TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 14 Washburn will play its final two home matches of the season this week, hosting Pittsburg State on Wednesday and Missouri Southern on Thursday for senior night. First serve for both matches is set for 6 p.m. in Lee Arena.

FIRST SERVE …
>> Washburn's four seniors will be recognized 15 minutes before Thursday's match against Missouri Southern.
>> The Ichabods went 2-1 last week and are 19-5 (11-5 MIAA).
>> The Gorillas have lost four of its last six matches with three of those losses against ranked opponents and is now 14-11 (8-8 MIAA).
>> The Lions (10-14, 5-10 MIAA) went 1-1 last week, picking up a shutout victory over Central Oklahoma in Joplin.
>> MSSU will play at Emporia State on Wednesday before traveling to Topeka for Thursday's match.

QUICK HITS …
>> Washburn saw its 33-match winning streak against Missouri Southern snapped last month as the Lions defeated the Ichabods in four sets.
>> The Ichabods bounced back the following day with a five-set win at Pittsburg State.
>> The Gorillas have gone 4-4 in true road matches the Lions are winless in road matches, 0-8.
>> Washburn lost its first five-set match of the season last week and is now 3-1 in five-setters.
>> WU is 13-3 this season when winning the first set ... during Head Coach Chris Herron's tenure since 2002, Washburn is 452-36 when winning the opening set.
>> One more victory will give Washburn its 19th season with 20 or more wins ... Herron has had 20+ wins in every season at Washburn except 2017 (18-14) and when the 2020 season was canceled.
>> Herron has gone with eight different starting lineups in the 24 matches so far. The starting rotation of Austin Broadie, Corinna McMullen, Sophie McMullen, Halle Meister, Kassidy Pfeiffer, Sydney Pullen, and Jalyn Stevenson are 6-1.

THANK YOU, SENIORS …
>> The careers and accomplishments of four Ichabod seniors will be celebrated before the Missouri Southern match on Thursday.
>> Halle Meister is a five-year member of the Washburn volleyball team and has started 23 out of 24 matches this fall ... in four years of playing, she heads into the week with a career attacking percentage of .326 with 242 kills, 74 blocks, and 64 digs in 161 sets played. She saw limited action prior to this season had had a combined 34 kills and nine blocks in 74 sets played. On Sept. 3 against Saint Leo, she knocked down a career-high 16 kills  while hitting a sizzling .565. She is a two-time MIAA Academic Honor Roll member and is majoring in mass media.
>> Sydney Pullen is in her fourth-year with Washburn volleyball and is in her first season as libero for the Ichabods. In three official seasons, Pullen has totaled 624 digs, 85 assists, and 24 aces. In the five-set victory over Nebraska-Kearney on Sept. 10, she scooped up a career-best 27 digs. She is a three-time MIAA Academic Honor Roll selection and will earn her degree in health service administration.
>> Kassidy Pfeiffer joined Washburn as a freshman in 2019 and has made 19 starts this fall. After redshirting her freshman campaign and the 2020 season being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pfeiffer has totaled 101 kills and 67 blocks in her career. On Sept. 3 against Saint Leo, she totaled a career-best 12 kills on 19 swings and zero errors for a .632 attacking percentage. The middle hitter, who is majoring in accounting, is a three-time MIAA Academic Honor Roll member and received MIAA Academic Excellence honors as a freshman.
>> Sophie McMullen transferred to Washburn this season after spending the previous four at Northwest Missouri. She has made an impact this fall for the Ichabods as she has 340 digs, 115 kills, 38 aces, 20 assists, and 10 blocks. She has five double-doubles on the year. She hammered down 15 kills in the sweep over Central Missouri and had back-to-back matches with five service aces at the Lee Invitational earlier this season. She is working towards her masters degree in High Incidence Special Education.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME …
>> Washburn has gone 240-32 in Lee Arena since 2002, good for an 88.2 winning percentage.
>> When playing MIAA matches in Topeka during Herron's tenure, Washburn is 152-25.
>> The Ichabods are 6-2 in Lee Arena this fall and will play their final two home matches of 2022 this week.
>> WU went 14-2 at home last year.
>> Washburn volleyball attracts a large fan base to its matches as WU has ranked in the top-10 in NCAA Division II volleyball attendence in 10 of the last 20 seasons and has been among the top-25 in attendance 17 times since 2002.

MIAA STANDINGS …
>> It's a bottleneck at the top of the MIAA standings with two matches playing the difference in the top-five teams. All five of those teams have secured their place in the MIAA postseason tournament.
>> Nebraska-Kearney and Northwest Missouri are tied for first with a 13-3 conference record
>> Central Oklahoma is one match behind at 12-4 and is third.
>> Central Missouri (11-4) is fourth and Washburn (11-5) is currently fifth.
>> Pittsburg State (8-8) is sixth, Missouri Southern (5-10) is seventh, and Fort Hays State and Missouri Western are battling for the eighth spot as both have a 5-11 MIAA mark.
>> The top-eight teams will compete in the MIAA Tournament which will take place in St. Joseph, Mo. at the Civic Arena, Nov. 10-12.

