TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 12-ranked Washburn returns home this weekend to host two teams from the Show Me State as the Ichabods are set to play Missouri Western on Friday at 6 p.m. before wrapping up the week against No. 23-ranked Central Missouri on Saturday at 2 p.m.

FIRST SERVE …
>> Washburn is coming off a big five-set victory at No. 5 Nebraska-Kearney on Tuesday to improve its record to 14-3 (6-3 MIAA).
>> The Griffons (5-12, 2-7 MIAA) and Jennies (11-6, 6-2 MIAA) just faced each other on Tuesday night with UCM coming away with the sweep.
>> Central Missouri will play Emporia State on Friday evening before heading to Topeka on Saturday.
>> Friday's match against the Griffons will be Washburn Volleyball's alumni night ... all former players are encouraged to attend and cheer on the current Ichabods.

QUICK HITS …
>> The Griffons have not won a true road match yet this year and are 0-4.
>> UCM is 3-2 in road matches.
>> The conference standings are tightly contested between six teams as Central Oklahoma (8-2 MIAA) leads the way and Pittsburg State (6-4 MIAA) is sixth with four teams sandwiched in between ... Washburn is currently fifth with a 6-3 mark.
>> Saturday's match will be Washburn's fourth match against a top-25 ranked team ... the Ichabods are 2-1 so far against ranked opponents.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME …
>> Washburn has gone 236-31 in Lee Arena since 2002, good for an 88.4 winning percentage.
>> When playing MIAA matches in Topeka during Head Coach Chris Herron's tenure, Washburn is 148-24.
>> The Ichabods have played only three matches in Lee Arena this fall and are 2-1.
>> Washburn volleyball attracts a large fan base to its matches as WU has ranked in the top-10 in NCAA Division II volleyball attendance in 10 of the last 20 seasons and has been among the top-25 in attendance 17 times since 2002.

FIVE-SET MAGIC …
>> Washburn has won all three of the five-set matches it has played this season, including back-to-back five-setters on the road in the span of four days (at PSU on Oct. 1; at UNK on Oct. 4).
>> The only other time Washburn has posted consecutive 3-2 victories over Nebraska-Kearney was in the 2013 season.
>> The Ichabods have lost the opening set in each of their five-set comeback wins this year.
>> Since Herron took over the program in 2002, Washburn is 59-33 in five-set matches.

ACES HIGH …
>> Washburn leads the MIAA with 1.77 aces per set.
>> The Ichabods have landed three or more service aces in every match this season and have had five double-digit ace matches.
>> Last year, WU had 159 service aces in 37 matches ... through 17 matches this year, WU has 113.
>> Ten Ichabods have recorded at least one service ace with five having double-figure aces to their totals.
>> Sophie McMullen has a conference-best 30 service aces (0.48 aces per set) in 62 sets played ... in 110 sets played last year at Northwest Missouri, she achieved 31 aces.

LAST TIME OUT …
>> For the second time this season, Washburn defeated Nebraska-Kearney in a five-set marathon.
>> WU won by the set scores of 22-25, 25-19, 25-21, 19-25, and 15-12 and now has a four-match winning streak against UNK, marking the first time that has ever happened in program history.
>> Nebraska-Kearney is now 83-5 on its home court since the start of 2017 ... Washburn has accounted for three of those five losses.
>> Jalyn Stevenson turned in a career night as she knocked down a personal-best 19 kills and hit .366 while adding 14 digs and four blocks.
>> Austin Broadie and Taryn Pridgett also achieved new career-highs in kills as they collected 12 and nine kills, respectively.
>> Freshman setter Corinna McMullen dished out a season-high 35 assists and scooped up 10 digs.
>> In the back court, S. McMullen led all players in the match with 24 digs and Sydney Pullen racked up 21 digs.

TEAM LEADERS …
>> As a team, the Ichabods rank fourth among MIAA programs in hitting percentage (.233) and kills per set (13.38 kps) ... three Ichabods rank in the top-10 in the MIAA in hitting percentage.
>> Washburn has also held its opponents to a .163 hitting percentage, the third-lowest opponent attacking percentage in the league ... the Ichabods have held 14 opponents to hitting .180 or lower.
>> Jalyn Stevenson: leads the team with 182 kills and her 2.98 kills per set ranks ninth among MIAA players .. she has registered 13 matches with eight or more kills, including nine in double-figures. Stevenson is also second on the team with 19 service aces and is third in total digs with 153 (2.51 digs/set).
>> Halle Meister: has knocked down 143 kills (2.31 kps) and is second in the conference with a .382 hitting percentage ... she also leads the team with 49 blocks.
>> Austin Broadie: has started seven of the last eight matches and has recorded 63 of her 116 kills in that time with 19 blocks ... overall this season, she has 31 total blocks and averages 2.11 kills per set.
>> Kealy Kiviniemi: is seventh in the league hitting .340 and has racked up 108 kills.
>> Kassidy Pfeiffer: ranks eighth in hitting (.338) and in blocks (0.83 bps) in the MIAA ... she has never committed more than two hitting errors in any match and has totaled 68 kills on 160 attempts and just 14 errors.
>> Sydney Pullen: leads the team with 266 total digs (4.22 digs per set/10th in MIAA) ... she has had 15 double-figure dig matches with six being 20+ dig performances.
>> Sophie McMullen: is close behind with 213 digs (3.44 digs per set) and has a .961 reception percentage after receiving 219 out of 228 serves that have come her way ... she also has 49 kills.
>> Corinna McMullen: leads the team with 377 assists (5.89 assists/set) and also scoops up an average of 1.94 digs per set and has a team-best five double-doubles this year.
>> Sydney Conner: shares the role of setter and has tallied 311 assists (4.86 assists/set) and averages 1.84 digs per set.

