TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 21 Washburn is back in Topeka after a quick trip north to face Central Missouri on Friday and Missouri Southern on Saturday in a pair of 6 p.m. matches.
SETTING THE SCHEDULE …
>> The No. 21 ranked Washburn volleyball team returns to Lee Arena for a week of traditional Friday-Saturay matches against Central Missouri and Missouri Southern.
>> The Ichabods face the Jennies at 6 p.m. on Friday and the Lions again at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
>> Washburn lost its first match of the week on the road to No. 8 Nebraska-Kearney 3-1.
QUICK HITS …
>> Washburn is now 13-5 on the year and 7-4 in the MIAA
>> The Ichabods sit in fourth place in the MIAA at 7-3 this season. The Lopers lead the conference with a 11-1 record.
>> After going 2-0 last 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 for the first time this season.
THE DAY THAT WAS
>> Washburn lost 3-1 on the road against No. 8 Nebraska-Kearney on Tuesday evening.
>> The Ichabods are now 3-4 on the road in 2023 and 8-1 at home.
>> Washburn has eight sweeps this season.
>> The loss saw the end of a three match winning streak for the Ichabods and was the first loss to a ranked team this season.
>> Jalyn Stevenson had a double-double and tied for the team lead with 17 kills. She hit .229 and nearly matched her kill count with 16 digs.
>> Rachel Schwensen hit well on the right side with 17 kills of her own while hitting .361. She also helped assist with three blocks in the match.
>> Corinna McMullen had a double-double with a team-high 32 assists paired with 10 digs.
>> Raylor Rottinghaus led the Ichabods with 19 digs, she also chipped in three assists.
>> Washburn hit .206 as a team in the match with more kills, digs and assists than the Lopers. The first time this season they have won all three categories and not won the match.
STACKING UP THE STATS
>> The Ichabods are knocking down 13.8 kills per set, picking up 12.8 assists, making 17.3 digs and stuffing 2.1 attacks.
>> Opponents are netting 11.4 kills per set, 10.7 assists, 15.6 digs and 2.3 blocks.
>> Washburn is hitting .238 as a team through 18 matches while opponents are hitting .166
>> The Ichabods have 128 aces on the year (2.0 per set) while only allowing 62 (1.0 per set).
>> The Ichabods are 16th nationally out of 278 ranked teams with an average of 12.84 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 13.75 per set
>> The Ichabod defense is at 33rd overall in digs per set at 17.25, fourth most among conference schools
>> Washburn is 43rd in the nation in aces per set at 2.0, that number is first in the MIAA
>> When the Ichabods outkill their opponents they are 13-1
>> When Washburn collects more digs than opponents they are 11-2
>> The Ichabods are 13-1 when they have more assists than oppoennts.
>> Corinna McMullen is 37th in the nation in aces per set at .55. 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 3.23 as well as fourth in points per set with 3.74.
>> Bella Limback and Rachel Schwensen are both in the top-five in hitting percentage in the MIAA with Schwensen at No. 2 and Limback at No. 3.
TEAM LEADERS
>> Jalyn Stevenson leads Washburn with 207 kills on the year (3.23 per set) while hitting .220. She is second on the team with 190 digs (2.97 per set) and has combined for 16 blocks.
>> Rachel Schwensen is up to 186 kills (2.91 per set) and is hitting a team-high .325 with only 38 errors on 456 attempts. She is also third on the team with 46 total blocks.
>> Corinna McMullen leads the Ichabods with 395 assists (6.17 per set) and is third with 181 digs (2.83 per set). She leads the Ichabods with 35 aces on the year.
>> Taylor Rottinghaus leads Washburn with 257 digs (4.36 per set) while adding 59 assists and holding a .948 reception percentage on 233 receptions.
>> Rylee Unruh is third on the team with 135 kills (2.11 per set) and has done a little bit of everything, adding 19 aces, 162 digs (2.53 per set) and has been apart of 23 blocks.
>> Austin Broadie has knocked down 128 kills (2.11 per set) while carrying a hitting percentage of .257. She is second on the team with 48 blocks and leads with seven solo blocks.
>> Bella Limback has 95 kills on the year (1.53 per set) while hitting .324 among qualified players. She has the most blocks of any Washburn player with 61 total (.98 per set) and has recorded 44 digs.
>> Sydney Conner has chipped in 310 assists (4.84 per set) and 116 digs (1.81 per set) and has 17 aces on 231 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 37 kills across 29 sets while also combining to make 28 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 129 assists away from 1,000 career.
>> Corinna McMullen is 30 digs away from 500 in her career
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION ...
Central Missouri Jennies
>> The Jennies are 13-7 on the year after winning a Tuesday matchup against Missouri Western.
>> UCM is 10-2 in MIAA play and 4-2 in road matches.
>> In 2022 Central Missouri went 19-11 overall and 14-6 in the MIAA, losing in the first round of the conference tournament
>> The Jennies are led by Caitlin Peterson in her second season at UCM where she was an All-American as a player.
>> Christi Lutman, Cory Allensworth and Taylor Linebach round out the coaching staff
>> The Jennies are recieving votes in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll
>> As a team UCM averages 13.6 kills per set while hitting .212, 12.4 assists, 2.4 blocks and 16.7 digs.
>> Kersti Nix has 281 kills (3.51 per set) to top the Jennies ranks while hitting .236. She has also helped out on 39 combined blocks and made 97 digs (1.21 per set).
>> Elinor Engel is second on UCM with 176 kills (2.41 per set) while hitting .274 and leads with 75 blocks on the year.
>> Grace Southern has 74 blocks (1.21 per set) and is also third in kills with 150 (2.46 per set) while hitting a team high .304.
>> Olivia Olson has 849 assists for Central Missouri (10.61 per set) along with 24 aces, 59 blocks and 209 digs (2.61 per set).
>> Grace Winkelmann has 301 digs to pace the Jennies (3.76 per set), she also has 28 assists and 24 aces.
>> Washburn is 23-50 all-time against the Jennies going back to 1978, UCM took the first match of the season in Warrensburg, 3-0.
Missouri Southern Lions
>> Missouri Southern is 12-9 overall on the year with a 5-7 record in MIAA play. They are 5-4 in road matches.
>> Last season the Lions went 13-17 and 8-12 in the MIAA, losing in the first round of the conference tournament.
>> Katie Mader is in her sixth year at the helm of the Lions program, she has a career record of 51-107 with Missouri Southern
>> Assistant coach Joshua Moore rounds out the coaching staff
>> As a team the Lions carry averages of 12.4 kills per set while hitting .169, 11.7 assists, 19.6 digs and 1.8 blocks.
>> Fernanda Canedo has 253 kills for Missouri Southern (3.33 per set) and is hitting .163 on the year. She has also paces MSU 258 digs (3.39 per set), combined for 31 blocks and has 13 aces.
>> Amelia Neels has 146 kills for the Lions (1.95 per set) with a hitting percentage of .238. She leads the team with 65 total blocks.
>> Tori Hamilton is second on Missouri Southern scooping 254 digs (4.10 per set) she also has 18 aces.
>> Hannah Allick paces the Lions with 469 assists (7.00 per set) and has 174 digs (2.60 per set) with 19 aces.
>> Washburn is 43-28 all-time against Missouri Southern going back to 1976. Earlier this season the Ichabods won 3-1 on the Lions home court.
TAKE A LOOK AHEAD …
>> Washburn begins a three match stretch of road matches next week beginning with Fort Hays State on Tuesday, Oct. 24.
>> Senior night for the Ichabods is Nov. 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.
