TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 17 Washburn plays in Topeka for the first time with four matches over three days at the 2023 Washburn Invitational beginning Thursday at 3 p.m. against Christian Brothers and running through Saturday.
SETTING THE SCHEDULE …
>> The No. 17 ranked Washburn volleyball team begins the 2023 home slate with four matches over three days at the 2023 Washburn Invitational.
>> On Thursday, the Ichabods will face Christian Brothers (3 p.m.) in the standalone match to kick off the tournament. On Friday Washburn plays against Midwestern State (11:30 a.m.) and Oklahoma Baptist (5 p.m.) before finishing the tournament against Harding on Saturday (2 p.m.)
>> The Ichabods began the 2023 season with a 2-1 showing at the Florida Southern College Volleyball Classic. Washburn defeated Flagler College 3-2 and lost to the host Florida Southern 3-0 in the evening on Friday. On Saturday the Ichabods swept No. 6 Barry 3-0 to finish out the tournament.
2023 WASHBURN INVITATIONAL …
>> The Washburn Invitational will play 16 total matches over three days and is comprised of eight total teams.
>> The Ichabods match against Christian Brothers on Thrusday afternoon will open up the tournament. Eight total matches will be played on Friday in four time slots with two courts playing at once. Seven matches will be held on Saturday spanning across five time slots. Even when only one match is occuring matches will still be played the same direction.
>> Of the eight total teams paricipating three come from the MIAA (Washburn, Northwest Missouri, Missouri Western), two from the GAC (Oklahoma Baptist, Harding), one from the GSC (Christian Brothers), another from the LSC (Midwestern State) and one from the GLVC (William Jewell).
>> Every match in the tournament will be live streamed on the MIAA Network and all matches will have live stats avaliable as well. Viewers will need to purchase a subscription or individual match pass to view matches on the MIAA Network.
>> The 2023 All-Tournament team will be announced at the conclusion of the tournament.
>> A complete tournament schedule can be found here.
QUICK HITS …
>> Washburn is 2-1 on the year heading into the final regular season tournament of the season.
>> After winning on Friday Washburn is now 39-15 all-time in season openers and 27-6 since joining the NCAA and MIAA in 1989.
>> Washburn has won four straight home openers going back to the 2017 season. Under Herron the Ichabods are 19-1 in official season home openers.
>> 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 went 4-0 at the last Washburn Invitational back in 2021, defeating two ranked teams.
>> Washburn had no movement in the Week 1 AVCA Coaches Poll as they stayed at No. 17. They recieved a total of 380 points in the poll, up from 374 the week before.
>> The 2023 Washburn Invitational will conclude the non-conference schedule for Washburn.
THE WEEK THAT WAS
>> Washburn began the week with a 3-2 win over Flagler College on Friday afternoon by set scores of 25-23, 25-19, 25-27, 25-27 and 15-11. On Friday evening they were defeated by Florida Southern College 25-18, 25-23 and 25-23. Saturday they knocked off Barry in 25-20, 25-15 and 26-24 sets.
>> The win over the Buccaneers was the Ichabods first ranked win of the season.
>> Washburn now 0-1 in road matches and 2-0 in neutral court affairs in 2023.
>> Jalyn Stevenson reached the 20 kill mark for the second time in her career against Flagler as she knocked down 20 kills at a .286 clip and recorded a double-double with 17 digs.
>> Rylee Unruh began her tournament with a 13 kill and 16 dig double-double against Flagler and ended it by setting the Washburn program record with eight aces in the win over Barry. In the match she also knocked down a team high 12 kills with six digs and four assisted blocks.
>> Corinna McMullen notched a double-double against Flagler as well, assisting on 30 kills and coming away with 15 digs over the five set match.
>> Rachel Schwensen knocked down 14 kills in 31 attacks with only two errors on Friday against Flagler to finish hitting .387 in the match. She also assisted on two blocks and made one solo.
STACKING UP THE STATS
>> The Ichabods are knocking down 13.82 kills per set, picking up 12.64 assists and making 16.36 digs.
>> Washburn is 26th in the nation in kills per set and the assist numbers put them at 29th
>> Washburn is hitting .176 as a team through three matches while opponents are hitting .199.
>> When the Ichabods outhit their opponents they are 2-0
>> When Washburn collects more digs than opponents they are 2-0
>> The Ichabods are 2-0 when they have more assists than oppoennts.
>> Rylee Unruh is 31st in the nation in aces per set at .82 and is first among the MIAA, Corinna McMullen is third in the conference in aces per set.
TEAM LEADERS
>> Jalyn Stevenson leads Washburn with 36 kills on the year (3.27 per set) while hitting .181. She is tied for second on the team with 30 digs and has made 98 receptions with only one error.
>> Rylee Unruh has the second most kills at 34 (3.09 per set) while hitting .106. She is tied for second in both blocks and digs helping to assist with six blocks and having come away with 30 digs.
>> Austin Broadie has knocked down 28 kills (2.55 per set) on only 69 attempts. She has also made five total blocks with one being solo.
>> Rachel Schwensen is up to 24 kills in 2023 (2.18 per set) and is hitting .239. She is tied for second with six total blocks, five assisted and one solo.
>> Corinna McMullen leads the Ichabods with 64 assists (5.82 per set) and is tied for second in digs with 30 (3.73 per set). She has six aces on the year and only one error on 50 serve attempts.
>> Sydney Conner is just behind at 51 assists on the year (4.64 per set) while also making 20 digs.
>> Taylor Rottinghaus leads Washburn with 32 digs (4.57 per set) and has no errors on 23 total receptions.
>> Bella Limback has 15 kills on the year on only 32 attempts (1.36 per set) while hitting .406. She leads the Ichabods with nine assisted blocks (.82 per set).
