TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 15 Washburn looks to defend its NCAA Central Region title as the Ichabods will make their 17th trip to the NCAA postseason this week, first taking on No. 6-ranked Minnesota Duluth in the quarterfinal on Friday at noon in Wayne, Neb.

FIRST SERVE …
>> The Ichabods (24-7) are the tournament's six-seed and are coming off their first-ever MIAA Tournament title after posting victories over No. 21 Central Oklahoma, No. 10 Northwest Missouri, and No. 12 Nebraska-Kearney.
>> The Bulldogs (26-4) fell in the NSIC semifinal against Concordia-St. Paul. They will be the No. 3 seed.
>> These two teams have only met one other time in program history back in the 2018 NCAA Central Region Tournament semifinal ... the Ichabods won in straight sets.

NCAA TOURNAMENT INFORMATION …
>> The three-day NCAA Central Region Tournament will be hosted by Wayne State in Wayne, Neb. on Nov. 18-20.
>> The eight-team field is comprised of four NSIC teams, three MIAA teams, and one GAC program ... seven of the eight teams are ranked in the top-15 of the AVCA National Poll.
>> The semifinal matches will on Saturday at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and the championship will take place on Sunday at 4 p.m.
>> The tournament host Wildcats earned the No. 1 seed and will play No. 8 Harding in the quarterfinal.
>> Concordia-St. Paul is tabbed as the No. 2 seed and will face No. 7 Nebraska-Kearney.
>> No. 4 Northwest Missouri and No. 5 St. Cloud State will square off.
>> The semifinals will be at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Friday and the championship will take place on Saturday at 6 p.m.
>> All matches will be live streamed for free and will have live stats.
>> Fans making the trip to Wayne, America can purchase tickets online here.

WASHBURN IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT YEAR-BY-YEAR …

2002 - NCAA Regional Semifinals

2004 - NCAA Regional Semifinals

2005 - NCAA Regional Semifinals

2006 - NCAA Regional Quarterfinals

2007 - NCAA National Semifinals

2008 - NCAA Regional Quarterfinals

2009 - NCAA Regional Semifinals

2010 - NCAA Regional Finals

2011 - NCAA Regional Finals

2012 - NCAA Regional Quarterfinals

2013 - NCAA Regional Quarterfinals

2014 - NCAA Regional Quarterfinals

2015 - NCAA Regional Quarterfinals

2018 - NCAA National Semifinals

2019 - NCAA Regional Quarterfinals

2021 - NCAA National Finals

WASHBURN IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT BY THE NUMBERS …
>> WU has played 36 matches in the NCAA Tournament across 16 appearances and has an overall record of 20-16. In the NCAA regional tournament, Washburn is 16-13.
>> WU has won the NCAA Central Region title three times; first in 2007 against Truman State and then in 2018 and 2021 against Concordia-St. Paul.
>> In the NCAA quarterfinal, WU is 8-7.
>> When competing as the lower seed, WU is 6-9 in the tournament.
>> Washburn has been the No. 6 seed twice (2012 & 2015) and went 0-2 in those matches.
>> When competing against the three-seed, Washburn is 1-4.
>> Washburn has never played a postseason match in Wayne, Neb.