IN THE RANKINGS …
>> After going 1-1 last week, the Ichabods dropped four places in the latest AVCA rankings to No. 12 in the nation.
>> The MIAA conference and Central Region continues to have some of the best competition in Division II volleyball as five MIAA teams are ranked in the top-25 ... seven of the top-10 teams are from the Central Region.
>> The Ichabods have now been ranked in the AVCA Top-25 for 45 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.

MILESTONE TRACKER …
>> Stevenson needs 55 kills to eclipse 500 career kills.
>> Meister needs 23 more kills to reach 200 in her career.
>> C. McMullen is 23 assists away from 400 this season.

HEAD COACH CHRIS HERRON …
>> Chris Herron is in his 21st year leading Washburn and holds a record of 576-116 (.832) while going 271-65 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 31-4 when playing Missouri Western and 19-1 when facing the Griffons in Lee Arena.
>> When playing the Jennies, Herron is 20-23 overall with a 9-5 mark when taking them on in Topeka.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION ...
Missouri Western Griffons
>> The Griffons went 14-16 (6-14 MIAA) last year and were picked eighth in the 2022 MIAA preseason poll.
>> MWSU has faced a tough schedule with six matches against opponents ranked in the top-25.
>> As a team, the Griffons are hitting .160 and average a conference-low 11.77 kills per set.
>> The offense is led by Danielle Moje, who is 12th in the MIAA with a .298 attacking percentage and 14th with 2.72 kills per set.
>> Nessa Johnson leads the team with 459 assists (7.29 assists/set) and has landed a team-high 19 service aces.
>> Defensively, Lily Kurz is fourth in the league with 0.97 blocks per set and has made 60 total blocks with 18 solo stops, which ranks third-best in the MIAA.
>> Former Washburn All-American volleyball player, Jessica Fey, is in her first season as the head coach at Missouri Western.
Series History
>> Washburn has won the last five meetings against Missouri Western, but the Griffons still hold a slight edge in the all-time series, 47-45.
>> The Ichabods hold a commanding 24-7 series advantage when playing Missouri Western in Topeka.
>> Washburn has won the last six home matches against Missouri Western ... the most recent home loss to the Griffons occurred on Oct. 18, 2014.

Central Missouri Jennies
>> In 2021, Central Missouri went 29-4 (18-2 MIAA) and were MIAA regular season co-champions and won the conference tournament ... the Jennies hosted the NCAA Central Region Tournament as the No. 1-ranked team in all Division II before the Ichabods knocked them off in the semifinals.
>> Although UCM graduated all three of its All-Americans from last year, the Jens still returned a pair of All-MIAA first teamers in Kersti Nix and Sydney Lierz and all-conference second team selection, Rylie Barnum.
>> The team holds a .221 attacking percentage and leads the MIAA and is sixth in the nation in total blocks (168.0).
>> Nix has knocked down a team-high 236 kills and is third in the MIAA with 3.69 kills per set ... she has recorded 13 double-figure kill matches with five of those being 20+ kill contests.
>> Lierz is second on the team in kills (155), digs (169), and service aces (15).
>> In the front row, Jenna Schulte has been a wall as she is second in Division II in blocks per set (1.46 bps) and in total blocks (86.0).
>> Barnum is fourth among MIAA players averaging 5.03 digs per set.
>> Caitlin Peterson, a UCM volleyball All-American, is in her first year as the head coach of the Jennies after serving as an assistant since 2013.
Series History
>> Central Missouri owns a 55-21 series record over Washburn.
>> When playing in Topeka, UCM is 16-11.
>> Washburn last defeated Central Missouri in Topeka on Oct. 18, 2019, in four sets.

TAKE A LOOK AHEAD …
>> The Ichabods will play two road matches next week, first at Fort Hays State on Oct. 11 and then at Northwest Missouri on Oct. 14.