TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 25 Washburn Ichabod volleyball embarks on its MIAA Tournament journey as the No. 4 seed on Thursday evening against the No. 5 seed, Northwest Missouri State at 7:30 p.m. in St. Joseph, Mo.
Setting The Schedule
>> No. 25 Washburn volleyball begins postseason play as the No. 4 seed on Thursday against the Bearcats of Northwest Missouri State in the quarterfinal round of the MIAA Championship Tournament.
>> The Ichabods will face No. 5 seeded Northwest Missouri at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 21 inside the Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Mo.
Quick Hits
>> The Ichabods finish the regular season 20-6 overall and 11-5 inside the MIAA. They are 8-3 in road matches, 7-1 in neutral court contests and 6-1 in Lee Arena.
>> Washburn wrapped up its regular season schedule with a 3-0 loss to No. 10 Central Oklahoma and a 3-1 road victory against Arkansas-Fort Smith on Nov. 16.
>> The Ichabods were picked to finish fourth in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll with one first place vote. They fnished the regular season fourth in the final KPI rankings used to determine conference tournament seedings.
>> Washburn is ranked No. 25 in the final AVCA Poll of the regular season with 88 total points in the poll.
>> The Ichabods went 17-11 overall a season ago, finishing 5th in the MIAA. They went 11-3 at home, 4-7 on the road and 2-1 in neutral court matches.
>> The 2024 roster is the most balanced by class in the Chris Herron era. For the first time in his tenure there are at least four players from each class on the roster.
TOURNAMENT TIME!
>> Washburn enters the MIAA Tournament as the No. 4 seed for the second time.
>> The Ichabods are 17-15 all-time in the MIAA Tournament including 11-3 in the quarterfinal round.
>> With a win Washburn's semifinals match would take place at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 22.
>> The championship match is set for 6 p.m. on Saturday.
ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
>> Washburn had six players selected to All-MIAA teams released by the conference on Wednesday morning.
>> Jalyn Stevenson was a first team selection at outside hitter for a third straight season. She has earned All-MIAA recognition in all four years of her career.
>> Alex Dvorak, Corinna McMullen and Taylor Rottinghaus were all selected as second team members. McMullen and Rottinghaus each repeat as second team selections from a season ago.
>> Austin Broadie and Bella Limback both received all-conference recognition for the first time in their careers with honorable mention nods.
About the Ichabods
>> Jalyn Stevenson is the team leader with 286 kills (2.92 per set) while hitting .196 across 26 matches with 26 starts. She is also second on the squad in digs with 298 (3.04 per set) and in aces with 31. She is 11th in the MIAA in total kills and 18th in total digs.. She is top-20 in both kills and points per set as well. She has 11 double-doubles on the year and four double-digit kill matches in the last five.
>> Alex Dvorak leads the Washburn defense at the net with 126 blocks on the year (1.29 per set) while starting all 26 matches. She sits second on the team in kills with 215 (2.19 per set) and leads the team with a .381 hitting percentage. The junior is second in the MIAA in both total blocks and blocks per set. She ranks 15th and 22nd in each category nationally respectively. Her hitting percentage is tops in the conference and 22nd in the nation. In 17 of 26 matches she has recorded at least five blocks.
>> Taylor Rottinghaus has a team-high 498 digs (5.08 per set) across 26 matches. She has chipped in 80 assists and served 26 aces. The sophomore is 33rd in the nation and sixth in the MIAA in digs per set while also ranking sixth in the conference in total digs. She has 20+ digs in four of the last six matches.
>> Corinna McMullen paces Washburn with 620 assists (6.39 per set) through 26 matches with 24 starts. She is also third on the team with 231 digs (2.38 per set) while serving a team-high 41 aces. The junior is 3rd in the MIAA in aces per set while ranking 8th in both assists per set and total assists. She has a team-high 13 double-doubles on the year including six of the last seven matches.
>> Bella Limback is second among Ichabod hitters with a .259 attacking percentage while starting all 26 matches. She has tallied 165 kills (1.72 per set) and is second on the team with 95 blocks. The junior's hitting percentage is 39th highest in the nation and third in the MIAA. She is also 8th in total blocks in the conference and 11th in blocks per set. She has hit .400 or better in 12 matches including each of the last two.
>> Austin Broadie is third on the team in both kills and hitting percentage while playing in all 26 matches and making 11 starts. She has 210 kills (2.14 per set) on the year while hitting .254 and has racked up 62 total blocks. The senior has hit over .400 in four matches.
>> Sydney Conner is second on the team with 418 assist (4.49 per set) across 26 matches with two starts. The junior is fourth on the squad with 182 digs (1.96 per set) while serving 12 aces. She has posted four double-doubles this season.
>> Emery Keebaugh has played in 20 matches logging six starts while making 121 kills (2.24 per set). She is hitting .201 with 22 blocks and 54 digs. She has reached double-digit kills in two of the last three matches she has appeared in.
>> Maddie Steiner is fourth on the team with 19 service aces while playing in all 26 matches and making 15 starts. The senior is also fifth with 178 digs (1.84 per set) from the back row with six double-digit dig matches.
>> Taryn Pridgett has played in 13 matches making five starts with 57 total kills while hitting .238. She has added 14 digs and 13 blocks. She set a career-high with 15 kills against Arkansas-Fort Smith.
>> Brynne Topolski has started in eight matches and played in 21 during her freshman season, logging 132 kills (2.10 per set) while hitting .221. She has added 33 blocks and 39 digs.
>> Keilah Rivers has tallied 47 kills (1.24 per set) across 17 matches with three starts. She has 36 digs and 14 blocks.
