TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn volleyball begins postseason play on Thursday evening in the quarterfinals of the MIAA Championship Tournament as the No. 5 seed against No. 4 Missouri Western in the Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Mo.
SETTING THE SCHEDULE …
>> Washburn volleyball enters postseason play this week with a third matchup against the Griffons in the quarterfinal round of the MIAA Championship Tournament.
>> The No. 4 seed Ichabods face the No. 5 seed Missouri Western State at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 16 in the Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Mo.
>> Washburn enters the tournament on a three-match winning streak after knocking off Newman in three sets, 25-17, 25-14 and 25-17 to wrap up the regular season.
QUICK HITS …
>> Washburn finished the regular season 17-10 overall and 11-9 in the MIAA.
>> Entering the final week of the regular season the Ichabods trailed Northwest Missouri by a game in the MIAA standings and with their win and two losses by the Bearcats they were able to move into fifth place in the final regular season conference standings.
>> Washburn is receiving votes in the AVCA Poll for a third consecutive week.
>> 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 as well.
TOURNAMENT TIME
>> All matches will be held in the Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Mo. from Thursday, Nov. 16 to Saturday, Nov. 18
>> The Ichabods will play the final quarterfinal match of the day at the Civic Arena with the first of four matches beginning at noon.
>> Tickets can be purchased for the entire day, $15 for adults and $10 for students and kids
>> A tournament pass can be purchased for $33 for entrance into all games throughout the week
>> The championship match is set for 6 p.m. on Saturday
>> With a win Washburn would play at 7:30 p.m. on Friday against the winner of No. 1 Central Missouri and No. 8 Emporia State
>> Last season the Ichabods entered the tournament as a No. 5 seed and won three straight matches to win the first MIAA Tournament Championship in program history
>> Washburn has won its last four quarterfinals matchups in the MIAA Tournament with the last loss coming in the 2017 season to Missouri Western that was also played in St. Joseph, Mo.
AWARD SEASON
>> Washburn landed four players on the All-MIAA teams for the 2023 season
>> Jalyn Stevenson was selected to the first team as an outside hitter for a second straight season
>> Rachel Schwensen earned first team honors as an outside/right side hitter in her first season with the Ichabods
>> Corinna McMullen was a second team selection as a setter in her sophomore season
>> Taylor Rottinghaus was also a second team All-MIAA member as a defensive specialist/libero as a freshman.
THE WEEK THAT WAS
>> Washburn finished the regular season with its first sweep since Oct. 12, defeating Newman 25-17, 25-14 and 25-17 again to end the regular season.
>> The Ichabods are 11-3 in Lee Arena, 4-7 on the road and 2-0 in neutral court matches.
>> Washburn has nine sweeps this season.
>> The Ichabods have won three straight matches for the first time since Oct. 6-12.
>> Jalyn Stevenson led Washburn in kills with 16 against the Jets and hit .371 in the process. She also added seven digs, two aces and two blocks.
>> Taylor Rottinghaus tallied 26 digs in the match across just three sets. It's tied for the 11th most digs in a three set contest in program history.
>> Corinna McMullen and Sydney Conner each tallied 16 assists in the contest, with McMullen added 10 digs for a double-double along with serving two aces.
>> Taryn Pridgett was second on the Ichabods with eight kills and did so while hitting .318.
>> Austin Broadie and Bella Limback had eight and seven kills respectively while each hitting at least .400.
>> Washburn held the Jets to just .084 hitting with 24 kills to 14 errors.
STACKING UP THE STATS
>> The Ichabods are knocking down 13.3 kills per set, picking up 12.5 assists, making 17.8 digs and stuffing 2.1 attacks.
>> Opponents are netting 11.7 kills per set, 10.8 assists, 16.3 digs and 2.2 blocks.
>> Washburn is hitting .225 as a team through 26 matches while opponents are hitting .168
>> The Ichabods have 181 aces on the year (1.8 per set) while only allowing 110 (1.1 per set).
>> Washburn is fourth in the conference in hitting percentage at .225 for the year
>> The Ichabods passing attack rates fourth in the MIAA and 28th nationally with 12.51 assists per set
>> The defense sits at fifth among conference foes and 17th nationally at 17.79 digs per set
>> Washburn is first in the MIAA in aces per set at 1.83
>> When the Ichabods outkill their opponents they are 17-3
>> When Washburn collects more digs than opponents they are 15-2
>> The Ichabods are 17-3 when they have more assists than opponents.
>> Corinna McMullen leads all players in the conference with .49 aces per set and is first overall with 49 total.
