TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 2-ranked Washburn volleyball will make the short drive down I-335 to take on rival Emporia State on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
FIRST SERVE …
>> Washburn remains undefeated at 10-0 after posting wins last week against Fort Hays State and No. 7-ranked Nebraska-Kearney.
>> The Hornets are 3-7 (1-1 MIAA) and are coming off a come-from-behind five-set win against FHSU on Saturday.
QUICK HITS …
>> Last season, Washburn swept both editions of the Turnpike Tussle and outhit the Hornets .311 to .057 combined in those two matches.
>> WU is one of 14 teams left in Division II without a loss ... fellow MIAA team, Central Oklahoma, is also included in that 14 count.
>> The Ichabods have held eight of their 10 opponents to a hitting percentage below .200.
>> Saturday's reverse sweep against the Lopers marked the 13th time in Head Coach Chris Herron's tenure that Washburn had lost the first two sets before coming back to win in five.
>> The last time Washburn won in five sets after losing the first two was in the 2019 regular season finale at then-ranked No. 10 Central Missouri (26-28, 25-27, 25-14, 25-18, and 15-12).
>> The Ichabods only had one five-set match last season.
>> Washburn went 10-2 in true road matches last year.
>> The Ichabods are 657-361 since joining the MIAA in 1989 ... WU has gone 52-8 in MIAA action since 2018.
LAST TIME OUT …
>> Washburn opened conference play with two home victories last weekend.
>> WU defeated FHSU in four sets (25-21, 25-22, 23-25, 25-17).
>> The Ichabods finished strong in that match and hit .472 with 19 kills in the fourth set.
>> Halle Meister led the Washburn offense with 13 kills with a .455 attacking percentage.
>> Saturday's match was a top-10 battle between two unbeaten teams and it was the Ichabods who pulled out the victory, despite dropping the first two sets (24-26, 22-25, 25-17, 25-18, 16-14).
>> Four Ichabods finished in double-figure kills and four also recorded double-doubles.
>> Washburn held UNK to a .122 attacking percentage ... the Lopers have hit below .130 only twice since the 2018 season, with one of those times occurring on Oct. 20, 2018 against Washburn.
>> The Ichabods have now won three matches in a row against the Lopers, marking just the second time that has happened in program history and the first since 1983-85.
TEAM LEADERS …
>> Through 10 matches, the Ichabods are hitting .249 and averaging 13.39 kills per set.
>> WU leads the MIAA in service aces with 81 for a 2.25 ace per set average.
>> The Ichabods have outscored their opponents, 869-660, after playing 36 sets.
>> Jalyn Stevenson has started every match and leads the team with 106 kills (2.94 kills per set) ... she has six matches in double-figure kills and two double-doubles.
>> Stevenson led the Ichabods in their win over UNK with 15 kills and 16 digs.
>> Meister is second in the conference and 21st in the nation with a .412 hitting percentage and is second on the team with 92 kills.
>> In her second collegiate start, Austin Broadie was a big part in helping the Ichabods defeat the Lopers on Saturday as she recorded 10 kills and nine blocks ... she was also the one to put the exclamation point on the match as she knocked down the final kill of the 16-14 fifth set win.
>> Broadie has totaled 55 kills and 18 blocks.
>> Kassidy Pfeiffer has started seven of the nine matches she's played and has racked up 44 kills and her .398 hitting percentage is third in the MIAA.
>> Pfeiffer is also fourth in the MIAA with 1.07 blocks per set and leads the team with 32 total blocks.
>> Freshman Kealy Kiviniemi has 43 kills and landed a season-high 10 against the Lopers.
>> In the five-set win over UNK, Sophie McMullen recorded 12 of her 27 total season kills and added a season-high 26 digs.
>> McMullen leads the league with 22 service aces and is second on the team with 121 digs (3.36 digs/set) ... she also has a .968 reception percentage after committing only four reception errors on 126 total attempts.
>> Libero Sydney Pullen averages 4.29 digs per set and has 150 digs.
>> Corinna McMullen has made all 10 starts at setter and leads the team with 218 assists (6.06 assists/set) ... she notched back-to-back double-doubles last week as she had 27 assist, 11 digs against the Tigers and 36 assists, 12 assists against the Lopers.
>> Sharing the role of setter is Sydney Conner, who has tallied 162 assists (4.50 assists/set) ... she also recorded a double-double against UNK with 16 assists and 10 digs.