Head Coach Chris Herron
>> Herron is in his 23rd season at the helm of the Ichabod volleyball program with a career record of 623-138 at Washburn.
>> He has led the Ichabod to 17 NCAA Tournament appearances and six combined MIAA titles (five regular season and one tournament).
>> Has been named MIAA Coach of the Year four times (2002, 2005, 2007 and 2011).
>> Led the Ichabods to the NCAA National Championship match in 2021.
>> Has seen his players earn 50 All-American awards, 90 All-Region/District awards and 46 All-MIAA first team selections.
>> Spent 14 years as a high school coach at Tonganoxie HS and Golden City HS.
>> Is a 1980 graduate of the College of the Ozarks where he earned his bachelor's of science in physical education.
Assistant Coaches
>> Shayla Conner enters her fourth season as an assistant coach for the Ichabods.
>> The former All-American setter has helped guide Washburn to a 92-31 record in her first three seasons.
>> In her first season she helped the Ichabods to the National Championship match. In 2022, Washburn won its first-ever MIAA Tournament Championship.
>> She has coached six total All-Americans and nine All-MIAA first team selections.
>> Cade Berg enters his third season as a member of the Ichabod coaching staff as a student assistant.
>> During his tenure Washburn has earned a pair of All-American honors and four All-MIAA first team selections.
By the Numbers
>> 2: NCAA Central Region Championships won by Washburn in the past five seasons.
>> 12: Number of sweeps this season.
>> 13: Number of returning members of the 2023 team.
>> 23: Consecutive winning seasons for Washburn all coming under Chris Herron.
>> 137: Consecutive victories when winning the first two sets of a match.
>> 623: Career victories for Herron at Washburn.
Ranking Roundup
>> With 246.5 total blocks on the year the Ichabods have the 21st most in the nation and third most in the MIAA.
>> They rank 17th in the nation and are the top team in the MIAA with 2.52 blocks per set.
>> Washburn is 21st in the nation and third in the MIAA with 14.02 kills per set.
>> The Ichabods are also hitting efficiently, sitting 36th in the nation in hitting percentage at .240 as a team, third highest mark in the conference.
>> Washburn has been effective at stopping opponents attacks as they rank 52nd in the nation and fourth among conference teams with a .155 opponent hitting percentage.
>> With 13.07 assists per set the Ichabods rank 17th in the nation and 3rd in the MIAA at setting up kills.
>> On defense Washburn averages 17.84 digs per set ranking 28th in the nation and eighth in the conference.
Milestone Markers
>> Jalyn Stevenson ranks 14th in program history with 1,277 career kills. She will move into 13th with 17 more kills. She is also seventh on the program charts in aces and 19th in digs. She needs three aces to move up to 5th.
>> Corinna McMullen is 11th in program history in total assists with 2,050. She is tied for 9th in program history in service aces with 123. She needs six more aces to move up to eighth.
>> Sydney Conner has 1,463 career assists, putting her 15th in Washburn history. She needs 52 assists to move up to 14th.
>> With 942 career digs Taylor Rottinghaus is climbing the all-time charts and currently ranks 28th.
>> Austin Broadie ranks in the top-40 in Ichabod history in both blocks and kills sitting 33rd and 37th respectively.
Scouting the Opposition
About the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats
>> Northwest Missouri State enters the postseason with a 15-11 record overall after going 9-7 inside the MIAA, finishing fifth. They wrapped up the regular season with a 3-1 win over Fort Hays State inside the Bearcat Arena.
>> The Bearcats are 6-3 inside of Maryville, 5-5 on the road and 4-3 in neutral court matches.
>> Amy Woerth is in her 13th season in charge of the Northwest Missouri volleyball program where she has compiled a 227-149 record.
>> Assistant coach Nick Sepulveda rounds out the coaching staff.
>> On the year the Bearcats average 13.8 kills per set while hitting .198. They also carry averages of 12.3 assists per set with 19.2 digs and 1.9 blocks. Among conference foes they are first in the MIAA in digs per set while ranking fourth in the nation. They also lead the conference in attacks per set.
>> Abby Brunssen leads Northwest Missouri with 303 kills (3.09 per set) while starting all 26 matches. She also hits a team-high .299 while also leading the team with 104 blocks including 14 solo. She ranks 4th in the MIAA in total blocks and 8th in total kills.
>> Payton Kirchhoefer is second on the team with 255 kills (2.80 per set) across 25 matches and 24 starts. She has added 231 digs (2.54 per set) and has made 40 total blocks. She is second in the league in attacks per set.
>> Ella Caffery leads the Bearcat passing attack with 774 assists (7.74 per set). She has added 191 digs (1.91 per set) with 54 blocks and 65 kills. She ranks 6th in the MIAA in both total assists and assists per set.
>> Kyah Luhring leads the team with 523 digs (5.23 per set) and carries a .957 reception percentage on 394 total attempts. She has added 12 aces and 84 assists across all 26 matches. Her digs per set average is fourth in the MIAA and she is third in total digs. She ranks top-30 nationally in both categories.
>> Washburn leads Northwest Missouri 51-25 in the all-time series but are 5-8 in neutral court contests.
>> Both teams split the season series this year defending home court. The Bearcats won a 3-2 contest in Maryville the first week of the conference season and a month later the Ichabods won 3-0 inside Lee Arena.
Take a Look Ahead
>> With a win, Washburn would advance into the semifinals on Friday and face the winner of the match metween No. 1 Nebraska Kearney and No. 8 Fort Hays State.
>> The NCAA Tournament Selection Show will air on Monday, Nov. 25 at 6:30 p.m. central time on NCAA.com.