LAST TIME OUT …
>> Washburn lost a five-set marathon to Central Oklahoma (26-24, 22-25, 25-23, 31-33, 12-15)
>> WU found itself down 20-12 in the opening set before rallying back to even the score at 22 and 24 then back-to-back kills gave the Ichabods the win.
>> The Ichabods held a 2-1 lead, but were unable to put away the win in the fourth set, despite being at match point on for occasions, or in the fifth game after holding an 8-2 lead.
>> Both teams finished the night with exactly a .193 attacking percentage. Central Oklahoma had the advantage in kills (80-68), digs (134-130), and aces (7-4) and both teams made the same number of blocks with eight.
>> Stevenson tied her career-best in kills and had 19 to go with a career-high 25 digs.
>> Meister hit an even .500 in the match and had 15 kills and was a part of three blocks.
>> The Ichabods wrapped up homecoming weekend with a sweep over the Jets (25-12, 25-16, and 25-23).
>> Washburn finished the match hitting above .284 and recorded 13 or more kills in every set while limiting Newman to a .071 attacking percentage.
>> Stevenson led the Ichabods with 15 kills to go with 11 digs and two service aces.
>> Kiviniemi hit .440 with 12 kills on 25 swings and just one error.

TEAM LEADERS …
>> As a team, the Ichabods are hitting .229 and averaging 13.69 kills per set.
>> The Ichabods have held opponents to a .158 attacking percentage, which is the second-lowest in the MIAA ... WU has held opponents to hitting below .150 in 11 matches, with five of those below .100.
>> The squad has also produced 27 double-doubles in 24 matches between four different Ichabods ... in 2021, WU had 23 double-doubles combined from three players in 37 matches played.
>> Jalyn Stevenson: moved up to seventh among conference hitters with 264 kills and ninth in kills per set (3.03 kps) ... she is also second on the team in aces (29) and third in digs (252) through 24 matches. In the three-match week last week, she led the team in kills (40/3.64 kps), digs (50/4.55 dps), and aces (five). She has eight double-doubles on the year, with five of those coming in the last eight matches. She also has a streak of nine matches in a row with double-figure digs.
>> Halle Meister: is second on the team in kills with 208 and her .356 hitting percentage is second in the MIAA ... she has hit above .400 in 11 matches including eight above .500. She is also second on the team with 65 blocks. Meister has made at least one block in every match except two and has had five or more kills in 22 of the 24 matches.
>> Kealy Kiviniemi: has 177 kills and is hitting .296 to go with 43 total blocks ... in the last four matches, she has compiled 38 kills and 10 blocks.
>> Austin Broadie: is fourth on the kills list with 142 this year ... she had nine against Central Oklahoma.
>> Kassidy Pfeiffer: ranks seventh in the conference hitting .319 and has totaled an even 100 kills on the year ... she leads the squad in blocks with 67.
>> Sydney Pullen: has racked up a team-high 385 digs (4.38 digs per set/eighth in MIAA) ... she also has recorded 71 assists and 15 aces.
>> Sophie McMullen: has helps all-around for Washburn as she has landed a team-high 38 aces to go with 340 digs (second on team), 115 kills (fifth on team), and holds a .966 reception percentage, successfully passing 310 out of 321 attempts. She recorded a season-high 34 digs and added eight kills in the match against UCO.
>> Corinna McMullen: leads the team with 592 assists (6.58 assists/set) and has notched 25+ assists in 12 matches ... she leads the team with nine double-doubles and averages 2.28 digs per set and has totaled 21 aces.

IN THE RANKINGS …
>> The Ichabods went 2-1 last week with its one loss to a ranked team and fell two places in this week's AVCA Poll into a tie for 14th alongside Cal State San Bernardino.
>> The MIAA conference and Central Region continues to have some of the best competition in Division II volleyball as four MIAA teams are ranked in the top-25 with another receiving votes ... nine of the top-20 teams are from the Central Region.
>> The Ichabods have now been ranked in the AVCA Top-25 for 48 straight weeks, dating back to Sept. 17, 2018.
>> In the 2022 MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll, the Ichabods landed in a three-way tie for second in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll alongside Nebraska-Kearney and Central Missouri ... Northwest Missouri was voted to finish first.

MILESTONE TRACKER …
>> Sydney Conner just went over the 400 assist mark for the season and is sitting at 402.
>> Kiviniemi is 23 kills away from 200 for her freshman year.
>> C. McMullen will have 600 assists this season in eight
>> Pullen is 76 digs shy of reaching 700 in her career.

