TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 8-ranked Washburn volleyball is in the midst of a five-match road trip and will travel to Missouri Southern and Pittsburg State this Friday and Saturday.

FIRST SERVE …
>> Washburn is now 12-2 (4-2 MIAA) on the year after going 1-1 on the road last week.
>> Missouri Southern (6-8, 1-4 MIAA) picked up its first conference win with a five-set thriller against Missouri Western on Tuesday (25-21, 25-18, 14-25, 20-25 and 20-18).
>> Pittsburg State heads into the week with a 10-6 (4-3 MIAA) record and will host Emporia State on Friday night before facing the Ichabods on Saturday.
>> The Gorillas are also coming off an exciting five-set win, taking down Central Oklahoma on Monday evening (25-21, 25-22, 19-25, 20-25, 19-17).

QUICK HITS …
>> Last season, Washburn faced Pittsburg State three times and won all three while dropping just one set in the process.
>> The Ichabods won both meetings against Missouri Southern in 2021 ... out of the seven sets played against the Lions, four of those ended with the set score of 25-8.
>> PSU is 7-1 on its home court this season and MSSU is 4-2 when playing Joplin.
>> WU is 3-1 in true road matches so far this year.
>> Seven of Washburn's 12 victories have been sweeps.

ACES HIGH …
>> Washburn leads the MIAA with 2.02 aces per set.
>> The Ichabods have landed three or more service aces in every match this season.
>> Last year, WU had 159 service aces in 37 matches ... through 14 matches this year, WU has 101.
>> Five Ichabods have racked up double-figure service aces.
>> Sophie McMullen has a conference-best 28 service aces (0.56 aces per set) in 50 sets played ... in 110 sets played last year at Northwest Missouri, she landed 31 aces.
>> McMullen has had at least one ace in every match except one this season.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE THIS THAT …
>> Washburn has recorded nine double-doubles from four different players since Sept. 9.
>> The Ichabod setters account for five of those double-doubles as Corinna McMullen has three and Sydney Conner has two.
>> Jalyn Stevenson has added three double-figure kills/digs matches and S. McMullen has one.
>> In the five-set win over Nebraska-Kearney on Sept. 10, all four of those players notched a double-double.

LAST TIME OUT …
>> The Ichabods went 1-1 on the road last week, falling at Central Oklahoma in four sets before finishing the week with a sweep at Newman.
>> Washburn won the opening set at UCO, 25-23, before losing the next three (18-25, 22-25, 13-25).
>> Against the Jets, the Ichabods had to rally to win the first two sets.
>> The Ichabods didn't take their first lead in the opening frame until a 6-2 run pushed them in front, 20-18. After a Newman timeout, the Jets got the next two points to level the score and force a Washburn timeout. The Ichabods went back in front on a Newman service error and won five of the final six points to take set one, 25-21.
>> In set two, Newman continued to fight and knotted up the score at 21 and 23 when Washburn called a timeout. The Jets scored the next point to sit at set point when the Ichabods answered with three-consecutive kills to win the game, 26-24.
>> After breaking a 2-2 tie with six unanswered points, WU never trailed again in the third and completed the shutout with a 25-20 win.

TEAM LEADERS …
>> As a team, the Ichabods rank third among MIAA programs in hitting percentage (.240), kills per set (13.54 kps), and assists per set (12.48 aps).
>> Washburn has also held its opponents to a .160 hitting percentage, the third-lowest opponent attacking percentage in the league ... the Ichabods have held 11 opponents to hitting .170 or lower.
>> Jalyn Stevenson: the sophomore outside hitter is ninth in the league with 150 total kills and knocked down a career-high 17 kills at Central Oklahoma last week ... that mark is also the highest kill total for an individual in a match this season.
>> Halle Meister: is second in the conference and 11th in the nation with a .412 hitting percentage and has 121 kills ... she had nine kills on 15 attempts and zero errors for a .600 clip at Newman. Meister is also second on the team with total blocks with 33.
>> Austin Broadie: has started four of the last five matches and accumulated 43 kills in that time to boost her total to 88.
>> Kealy Kiviniemi: recorded a career-high 16 kills in the three-set win over Newman last Friday ... she is fourth on the team with 74 kills and is hitting .326 on the season, which is the eighth-highest in the league.
>> Samantha Moburg: has 50 kills under her belt in 12 matches played with at least two kills in 11 of those matches.
>> Kassidy Pfeiffer: is seventh in the league in blocks at .90 bps and leads the team with 35 total blocks ... she has made 10 starts and totaled 49 kills for a .328 hitting percentage.
>> Sydney Pullen: leads the team with 212 total digs (4.33 digs per set/ninth in MIAA) ... she has had 12 double-figure dig matches with four being 20+ dig performances.
>> Sophie McMullen: is close behind with 174 digs (3.48 digs per set/12th in MIAA) and has a .977 reception percentage after receiving 172 out of 176 serves that have come her way ... she also has 40 kills.
>> Corinna McMullen: has made all 14 starts at setter and leads the team with 305 assists (6.10 assists/set) ... she dished out 11 assists and had a season-high 14 digs against the Jets.
>> Sydney Conner: shares the role of setter and has tallied 233 assists (4.66 assists/set) and 91 digs (1.82 digs/set).