TEAM LEADERS …
>> As a team, the Ichabods are hitting .227 and average 13.9 kills per set.
>> The Ichabods have held opponents to a .164 attacking percentage, which is the second-lowest among MIAA teams ... WU has held opponents to hitting below .150 in 13 matches, with six of those below .100.
>> Jalyn Stevenson: ranks fifth among conference hitters with 371 kills and seventh in kills per set (3.20 kps) ... she is also second on the team in aces (34) and third in digs (382). She has a streak of 16-consecutive matches with double-figure digs and has had 10 or more kills in eight of the last nine matches including six in a row.
>> Halle Meister: leads all MIAA hitters with a .359 attacking percentage and has totaled 263 kills (2.27 kps) ... she has hit above .400 in 13 matches including nine above .500. She also helps the team defensively and leads with 99 total blocks ... she tied her career-high single match total of blocks with eight in the MIAA championship match against UNK (Meister also had eight blocks against UNK on Sept. 10).
>> Kealy Kiviniemi: is third on the team in kills with 242 kills and a .281 attacking percentage after playing in 105 of the 119 sets this fall ... she has recorded six or more kills in 19 of the last 20 matches with seven matches in double-digit kill totals.
>> Austin Broadie: started all three conference tournament matches and led the Ichabods with her career-high 18 kills in the championship match. She has 209 kills and has made 61 blocks ... she's played in every match and landed at least one kill in each one.
>> Kassidy Pfeiffer: ranks seventh in the conference hitting .303 and has 125 kills on the year ... she is also eighth in the MIAA with 0.88 blocks per set (87 total, seven solo blocks).
>> Sydney Pullen: has racked up a team-high 591 digs (4.51 digs per set/seventh in MIAA) and had a career-high 30 digs in the MIAA quarterfinal against UCO ... she also has recorded 104 assists and 22 aces.
>> Sophie McMullen: does a little of everything for Washburn with 44 aces (first on team), 463 digs (second on team), and 157 kills (fifth on team) to go with a .956 reception percentage after committing only 20 errors out of 451 total attempts.
>> Corinna McMullen: is the only Ichabod to have played in all 119 sets this fall as she's set up the offense with 788 assists (6.62 assists/set) and achieved a career-high 42 assists in the five-set win over UCO ... she also averages 2.38 digs per set and has achieved a team-best 14 double-doubles.
>> Sydney Conner: splits setter duties with McMullen and has handed out 544 assists (4.77 aps) and recorded 216 digs (1.89 dps). She has also notched eight double-doubles.

1,000 DIG MILESTONE …
>> Sophie McMullen eclipsed 1,000 career digs during the MIAA Tournament last week and now has
>> She had 574 digs in two full seasons at Northwest Missouri and currently has 463 digs with Washburn for a career total of 1,037 digs.

WASHBURN ALL-MIAA SELECTIONS …
>> Washburn had four Ichabods earn All-MIAA honors which were released on Nov. 9.
>> There have now been 114 All-MIAA awards earned by Washburn volleyball during Coach Herron's tenure.
>> Additionally, 44 of those awards are first-team selections earned by 25 different Washburn players.
>> Senior middle blocker Meister has turned in a career year and earned her first all-conference award landing on the first-team.
>> Also receiving first-team honors was sophomore outside hitter Stevenson, who picked up her second-consecutive All-MIAA award after being named an Honorable Mention last year ... she becomes the youngest Ichabod to earn all-conference first-team honors since the trio of eventual All-Americans Genna Berg, Allison Maxwell, and Faith Rottinghaus did so as sophomores in 2018.
>> After seeing limited action in the two non-conference tournaments to start the year, freshman right side hitter Kiviniemi has made the most of her time since conference play began and was named to the All-MIAA second team.
>> McMullen, also a true freshman, has handled the majority of the setting duties for the Ichabods and received an All-MIAA Honorable Mention nod.

LAST TIME OUT …
>> Combined in the three MIAA tournament matches, Washburn hit .229 and averaged 15.54 kills per set.
>> Four Ichabods were named to the MIAA All-Tournament Team: Stevenson, Kiviniemi, Pullen, and Meister.
>> Stevenson completed the tournament with 51 kills (3.92 kps) and 67 digs (5.15 dps).
>> Kiviniemi tallied 35 kills (2.68 kps) and hit .333 for the tournament.
>> Pullen scooped up 75 digs for a 5.77 digs per set average.
>> Meister also hit .333 and knocked down 26 kills and made 17 blocks.
>> Washburn started its MIAA tournament championship run with a five-set thriller over No. 21 Central Oklahoma (20-25, 25-22, 25-23, 20-25, and 17-15) in a match that saw 57 tie scores and 20 lead changes.
>> Stevenson had 18 kills and 23 digs while Kiviniemi hit .343 and recorded 13 kills while committing just one error.
>> The Ichabods dropped the opening set against Northwest Missouri, 26-24, before winning the next three (25-23, 26-24, and 29-27) to snap a five-match losing streak to the Bearcats.
>> For the second match in a row, Stevenson led the team with 16 kills and tied for a team best in digs with 26.
>> Freshman Ella Waters chipped in a season-high 14 kills.
>> In the third time facing the Lopers in an MIAA championship match, the Ichabods came out on top in four sets (25-18, 19-25, 25-22, 25-20).
>> Broadie had six kills in the first set and six in the fourth and finished with a personal-best 18 kills while hitting .359.
>> Stevenson was right behind with 17 kills in addition to 18 digs.

