TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 15 Washburn volleyball begins MIAA competition this weekend beginning with a Friday evening matchup against No. 7 Nebraska-Kearney then will wrap up the week on Saturday at 2 p.m. against Fort Hays State.
SETTING THE SCHEDULE …
>> The No. 15 ranked Washburn volleyball team begins the MIAA play this week with a pair of home matches on Friday and Saturday
>> The Ichabods will open up the 2023 conference slate on Friday at 6 p.m. against No. 7 ranked Nebraska-Kearney before hosting Fort Hays State at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
>> The Saturday match against the Tigers was originally scheduled for 6 p.m. and was moved up to 2 p.m.
>> Washburn is wrapping up a six game home stand, the longest of the year, and are on a five match winning streak heading into the weekend after going 4-0 at the Washburn Invitational last weekend with sweeps over Christian Brothers, Midwestern State and No. 25 Harding along with a come from behind 3-2 victory against Oklahoma Baptist.
QUICK HITS …
>> Washburn is now 6-1 on the year with non-conference play complete
>> Washburn moved in the AVCA Coaches Poll for the first time this season, jumping up two spots to No. 15 after being ranked No. 17 the last two weeks. They are the second highest ranked MIAA team behind Nebraksa-Kearney.
>> Washburn has won four straight MIAA openers going back to the 2017 season. The last loss came in 2017 and was to Nebraska-Kearney.
>> 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 Ichabods will face back-to-back ranked opponents for the first time this season when they face the Lopers.
THE WEEK THAT WAS
>> Washburn won a 3-0 match over Christian Brothers on Thursday night by scores of 25-11, 25-10 and 25-9. On Friday, the Ichabods defeated Midwestern State 25-14, 25-13 and 25-15 to begin the day. In the evening they mounted a 3-2 comeback win against Oklahoma Baptist, losing 25-20 and 25-19 before winning 25-23, 25-17 and 15-11. To end the week Washburn won a decisive three set match over No. 25 Harding by scores of 25-22, 25-12 and 25-13.
>> The Ichabods are now 2-0 against ranked opponents after defeating the Bison.
>> Washburn is now 4-0 in Lee Arena this season.
>> Rachel Schwensen, Jalyn Stevenson and Bella Limback were all named to the All-Tournament Team at the end of the Washburn Invitational with the Ichabods as the only team to go a perfect 4-0.
>> Schwensen was named the MVP of the tournament
>> Washburn had a season-high 15 aces in the match against Christian Brothers
>> Jalyn Stevenson logged 13 kills while hitting .385 with six aces against Midwestern State, and against No. 25 Harding she had 14 kills at .375 and scooped 13 digs.
>> Stevenson, Corinna McMullen and Sydney Conner each notched double-doubles against the Bison. Stevenson had 10 kills and 12 digs, McMullen had 30 assists and 18 digs while Conner had 23 kills and 13 digs.
>> McMullen added a 21 assist, 10 dig double-double against Harding.
>> Schwensen knocked down 15 kills while hitting .317 and added five total blocks against Oklahoma Baptist.
>> Taylor Rottinghaus made a career best 26 digs against the Bison.
STACKING UP THE STATS
>> The Ichabods are knocking down 13.7 kills per set, picking up 12.5 assists, making 16.6 digs and stuffing 2.04 attacks.
>> Opponents are netting 10.2 kills per set, 9.4 assists and 14.9 digs.
>> Washburn is hitting .226 as a team through three matches while opponents are hitting .148
>> Washburn is 25th in the nation in aces per set at 2.32, that number is highest in the MIAA
>> The Ichabods are also 25th nationally out of 281 ranked teams with an average of 12.48 assists per set.
>> In kills per set Washburn is 19th in the nation knocking down 13.68 per set, third most among conference schools
>> When the Ichabods outhit their opponents they are 6-0
>> When Washburn collects more digs than opponents they are 6-0
>> The Ichabods are 6-0 when they have more assists than oppoennts.
>> Corinna McMullen is 66th in the nation in aces per set at .6. It is second among all MIAA players. Rylee Unruh is 91st out of 294 qualified players, knocking down .56 aces per set, fourth most in the conference.
>> Jalyn Stevenson is third in the MIAA in points per set, racking up 3.78 points in each one.
TEAM LEADERS
>> Jalyn Stevenson leads Washburn with 79 kills on the year (3.16 per set) while hitting .197. She is second on the team with 69 digs and has made 162 receptions with only two errors.
>> Rachel Schwensen is up to 58 kills (2.32 per set) and is hitting .263 with only 14 errors on 167 attempts. She is also second on the team with 17 total blocks and leads with five solos.