HEAD COACH CHRIS HERRON …
>> Chris Herron is in his 21st year leading Washburn and holds a record of 581-118 (.832) while going 276-66 in MIAA play.
>> Herron has guided Washburn to five MIAA titles, three NCAA Regional championships, and to all 16 of its trips to the NCAA Tournament since taking over the program in 2002.
>> He has coached at least one All-American in every year except 2002 and 2017 season and has seen his players earn 48 All-America awards.
>> Herron is 33-5 against the Gorillas and 33-1 against the Lions.
>> When playing the Gorillas and Lions in Lee Arena, Herron is 16-1 and 16-0, respectively.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION ...
Pittsburg State Gorillas
>> Pittsburg State was predicted sixth in this year's preseason poll and that's where they currently stand at 14-11 (8-8 MIAA).
>> The Gorillas hold an .194 attacking percentage and knock down 12.9 kills per set.
>> Janae Thurston leads the team with 251 kills and Meg Auten is close behind with 238 for a 3.26 kills per set average (fifth in the MIAA).
>> Auten also contributes 3.16 digs per set as she is second on the team with 231 digs.
>> Brianna Richard hands out 10.71 assists per set and is tied for a team-best in aces with 22 on the year.
>> Libero Marissa Bates ranks third in the MIAA averaging 5.25 digs per set.
>> Jen Gomez is in her seventh year leading Pittsburg State.
Series History
>> The Ichabods have won 27-straight matches against the Gorillas and own a 73-21 series advantage.
>> When playing against Pittsburg State in Topeka, WU is 32-6 and its last home loss to PSU occurred on Oct. 25, 2003.
>> Out of the 94 meetings since 1974 between these two programs, they have only played on Oct. 26 three times (1984, 2001, and 2007) ... WU has won two of the three matches.

Missouri Southern Lions
>> Missouri Southern finished last in the conference standings last year with a 4-26 (1-19 MIAA) record and have greatly improved upon that this year, including posting two upset wins over ranked opponents.
>> The MSSU offense is hitting .178 and averaging 12.3 kills per set.
>> Fernanda Canedo leads the team with 298 kills and her 3.07 kills per set average ranks seventh in the MIAA ... she is also second on the team with 286 digs (2.95 dps).
>> Amelia Neels is fourth in the league hitting .341 and has knocked down 241 kills and has made 76 total blocks with 20 solo blocks.
>> Sister to MSSU's head coach, Sophie Mader averages 9.11 assists per set and leads the team with 31 aces.
>> Defensively, Abbie Casper is second in the MIAA and sixth in DII averaging 5.58 digs per set and is fourth in the nation with 547 total digs.
>> Kalie Mader is in her fifth year as head coach of the Lions.
Series History
>> Washburn leads the all-time series, 45-35, and has won 33 of the last 34 matchups.
>> During that stretch, the Ichabods have only lost 13 sets while winning 100.
>> At home against the Lions, Washburn is 20-7 ... the last poss to MSSU in Lee Arena was on Sept. 22, 2001.

LAST TIME AGAINST PITTSBURG STATE ...
Oct. 1, 2022
>> After trailing 2-1, the Ichabods rallied for a 3-2 win at Pittsburg State by the set scores of 15-25, 25-18, 21-25, 25-17, and 15-12.
>> Washburn finished the night with a .242 attacking percentage and held Pittsburg State to a .174 clip. The Ichabods led in kills (64-55), blocks (10-5), and digs (70-67) while the Gorillas had an 8-3 advantage behind the service line.
>> Kiviniemi led the offensive charge, hitting a scorching .500 after knocking down a season-best 20 kills and committing just two errors.
>> Broadie also chipped in double-digit kills with 11.
>> Conner achieved a double-double for the third-straight match as she had a season-high 28 assists and 10 digs.
>> Four from Pittsburg State recorded double-figure kills and two of those added double-doubles as Auten had 13 kills and 14 digs and Thurston finished with a dozen kills and digs.

LAST TIME AGAINST MISSOURI SOUTHERN ...
Sept. 30, 2022
>> Washburn lost to Missouri Southern by the set scores of 25-22, 20-25, 21-25, and 25-27.
>> The Lions hit .179 and held the Ichabods to a season-low .145 attacking percentage. Missouri Southern led in kills, 59-50, and in blocks, 12-6, while Washburn had the advantage in digs, 75-68. Both
teams landed three service aces.
>> Taryn Pridgett led Washburn with eight kills in her first career start.
>> S. McMullen and Meister each added seven kills.
>> The setter duo of Conner and C. McMullen notched double-doubles ... in her first collegiate start, Conner handed out 25 assists and had 12 digs. McMullen recorded 15 assists and 10 digs.
>> Four from Missouri Southern finished in double-figure kills, led by Jaryn Benning, who had 19 kills and also contributed 10 digs.

TAKE A LOOK AHEAD …
>> The Ichabods will put a bow on the regular season next week in the Show Me State. Washburn will head to Central Misouri on Nov. 4 and Missouri Western on Nov. 5.