IN THE RANKINGS …
>> After defeating three nationally-ranked opponents en route to winning the MIAA Tournament, Washburn jumped up five places in the most recent AVCA rankings (Nov. 14) to No. 15.
>> The Central Region is one of the toughest volleyball regions in the nation as 10 programs are ranked in the top-25 and only eight can compete in the NCAA postseason.
>> The Ichabods have now been ranked in the AVCA Top-25 for 51 straight weeks, dating back to Sept. 17, 2018.

MILESTONE TRACKER …
>> C. McMullen needs 12 more assists to hit the 800 mark ... she is also 17 digs away from reaching 300 this season.
>> Pullen is 33 digs shy of reaching 800 in her career.
>> Stevenson is approaching the 700 career milestone in two categories as she needs 59 more digs and 66 more kills.

HEAD COACH CHRIS HERRON …
>> Chris Herron is in his 21st year leading Washburn and holds a record of 586-120 (.830) while going 278-68 in MIAA play.
>> Herron has guided Washburn to five MIAA titles, three NCAA Regional championships, and to all 17 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.
>> The competition has been tough in his time coaching and he is 93-87 against nationally-ranked opponents ... against teams in the top-10, he is 35-46.
>> Herron is 1-0 against Minnesota Duluth.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION ...
Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs
>> After not even reaching the NSIC Tournament for the first time in Head Coach Jim Boos' 20-year tenure in 2021 and finishing with an 18-11 (10-10 NSIC) record, the Bulldogs have bounced back in a big way and are 26-4 (17-3 NSIC) in 2022.
>> The Bulldogs hold a collective .258 attacking percentage and average 14.46 kills per set, which is the fifth-best in Division II.
>> Six Minnesota Duluth student-athletes earned All-NSIC honors, headlined by sophomores Samantha Paulsen and Cianna Selbitschka on the first team.
>> Selbitschka leads the team with 3.33 kills per set for 313 total kills as well as a team-best 38 service aces. Defensively, she adds 3.09 digs per set and a .961 reception percentage.
>> Paulsen has tallied 296 kills (2.77 kps) and is hitting .323 on the year to go with 84 total blocks.
>> Sydney Lanoue was an all-conference second team pick as she has recorded a team-best 331 kills (3.09 kps) and is second on the squad in digs (337 digs ... 3.15 dps). She has had 19 matches with double-figure kill totals.
>> Also on the second team was Madison Gordon who has guided the UMD offense and averages 11.27 assists per set (sixth in DII). Her 1,206 total ssists ranks 11th in the nation.
>> Since being named head coach in 2002, Jim Boos has led the Bulldogs to 18 NCAA postseason appearances and has compiled a record of 276-45 (241-52 NSIC).
>> He is a four-time AVCA Central Region Coach of the Year (2004, 2005, 2006, 2014) and was the AVCA National Coach of the Year in 2004.
Series History
>> These two teams have only met once and that was in the 2018 NCAA Central Region semifinal in Kearney, Neb.
>> Although Washburn came away with the sweep, two of the sets went to extra points (26-24, 25-18, 27-25).
>> Current Ichabod assistant coach Shayla Conner had 35 assists and seven digs in that match and now Graduate Assistant Genna Berg had nine kills, nine digs, and two aces.'
>> Only WU's Meister and UMD's Lanoue were on the rosters in 2018 and in 2022 ... Lanoue played in all three sets of that match and she had two digs and an assist.

TAKE A LOOK AHEAD …
>> A win would advance the Ichabods to the semifinal on Saturday at 5 p.m. against the winner of the Concordia-St. Paul/Nebraska-Kearney quarterfinal.