>> Jalyn Stevenson is fourth in the MIAA in kills per set at 3.27 as well as fourth in points per set at 3.76.
>> Taylor Rottinghaus is fourth in the conference averaging 4.43 digs per set.
>> Bella Limback and Rachel Schwensen are both in the top-ten in hitting percentage in the MIAA with Schwensen at No. 3 and Limback at No. 9
TEAM LEADERS
>> Jalyn Stevenson leads Washburn with 324 kills on the year (3.27 per set) while hitting .217. She is second on the team with 305 digs (3.08 per set) and has combined for 30 blocks.
>> Rachel Schwensen is up to 247 kills (2.81 per set) and is hitting .297 across 632 attacks. She is also third on the squad with 60 blocks. She has missed the last three matches.
>> Corinna McMullen leads the Ichabods with 593 assists (5.99 per set) and is third with 271 digs (2.74 per set). She leads the Ichabods with 49 aces on the year.
>> Taylor Rottinghaus leads Washburn with 408 digs (4.43 per set) while adding 78 assists and holding a .951 reception percentage on 391 receptions.
>> Rylee Unruh is third on the team with 191 kills (1.99 per set) and has done a little bit of everything, adding 24 aces, 232 digs (2.42 per set) and has been apart of 32 blocks.
>> Austin Broadie has knocked down 182 kills (1.88 per set) while carrying a hitting percentage of .234. She is second with 69 total blocks and has eight solo blocks.
>> Bella Limback has 147 kills on the year (1.58 per set) while hitting .285. She has the most blocks of any Washburn player with 82 total (.88 per set) and has recorded 63 digs.
>> Sydney Conner has chipped in 460 assists (4.65 per set) and made 189 digs (1.91 per set) and has 23 aces.
>> Iyannah Jackson has totaled up 70 kills across 60 sets hitting a team best .340, as well as combining to make 55 blocks with a team-leading 14 solo denials.
>> Taryn Pridgett has made 97 kills (1.80 per set) while hitting .210. She has combined to make 25 blocks.
>> Maddie Steiner has made 107 digs on the year (1.75 per set).
>> Sophia Cavanaugh has 23 kills on the year, she also has nine 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
>> 9 : Number of sweeps for the Ichabods this season
>> 10 : student-athletes who were on the roster last year who are not on the 2023 roster
>> 21 : consecutive winning seasons for Washburn.
>> 123 : consecutive victories when winning the first two sets of a match
>> 603 : wins that Herron has at Washburn.
MILESTONE TRACKER …
>> Bella Limback is two kills away from 200 in her career and one block away from 100.
>> Jalyn Stevenson is 27 kills away from 1,000 in her career and 43 digs away from 1,000 as well.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION ...
Missouri Western State Griffons
>> Missouri Western ended the regular season 20-9 overall and finished in fourth place in the MIAA with a 13-7 record.
>> They went 5-2 in neutral court matches with a 7-4 record inside the MWSU Fieldhouse and were 8-3 in road contests.
>> Last season the Griffons went 11-18 overall and 8-12 in the MIAA, losing in the first round of the conference tournament.
>> Former Ichabod volleyball All-American and assistant coach Jessic Fey is in her second season as head coach of Missouri Western.
>> Fey was inducted into the Washburn Athletics Hall of Fame on Oct. 7
>> Assistant coaches Izzy Enna and Ami Dias round out the coaching staff
>> As a team the Griffons carry averages of 12.9 kills per set while hitting .199, 11.8 assists, 19.3 digs and 2.1 blocks.
>> Taylor Russell has 295 kills for Missouri Western (3.01 per set) and is hitting .280 on the year, both putting her second on the team. She has also contributed to 66 blocks.
>> Holly Heldt leads the Griffons with 326 kills (3.13 per set) and has 41 aces with 38 blocks.
>> Danielle Moje has 243 kills (2.34 per set) and hits a team high .296 along with 84 blocks.
>> Anna Weberg leads MWS scooping 561 digs (5.39 per set) with a 96.9% reception percentage and has added 100 assists.
>> Nessa Johnson paces the Griffons with 1,035 assists (9.95 per set) and is second on the team with 35 aces while chipping in 324 digs (3.12 per set).
>> Lily Kurz leads MWSU with 103 blocks on the year (1.02 per set) and 14 solo blocks.
>> Washburn is 46-39 all-time against Missouri Western going back to 1975. The Griffons beat the Ichabods in both matchups during the regular season, most recently winning 3-2 on Oct. 28 in St. Joseph.
TAKE A LOOK AHEAD …
>> A win would move Washburn into the semifinals played on Friday, Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m.
