TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 21 Washburn volleyball heads on the road for a midweek match in The Cornhusker State against No. 8 Nebraska-Kearney on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
SETTING THE SCHEDULE …
>> The No. 21 ranked Washburn volleyball team heads on the road to begin the week, going north to take on No. 9 Nebraska-Kearney.
>> The Ichabods face the Lopers on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the first of three 6 p.m. matches this week.
>> Washburn had its second perfect week of conference play last week with a pair of sweeps against Emporia State on Tuesday and Newman on Thursday.
QUICK HITS …
>> Washburn is now 13-4 on the year and 7-3 in the MIAA
>> The Ichabods sit in fourth place in the MIAA at 7-2 this season. The Lopers lead the conference with a 10-1 record.
>> Even in an undefeated week Washburn moved down in the AVCA Coaches Poll for week seven to No. 21. They have been ranked in every poll this season.
>> The Ichabods were picked to finish fourth in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll just behind Central Oklahoma and one spot ahead of Central Missouri.
>> Washburn finished fifth in the 2022 MIAA regular season standings.
>> Washburn is playing three matches in conference play this week forthe first time this season.
THE WEEK THAT WAS
>> Washburn won a 3-0 road contest against Emporia State on Tuesday last week and completed the week with a home sweep over Newman on Thursday.
>> The Ichabods are now 3-3 on the road in 2023 and 8-1 at home.
>> Washburn has eight sweeps this season.
>> The consecutive sweeps gave the Ichabods their second weekend in conference play with both matches as 3-0 sweeping wins.
>> Jalyn Stevenson led the Washburn offensive attack with a combined 20 kills over the week while hitting .500. She recorded a double-double against the Hornets with 13 kills and 13 digs while hitting .545.
>> Sydney Conner had the other Ichabod double-double of the week finishing the match against ESU with a team-high 24 assist and 16 digs. She also paced Washburn with 13 assists against the Jets.
>> Iyannah Jackson got starts in both matches and finished the week averaging 1.33 blocks per set while making nine total kills and hitting .750 with no errors.
>> Austin Broadie had 12 kills and hit .321 with three digs against ESU, she added in four kills on .375 hitting against NU.
>> Washburn hit .354 and .383 as a team in the two matches respectively. Those are the second and third most effective hitting performances as a team this season for WU.
STACKING UP THE STATS
>> The Ichabods are knocking down 13.7 kills per set, picking up 12.7 assists, making 17.1 digs and stuffing 2.1 attacks.
>> Opponents are netting 11.2 kills per set, 10.5 assists, 15.4 digs and 2.3 blocks.
>> Washburn is hitting .240 as a team through 15 matches while opponents are hitting .162
>> The Ichabods have 125 aces on the year (2.1 per set) while only allowing 58 (1.0 per set).
>> The Ichabods are 18th nationally out of 278 ranked teams with an average of 12.72 assists per set, it's the third highest mark in the conference
>> In kills per set Washburn is 22nd in the nation and third in the MIAA knocking down 13.67 per set
>> The Ichabod defense is at 33rd overall in digs per set at 17.08, fourth most among conference schools
>> Washburn is 35th in the nation in aces per set at 2.1, that number is first in the MIAA
>> When the Ichabods outhit their opponents they are 13-0
>> When Washburn collects more digs than opponents they are 11-1
>> The Ichabods are 13-0 when they have more assists than oppoennts.
>> Corinna McMullen is 18th in the nation in aces per set at .58. It's the highest among all MIAA players. She's also first in the conference in total aces with 35.
>> Jalyn Stevenson is fourth in the MIAA in kills per set at 3.17 as well as fifth in points per set with 3.71.
>> Bella Limback and Rachel Schwensen are both in the top-five in hitting percentage in the MIAA with Limback at No. 2 and Schwensen at No. 4.
TEAM LEADERS
>> Jalyn Stevenson leads Washburn with 190 kills on the year (3.17 per set) while hitting .219. She is second on the team with 173 digs (2.88 per set) and has combined for 16 blocks.
>> Rachel Schwensen is up to 169 kills (2.82 per set) and is hitting .321 with only 34 errors on 420 attempts. She is also third on the team with 43 total blocks.