IN THE RANKINGS …
>> After losing its second match of the season last week, the Ichabods dropped two places in the latest AVCA rankings to No. 8 in the nation.
>> 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-20 and Central Oklahoma just off the list at No. 26 ... eight of the top-10 teams are from the Central Region.
>> The Ichabods have now been ranked in the AVCA Top-25 for 44 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 surpassed 400 career kills last weekend and is now working towards 400 career digs, needing only 16 more.
>> In her first official season, Broadie is 12 kills away from 100.
>> Conner is 63 assists away from 300 this season.

HEAD COACH CHRIS HERRON …
>> Chris Herron is in his 21st year leading Washburn and holds a record of 574-115 (.833) while going 269-64 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 574 victories, 381 of those have come in three sets and he is 381-44 in three set matches.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION ...
Missouri Southern Lions
>> The Lions (6-8) have already surpassed their win total from last year as they went 4-26 (1-19 MIAA) in 2021.
>> Collectively, MSSU is hitting .175 and averages 12.1 kills per set.
>> Fernanda Canedo helps the team offensively and defensively as she leads the squad with 161 kills (2.82 kps) while also being second on the team with 183 digs (3.21 dps).
>> Ranking fourth in the MIAA in hitting percentage, Amelia Neels has landed 144 kills with a .382 attacking percentage ... she has also made 32 blocks, including a team-high 12 solo blocks.
>> Abbie Casper is third among MIAA players in digs per set, as she scoops up an average of 5.48 digs per set.
>> Kalie Mader is in her fifth year as head coach of the Lions.
Series History
>> Washburn leads the all-time series, 45-34, and has won 33 in a row against Missouri Southern ... during that stretch, WU has lost only nine sets.
>> When playing the Lions in Joplin, Washburn is 19-10.
>> Coach Herron has never lost to Missouri Southern and is 31-0 against them.

Pittsburg State Gorillas
>> The Gorillas were picked sixth in this year's preseason poll after going 15-14 (9-11 MIAA) last season.
>> Entering this weekend's match, PSU's offense is hitting .196 and knocking down an average of 12.98 kills per set.
>> The team leads the league and is third in the nation in digs per set, racking up 18.75 dps so far this year.
>> Meg Auten (130 kills/3.25 kps) and Janae Thurston (154 kills/3.02 kills per set) rank in the top-10 in the conference in kills per set, checking in at Nos. 4 and 7 on the list.
>> Brianna Richard has set up the offense for 623 assists (10.74 aps/third in MIAA), the third-highest assist total in DII ... she also leads the team with 17 service aces.
>> Defensively, libero Marissa Bates is second in the conference with 5.64 digs per set ... her 333 total digs ranks fourth in the nation.
>> Jen Gomez is in her seventh year leading Pittsburg State.
Series History
>> The Ichabods have won the last 26 meetings against the Gorillas and own a 72-21 series advantage.
>> When playing in Pittsburg, WU is 25-9 ... the last time Washburn lost at PSU was back in 2008.
>> Herron is 32-5 against the Gorillas.

TAKE A LOOK AHEAD …
>> The Ichabods wrap up their five-match road trip next week with a Tuesday match at No. 6 Nebraska-Kearney (Oct. 4) before returning home for matches against Missouri Western and Central Missouri, Oct. 7-8.