TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 20 Washburn Ichabod volleyball splits a pair of midweek matches between Lee Arena and on the road with a trip down the turnpike on Tuesday to face Emporia State at 6 p.m. on Tuesday and a home match against Newman at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
SETTING THE SCHEDULE …
>> The No. 20 ranked Washburn volleyball plays a pair of midweek matches split between home and away this week traveling down the turnpike to Emporia on Tuesday and hosting Newman on Thursday.
>> The Ichabods begin the week at Emporia State on Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. before returning home for one match against the Jets at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
>> Washburn split a third consecutive week of conference action, this time back on the road, falling to Central Oklahoma 3-1 on Thursday before rebounding for a 3-1win against Pittsburg State on Friday.
QUICK HITS …
>> Washburn is now 11-4 on the year and 5-3 in the MIAA
>> The Ichabods are tied with Missouri Western for fourth place in the MIAA at 5-2 this season. Central Missouri is a perfect 8-0 to lead the conference.
>> Washburn moved down in the AVCA Coaches Poll for week six to No. 20. They have been ranked inside the top-20 in all six polls 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.
>> The match against Newman is the Pink Out Game presented by Stormont Vail Health
>> Washburn is playing on a Tuesday for the first time this season.
THE WEEK THAT WAS
>> Washburn lost a 3-1 match to the No. 22 Bronchos on Thursday losing the first two sets 25-19 and 28-26, rebounded in the third to win 25-20 but fell late in the fourth 26-24.
>> The Ichabods are now 2-3 on the road in 2023.
>> Washburn is 2-1 in matches that go four sets this year.
>> The loss on Thursday was the first loss for the Ichabods that did not come in a sweep. It was also the first time this season that one team did not win both of the first two sets.
>> Rachel Schwensen had double-digit kills in both matches this weekend with 12 and 13 respectively. In her 13 kill effort against Pittsburg State she hit .458 and reached the 1,000 kill milestone for her collegiate career.
>> Jalyn Stevenson had 20 combined kills on the week, leading Washburn with 13 against the Bronchos. She made it a double-double with 10 digs. On Friday she had 17 digs to pace the Ichabods.
>> Taylor Rottinghaus was the only Ichabod to reach 20 digs over the weekend, making 23 against Central Oklahoma.
>> Austin Broadie had 12 kills and hit .308 with three blocks against UCO, she added in eight kills in the win over the Gorillas while hitting .389.
>> Corinna McMullen had a 24 assist and 11 dig double-double against Pittsburg State and led Washburn with 25 assists in the first match.
>> Washburn hit better as a team in each set against Pittsburg State, with a .519 attacking percentage in the fourth set.
STACKING UP THE STATS
>> The Ichabods are knocking down 13.6 kills per set, picking up 12.6 assists, making 17.2 digs and stuffing 2.1 attacks.
>> Opponents are netting 11.5 kills per set, 10.6 assists, 15.7 digs and 2.4 blocks.
>> Washburn is hitting ..228 as a team through 15 matches while opponents are hitting .166
>> The Ichabods have 108 aces on the year (2.0 per set) while only allowing 53 (1.0 per set).
>> The Ichabods are 21st nationally out of 278 ranked teams with an average of 12.61 assists per set, it's the third highest mark in the conference
>> In kills per set Washburn is 25th in the nation and third in the MIAA knocking down 13.57 per set
>> The Ichabod defense is at 34th overall in digs per set at 17.17, fifth most among conference schools
>> Washburn is 43rd in the nation in aces per set at 2.0, that number is the second highest in the MIAA
>> When the Ichabods outhit their opponents they are 11-0
>> When Washburn collects more digs than opponents they are 9-1
>> The Ichabods are 11-0 when they have more assists than opponents.
>> Corinna McMullen is 28th in the nation in aces per set at .56. It's the highest among all MIAA players. She's also first in the conference in total aces with 30.
>> Jalyn Stevenson is sixth in the MIAA in kills per set at 3.15 as well as seventh in points per set with 3.63.
>> Bella Limback and Rachel Schwensen are both in the top-five in hitting percentage in the MIAA with Limback at No. 3 and Schwensen at No. 5.
TEAM LEADERS
>> Jalyn Stevenson leads Washburn with 170 kills on the year (3.15 per set) while hitting ..199. She is third on the team with 155 digs (2.87 per set) and has combined for 13 blocks.
>> Rachel Schwensen is up to 155 kills (2.87 per set) and is hitting .319 with only 32 errors on 386 attempts. She is also third on the team with 40 total blocks.
>> Corinna McMullen leads the Ichabods with 337 assists (6.24 per set) and is third with 154 digs (2.85 per set). She leads the Ichabods with 30 aces on the year.