>> Rylee Unruh is third on the team with 54 kills (2.16 per set) and has done a little bit of everything, adding 14 aces, 63 digs and has been apart of nine blocks.
>> Corinna McMullen leads the Ichabods with 152 assists (6.08 per set) and is third with 68 digs (2.72 per set). She leads the Ichabods with 15 aces on the year and only five service errors.
>> Austin Broadie has knocked down 51 kills (2.04 per set) while carrying a hitting percentage of .266. She has helped out on 16 total blocks with four solo.
>> Taylor Rottinghaus leads Washburn with 80 digs (4.00 per set) while adding 15 assists and holding a .975 reception percentage on 81 receptions.
>> Bella Limback has 41 kills on the year on only 79 attempts (1.64 per set) while hitting a team-high .468. She has the most blocks of any Washburn player with 21 total (.84 per set) and has recorded 19 digs.
>> Sydney Conner has chipped in 111 assists (4.44 per set) and 43 digs (1.72 per set) and has six aces on 86 attempts with only four erros.
>> Taryn Pridgett has made 32 kills (1.78 per set) while hitting .218. She has combined to make 10 blocks.
>> Iyannah Jackson has chipped in nine kills across seven sets while also assisting with seven blocks.
>> Maddie Steiner has made 24 digs on the year (1.33 per set) with 11 assists.
BY THE NUMBERS …
>> 2 : NCAA Central Region championships won by Washburn in the past four official seasons.
>> 2 : The number of spots Washburn moved up in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll
>> 4 : upperclassmen on this year's team ... the fewest since the 2014 roster also featuring four
>> 5 : Number of matches won in a row by the Ichabods
>> 10 : student-athletes who were on the roster last year who are not on the 2022 roster
>> 20 : consecutive winning seasons for Washburn.
>> 118 : consecutive victories when winning the first two sets of a match
>> 592 : wins that Herron has at Washburn.
MILESTONE TRACKER …
>> Corinna McMullen is 42 assists away from 1,000 in her career.
>> Austin Broadie is 28 kills away from 300 in her career
>> Sydney Conner has 672 career assists, 28 away from 700
>> Bella Limback only needs eight kills for 100 in her career
>> Rachel Schwensen is 97 kills away from 1,000 in her collegiate career
sCOUTING THE OPPOSITION ...
Nebraska-Kearney Lopers
>> Nebraska-Kearney is a perfect 9-0 this season and is already 2-0 in matches away from home.
>> They moved into a tie for No. 7 in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll
>> 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 14.6 kills per set while hitting .307, 13.5 assists, 15.1 digs and 2.7 blocks.
>> Asha Regier has 82 kills for Nebraska-Kearney (3.15 kills per set) and is swinging .395. She has also combined to help make 12 blocks.
>> Peyton Neff has 315 assists (10.86 per set), controlling most of the offense for the Lopers. She has also made 28 kills, served 10 aces and made 50 digs (1.72 per set)
>> Celeste Friesen has 102 digs on the year for Nebraska-Kearney (3.52 per set) and has added 25 assists and 10 aces
>> Washburn is 13-30 all-time against the Lopers going back to 1976 although the Ichabods have won the last five matches going back to 2019 including in the MIAA Championship last season.
Fort Hays State Tigers
>> The Tigers are 6-3 on the young year and are 0-1 in matches away from home
>> In 2022 Fort Hays State went 11-17 and 6-14 against MIAA competition while not qualifying for the MIAA Conference Championship
>> The Tigers are led by Jessica Wood-Atkins in her sixth season on the job, she is 123-149 in her nine plus year coaching career
>> Carolynne Barbosa and Giovanna Kuntze complete the coaching staff
>> As a team FHSU averages 12.5 kills per set, 11.6 assists, 2.3 blocks and 14 digs.
>> Gracie Rains has 100 kills on the season (3.03 per set) and is hitting .184 while doing so. She has also contributed to 13 blocks.
>> Riley Tinder has 82 kills for the Tigers (2.34 per set), she is second with 101 digs (2.89 per set)
>> Brooke Hyland's 150 digs (4.29 per set) lead Fort Hays State, she has a .981 reception percentage in 161 attempts and 15 aces.
>> Emily Ellis has 73 kills (2.15 per set) and hits a team high .267, she's also recorded 40 total blcoks this season, unassisted
>> Washburn is 46-23 all-time against the Tigers going back to 1973. In the last 13 matches the Ichabods are undefeated aginst the Tigers, not losing since May, 2015.
TAKE A LOOK AHEAD …
>> Washburn plays its first two conference road matches with Missouri Southern at 6 p.m. on Friday, Sep. 22 and Central Missouri at 2 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.