>> Corinna McMullen leads the Ichabods with 364 assists (6.07 per set) and is third with 171 digs (2.85 per set). She leads the Ichabods with 35 aces on the year.
>> Taylor Rottinghaus leads Washburn with 238 digs (4.33 per set) while adding 55 assists and holding a .957 reception percentage on 210 receptions.
>> Rylee Unruh is third on the team with 126 kills (2.10 per set) and has done a little bit of everything, adding 18 aces, 154 digs (2.57 per set) and has been apart of 22 blocks.
>> Austin Broadie has knocked down 122 kills (2.10 per set) while carrying a hitting percentage of .263. She is second on the team with 44 blocks and leads with seven solo blocks.
>> Bella Limback has 90 kills on the year (1.57 per set) while hitting a team-high .337 among qualified players. She has the most blocks of any Washburn player with 55 total (.96 per set) and has recorded 44 digs.
>> Sydney Conner has chipped in 288 assists (4.80 per set) and 109 digs (1.82 per set) and has 16 aces on 219 attempts.
>> Taryn Pridgett has made 51 kills (1.55 per set) while hitting .190. She has combined to make 15 blocks.
>> Iyannah Jackson has chipped in 30 kills across 20 sets while also combining to make 24 blocks.
>> Sophia Cavanaugh has 18 kills on the year, she also has seven blocks
BY THE NUMBERS …
>> 2 : NCAA Central Region championships won by Washburn in the past four official seasons.
>> 4 : upperclassmen on this year's team ... the fewest since the 2014 roster also featuring four
>> 8 : Number of sweeps for the Ichabods this season
>> 10 : student-athletes who were on the roster last year who are not on the 2022 roster
>> 20 : consecutive winning seasons for Washburn.
>> 122 : consecutive victories when winning the first two sets of a match
>> 599 : wins that Herron has at Washburn.
MILESTONE TRACKER …
>> Chris Herron is one win away from 600 while at Washburn.
>> Jalyn Stevenson needs four more blocks for 100 in her career.
>> Sydney Conner is 151 assists away from 1,000 career.
>> Corinna McMullen is 40 digs away from 500 in her career
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION ...
Nebraska-Kearney Lopers
>> Nebraska-Kearney is 20-1 this season and a perfect 9-0 in matches at home.
>> They moved up to No. 8 in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll after being ranked No. 9 last week
>> Last season the Lopers went 28-6 with a 16-4 record in the MIAA. They advanced to the MIAA Tournament Championship where they were defeated by the Ichabods
>> Nebraksa-Kearney lost to Concordia-St. Paul 3-2 in the NCAA Central Region Tournament.
>> Rick Squiers is in his 25th season at the helm of the Lopers volleyball program where he has a record of 738-102 in his nearly quarter-century spent in charge.
>> Samantha Hammond, Emma Benton and Maddie Squiers round out the coaching staff.
>> As a team the Lopers carry averages of 14.5 kills per set while hitting .302, 13.4 assists, 16.2 digs and 2.4 blocks.
>> Jaden Ferguson leads Nebraska-Kearney with 197 kills on the year (2.98 per set) and hits .302 on her attacks. She also has 21 aces, 43 blocks and is second on the team with 173 digs (2.62 per set)
>> Peyton Neff has 746 assists (11.13 per set), controlling most of the offense for the Lopers. She has also made 61 kills, served 22 aces and made 146 digs (2.18 per set)
>> Lauren Taubenheim leads the Lopers with 217 digs in 2023 (3.39 per set). She also has nine aces and a .968 reception percentage.
>> Emmerson Cyza has 185 kills for UNK (3.14 per set) and hits .267. She has 13 aces and 10 blocks.
>> Washburn is 14-30 all-time against the Lopers going back to 1976 although the Ichabods have won the last six matches going back to 2019 including in the MIAA Championship last season and the first matchup between the two teams in Lee Arena this season.
TAKE A LOOK AHEAD …
>> Washburn will finish off a busy week at home hosting Central Missouri at 6 p.m. on Friday and Missouri Southern at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
>> Senior night for the Ichabods is No. 4 against Pittsburg State at 2 p.m.
>> Washburn will finish the regular season on Nov. 11 at Newman
>> The MIAA Championship Tournament begins on Thursday Nov. 16.