>> Taylor Rottinghaus leads Washburn with 221 digs (4.51 per set) while adding 46 assists and holding a .955 reception percentage on 202 receptions.
>> Rylee Unruh is third on the team with 114 kills (2.11 per set) and has done a little bit of everything, adding 18 aces, 145 digs (2.69 per set) and has been apart of 21 blocks.
>> Austin Broadie has knocked down 106 kills (2.00per set) while carrying a hitting percentage of .254. She is second on the team with 44 blocks and leads with seven solo blocks.
>> Bella Limback has 80 kills on the year (1.54 per set) while hitting a team-high .332 among qualified players. She has the most blocks of any Washburn player with 50 total (.98 per set) and has recorded 42 digs.
>> Sydney Conner has chipped in 251 assists (4.65 per set) and 88 digs (1.63 per set) and has 16 aces on 196 attempts
>> Taryn Pridgett has made 48 kills (1.55 per set) while hitting .178. She has combined to make 15 blocks.
>> Iyannah Jackson has chipped in 21 kills across 19 sets while also combining to make 16 blocks.
>> Sophia Cavanaugh has 16 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
>> 6 : 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.
>> 120 : consecutive victories when winning the first two sets of a match
>> 597 : wins that Herron has at Washburn.
MILESTONE TRACKER …
>> Chris Herron is three wins away from 600 while at Washburn.
>> Jalyn Stevenson needs seven more blocks for 100 in her career.
>> Austin Broadie is 5 blocks away from 100 in her career.
>> Corinna McMullen is 53 digs away from 500 in her career
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION ...
Emporia State Hornets
>> Emporia State is 8-8- overall on the year with a 2-6 record in MIAA play. They are 1-3 at home on the year.
>> Last season the Hornets went 4-25 overall and 1-19 in the MIAA and did not qualify for the MIAA Tournament
>> Ken Murczek is in his first season at the helm of the ESU volleyball program.
>> Assistant coach Laurel Durst and graduate assistant McKenzie Damon round out the staff
>> As a team Emporia State carries averages of 12.6 kills per set while hitting .202, 11.6 assists, 15.0 digs and 1.9 blocks.
>> Sandora Sasaki leads Emporia State in kills with 245 kills (4.30 per set) and she hits .243, second highest on the team. She also adds 13 aces, 11 blocks and is second on the team with 141 digs (2.47 per set)
>> McKenya Sorrells had 98 kills (4.30 per set) and carries a .280 attacking percentage, highest on the Hornets. She also leads the team with 47 blocks.
>> Brailee Bogle has 525 assists to lead ESU (9.21 per set), she also has 13 aces and has made 138 digs (2.42 per set).
>> Anakaren Chavez paces Emporia State with 181 digs this season (3.18 per set) she has a .944 reception percentage.
>> Washburn is 39-55 all-time against the Hornets going back to 1973. The Ichabods have won the last 10 matches and 25 of the last 26.
Newman Jets
>> The Jets are 0-15 on the year after falling 3-0 to Missouri Southern on Friday. They are 0-8 in MIAA play and 0-7 on the road.
>> In 2022 Newman went 8-22 overall and 3-17 in the MIAA. They didn't qualify for the MIAA Tournament.
>> The Jets are led by Marissa Compton in her 2nd season at Newman.
>> Assistant Coach Rylee Meloy and student assistant Abby Borough round out the coaching staff.
>> The Jets average 9.0 kills per set on .092 hitting, 8.2 assists, 1.5 blocks and 14.4 digs.
>> Makenna Reinert leads the Jets in kills with 94 kills (1.88 per set) and hits .048 on the year. She is second on the team with 173 digs (3.2 per set) and has contributed to 23 total blocks.
>> Ozioma Ajekwu has 80 kills (1.88 per set) and hits .233 to lead the Jets. She also has 27 blocks on the year.
>> Natalie Morales leads Newman with 202 digs (4.04 per set), she's also chipped in 39 assists.
>> McKinzie Weaver has the top spot on the Jets' assist chart with 204 this year (4.64 per set). She's second on the team with 94 digs (2.14 per set)
>> Natalie Meyer has 31 blocks to lead Newman this season. She's also added 71 kills.
>> Washburn is 19-5 all-time against the Jets going back to 1975. The Ichabods have won 17 straight matches with the last loss coming on Oct. 6, 1981.
TAKE A LOOK AHEAD …
>> Washburn has a busy next week with three matches beginning with a road contest against Nebraska-Kearney on Tuesday Oct. 17. They return home for matches with Central Missouri on Oct. 20 and Missouri Southern on Saturday, Oct. 21.
>> 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.
