> Gordon surpassed 700 career kills during the MIAA semifinal match and now has 712.
>> In 12 more kills, Fitzgibbons will have 300 in her career.
>> Antonowich needs two more blocks to reach 100 career total blocks.
>> Rottinghaus is four service aces away from 100 in her career.
>> Sadler will reach 3,500 career assists in 48 assists.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION ...
Winona State Warriors
>> The Warriors went 21-8 (13-7 NSIC) in 2019 and their season came to an end in the first round of the conference tournament. This season, WSU is 28-4 (17-3 NSIC) and reached the conference championship match before falling in four to St. Cloud State on Nov. 20.
>> Sixteen of their victories have been in straight sets and the team averages 14.13 kills per set and has a .255 attacking percentage.
>> NSIC Player of the Year Megan Flom leads the offense with 440 total kills (3.96 kills/set) while hitting .419. She also has a team-best 114 blocks, which includes 26 solo stops.
>> Sidney Paulson is second on the team with 297 kills (2.63 kills/set).
>> Bre Maloney earned a place on the NSIC first team as she averages 11.22 assists per set.
>> Also earning a spot on the all-conference team was Becca Pagel, who averages a team-best 5.20 digs per set.
>> Joe Getzin is in his eighth year leading the Warriors after spending the previous 12 seasons as the head coach at Ole Miss. He holds a record of 141-58 while at WSU.
>> These two teams have never played each other before.

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 …
>> An Ichabod win on Thursday would place them in the regional semifinal match on Friday against the winner of the Central Missouri/Arkansas Tech quarterfinal.