IN THE RANKINGS …
>> For the fourth-consecutive week, Washburn checked in as the No. 2-ranked team in the AVCA national poll on Sept. 12.
>> The MIAA conference and Central Region continues to have some of the best in Division II volleyball as four MIAA teams are ranked in the top-16 with Central Oklahoma receiving votes ... 11 of the top-25 are from the Central Region.
>> The Ichabods have now been ranked in the AVCA Top-25 for 42 straight weeks, dating back to Sept. 17, 2018.
>> Washburn has also been ranked in the top-five in 31 of the last 33 weeks...the Ichabods were ranked eighth in the 2021 AVCA preseason poll and checked in at No. 6 on Nov. 22, 2021.
>> 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.
>> Washburn finished tied for second with Northwest Missouri in the 2021 MIAA standings.
MILESTONE TRACKER …
>> Stevenson is 31 kills shy from reaching 400 in her career.
>> Pullen needs 11 more digs to eclipse 400.
>> Conner is 38 assists away from 200 this season.
HEAD COACH CHRIS HERRON …
>> Chris Herron is in his 21st year leading Washburn and holds a record of 572-113 (.835) while going 267-63 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.
>> Out of his 570 victories, 379 of those have come in three sets and he is 379-44 in three set matches.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION ...
Emporia State Hornets
>> The Hornets closed out 2021 with an overall record of 5-23 and a 3-17 mark in MIAA action.
>> ESU is 3-7 (1-1 MIAA) to start the new season and currently has a .144 attacking percentage and averages 11.3 kills per set.
>> The Hornets are tied for second in the league with 1.78 service aces per set ... Shelby Ebert has 17 aces and Megan Stretton has 16.
>> Leah Mach leads the team with 97 kills (2.62 kills/set) and is third on the team in total digs with 89 (2.41 digs/set) ... she hit .467 and had a team-high 18 kills in the five-set win over FHSU on Saturday.
>> Orianna Clements has a team-best .225 attacking percentage and is second on the squad with 92 kills.
>> Outside hitter Stretton leads the team with 4.62 digs per set and has a .933 reception percentage.
>> Bing Xu is in his 17th year as the head coach at Emporia State and holds a record of 295-219.
>> The Ichabods have won 23 of the last 24 meetings against the Hornets and are on an eight-match winning streak.
>> Washburn has not dropped a set against Emporia State in the last five matches.
>> Emporia State, however, leads the all-time series dating back to 1969 by the record of 77-48.
2021 SEASON REWIND …
>> The Ichabods made history multiple times in their 31-6 (17-3 MIAA) season in 2021.
>> They were ranked No. 1 in the nation for the first time in program history and held the top-ranking for four weeks (Sept. 20-Oct. 11).
>> Prior to that season, Washburn had defeated a No. 1-ranked team three times during Herron's tenure ... last fall, the Ichabods defeated two top-ranked teams on the road (UNK - Sept. 18; UCM - Dec. 3).
>> WU finished the season leading the nation in kills per set (15.00 kills/set), team kills (1,905), and assists (1,720) while also finishing third and recording a single season program-best in hitting percentage (.284) and fourth in assists per set (13.54 assists/set).
>> Washburn finished ranked at No. 2 in the AVCA national poll - its highest finish ever.
>> Individually, Washburn had a program-high four players earn AVCA All-American honors as Allison Maxwell, Genna Berg, Kelsey Gordon, and Faith Rottinghaus all earned an award.
>> A program-best eight Ichabods received all-MIAA accolades with five first-team selections, tying a WU record for first team conference honors.
>> Rottinghaus, Washburn's all-time digs leader, finished the season leading the nation with 833 total digs and was third in DII with 6.56 digs per set.
>> Maxwell finished the season fifth in the nation hitting .413, the highest single season attacking percentage ever for Washburn.
>> Setter Allison Sadler totaled 1,368 assists, good for fourth in Division II.
>> For the second-consecutive season, Berg led the Ichabods in kills. Her 475 total kills this season landed her fourth in the nation.
>> Rottinghaus, who earned the NCAA DII Volleyball Elite 90 Award and was the CoSIDA Volleyball Academic All-America Team Member of the Year, was named the MIAA Ken B. Jones Female Student-Athlete of the Year and was the conference nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
TAKE A LOOK AHEAD …
>> After a quick single match road trip, the Ichabods return home to host Northwest Missouri on Saturday, Sept. 17 at 6 p.m.