>> Iyannah Jackson has chipped in seven kills across six sets while also assisting with six blocks.
>> Maddie Steiner has made 19 digs on the year (2.11 per set) with seven assists.
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
>> 10 : student-athletes who were on the roster last year who are not on the 2022 roster
>> 19 : Seasons Washburn has won its home opener under Chris Herron (one loss)
>> 20 : consecutive winning seasons for Washburn.
>> 115 : consecutive victories when winning the first two sets of a match
>> 588 : wins that Herron has at Washburn.
MILESTONE TRACKER …
>> Corinna McMullen is 30 assists away from 900 in her career.
>> Jalyn Stevenson needs 15 kills for 700
>> Austin Broadie is one kill away from 250 in her career
>> Rachel Schwensen is 131 kills away from 1,000 in her collegiate career
sCOUTING THE OPPOSITION ...
Christian Brothers Bucs
>> Christian Brothers is 1-3 overall and is 1-0 in road contests.
>> Last season the Bucs were 4-22 overall and went 2-14 in the GSC.
>> Christian Brothers is led by former Ichabod volleyball All-American Bri Lewis in her fourth season.
>> Before joining the Bucs, Lewis was an assistant coach at Pittsburg State and Texas Woman's University.
>> Lewis was inducted into the Washburn Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022.
>> Alma Solis leads Christian Brothers with 29 kills (2.23 per set) and is hitting .188. She also adds five combined blocks, most on the team.
>> Sarah Allyn Thornell has 111 assists on the year (8.54 per set) and has added 40 digs (3.08 per set), four blocks and eight kills.
>> Maysen Bruschke has 28 kills (2.15 per set), leads the Bucs with five aces and is second with 41 digs (3.15).
>> Washburn is 5-0 all-time against the Bucs going back to 2002.
Midwestern State Mustangs
>> Midwestern State is 2-2 on the year and has not played a match away from home
>> Last season the Mustangs went 7-22 overall and were 5-11 in the LSC
>> Stephanie Radecki is in her second season as head coach of Midwestern State
>> Prior to her stop in Texas Radecki was the head coach at Southern Miss, North Alabama and Saint Leo.
>> Riley Rabedaux has 47 kills (3.36 per set) on the year to pace the Mustangs and is doing it while hitting .342. She has also assisted on five blocks.
>> Alayna Gurrero has 115 assists on the year (8.21 per set) and has chipped in making 38 digs (2.71 per set).
>> Taygon Jones leads Midwestern State in digs with 59 (4.21 per set) and she has no errors while making 52 receptions. She leads the Mustangs with five aces.
>> Isabella Dickens has 24 kills on the year (1.85 per set) and is hitting .333 on the year. She's made four total blocks and has two aces.
>> Jaiden Wright has made nine total blocks, all assisted, four more than any other Mustang.
>> The Ichabods are 5-0 all-time against Midwestern State going back to 2008.
Oklahoma Baptist Bison
>> Oklahoma Baptist is 1-3 in the new year and has gone 0-2 in road matches
>> The Bison went 19-11 last season with a 13-3 record in the GAC.
>> Anna Howle is in her 16th season in charge of the OBU volleyball program
>> Howle played her college volleyball at Oklahoma University and got her start coaching in high school.
>> Jill Leslie has 30 kills on the year (2.31 per set) and is hitting .319 to lead the Bison in both categories. She has also been apart of 10 combined blocks, also a team high.
>> Maci Langford has made 60 digs (4.62 per set) to lead OBU and has a .949 reception percentage.
>> Rylee Martin's 84 assist (6.46 per set) top the Bison charts. She has also chipped in 26 digs (2 per set) and one ace.
>> Jh'Kyah Head has 29 kills on the year (2.23 per set) and is hitting .260, she's helped contribute to two blocks as well.
>> Washburn is 1-1 all-time against Oklahoma Baptist going back to 2016.
Harding Bison
>> Harding is 4-0 on the year and has only played neutral court matches so far
>> Last season the Bison went 30-2 and 16-0 in the GAC. They lost in the first round of the NCAA Cenntral Region Tournament.
>> Meredith Fear is in her 12th season as head coach of the Harding Bison
>> Prior to joining Harding she spent two seasons as the head coach at York College in Nebraska.
>> Chloe Ingersoll leads the Bison with 30 kills (2.5 per set) while hitting .157. She is second on the team with 39 digs (3.25 per set).
>> Emma Winiger has 61 digs (5.08 per set) to top the Harding charts. She also has 14 assists and a team-high eight aces.
>> Sarah Morehead has 64 assists for the Bison (5.82 per set) she has also collected 32 digs (2.91 per set) and made 10 kills.
>> Jacey Lambert has 29 kills in 2023 (2.64 per set) and is hitting .232 in the process. She has added in nine blocks with four solos.
>> Kelli McKinnon leads Harding with 13 total blocks, seven solo and six assis
>> Washburn is 10-3 against the Bison all-time dating back to 2001
2022 SEASON REWIND …
>> Washburn Ichabod volleyball went 24-8 (13-7) in the 2022 season which was highlighted by the programs first ever MIAA Tournament Championship
>> Washburn finished the season No. 18 in the AVCA poll
>> The Ichabods qualified for the NCAA Tournament for a fourth consecutive season
>> Halle Meister and Jalyn Stevenson were both named AVCA All-American Honorable Mentions
TAKE A LOOK AHEAD …
>> Washburn stays at home and opens up conference play next week as they will host Nebraska-Kearney at 6 p.m. on Friday and Fort Hays State at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
>> The MIAA Championship Tournament begins on Thursday Nov. 16.
