TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn volleyball begins its NCAA Tournament journey as the No. 6 seed in the central region where they will face the No. 3 seed Nebraska Kearney on Thursday, Dec. 5 at 11 a.m. in St. Cloud, Minn. 

Setting The Schedule

>> Washburn volleyball heads to the national stage for the 18th time as they take on Nebraska Kearney in the NCAA Central Region Quarterfinals. 

>> The Ichabods, ranked as the No. 6 seed in the region, will face the No. 3 seed Lopers at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 5 in St. Cloud, Minn. 

Quick Hits

>> The Ichabods begin the national tournament 20-7 overall after going 11-5 inside the MIAA. They are 8-3 in road matches, 7-2 in neutral court contests went 6-1 in Lee Arena. 

>> Washburn was knocked out of the MIAA Championship Tournament with a 3-1 quarterfinal round loss to Northwest Missouri on Nov. 21. 

>> 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 receiving votes in the final AVCA Poll before the national tournament. They got 13 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 NCAA Tournament for the 18th time in program history, all coming under head coach Chris Herron. 

>> It is the first tournament appearance since the 2022 season for the Ichabods. 

>> Washburn is 20-17 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and have gone 8-9 in the opening round.

>> They are 6-10 as the lower seed and 17-12 in neutral court matches. 

>> With a win in the first round the Ichabods would take on the winner of No. 2 Central Oklahoma and No. 7 Southwest Minnesota State at 4 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 6.

About the Ichabods

>> Jalyn Stevenson is the team leader with 296 kills (2.90 per set) while hitting .192 across 27 matches with 27 starts. She is also second on the squad in digs with 307 (3.01 per set) and in aces with 31. She is 15th in the MIAA in total kills and 15th in total points. She is top-20 in both kills and points per set as well. She has 11 double-doubles on the year and five double-digit kill matches in the last six.

>> Alex Dvorak leads the Washburn defense at the net with 130 blocks on the year (1.29 per set) while starting all 27 matches. She sits second on the team in kills with 220 (2.16 per set) and leads the team with a .373 hitting percentage. The junior is second in the MIAA in both total blocks and blocks per set. She ranks 22nd and 19th in each category nationally respectively. Her hitting percentage is tops in the conference and 23rd in the nation. In 18 of 27 matches she has recorded at least five blocks. 

>> Taylor Rottinghaus has a team-high 514 digs (5.04 per set) across 27 matches. She has chipped in 81 assists and served 27 aces. The sophomore is 36th in the nation and seventh in the MIAA in digs per set while also ranking sixth in the conference in total digs. She has 12 matches with 20+ digs. 

>> Corinna McMullen paces Washburn with 640 assists (6.34 per set) through 27 matches with 25 starts. She is also third on the team with 242 digs (2.40 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 14 double-doubles on the year including seven of the last eight matches.

>> Bella Limback is second among Ichabod hitters with a .352 attacking percentage while starting all 27 matches. She has tallied 170 kills (1.70 per set) and is second on the team with 97 blocks. The junior's hitting percentage is 43rd highest in the nation and third in the MIAA. She is also 9th in total blocks in the conference and 11th in blocks per set. She has hit .400 or better in 12 matches including two of the last three. 

>> Austin Broadie is third on the team in both kills and hitting percentage while playing in all 27 matches and making 11 starts. She has 219 kills (2.15 per set) on the year while hitting .248 and has racked up 63 total blocks. The senior has hit over .400 in four matches.

>> Sydney Conner is second on the team with 435 assist (4.48 per set) across 27 matches with two starts. The junior is fourth on the squad with 197 digs (2.03 per set) while serving 13 aces. She has posted five double-doubles this season. 

>> Emery Keebaugh has played in 21 matches logging six starts while making 121 kills (2.20 per set). She is hitting .196 with 22 blocks and 53 digs. She has reached double-digit kills in two of the last four matches she has appeared in. 

>> Maddie Steiner is fourth on the team with 19 service aces while playing in all 27 matches and making 15 starts. The senior is also fifth with 190 digs (1.88 per set) from the back row with seven double-digit dig matches.

>> Taryn Pridgett has played in 14 matches making six starts with 69 total kills while hitting .224. She has added 16 digs and 16 blocks. She set a career-high with 15 kills against Arkansas-Fort Smith and has led the team in kills each of the last two games. 

>> 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.

>> Natalie Hedlund has played in 21 matches making three starts to tally 78 kills while hitting .177. On the defensive end she has made 33 digs with 24 blocks. 

Head Coach Chris Herron

>> Herron is in his 23rd season at the helm of the Ichabod volleyball program with a career record of 623-139 at Washburn. 

>> He has led the Ichabod to 18 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 47 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 92-32 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. 

>> 18: Number of NCAA Tournament appearances under Herron.  

>> 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 254.5 total blocks on the year the Ichabods have the 29th 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 2.50 blocks per set. 

>> Washburn is 24th in the nation and third in the MIAA with 13.94 kills per set. 

>> The Ichabods are also hitting efficiently, sitting 40th in the nation in hitting percentage at .234 as a team, third highest mark in the conference. 

>> Washburn has been effective at stopping opponents attacks as they rank 42nd in the nation and fourth among conference teams with a .153 opponent hitting percentage. 

>> With 12.97 assists per set the Ichabods rank 20th in the nation and 3rd in the MIAA at setting up kills. 

>> On defense Washburn averages 17.91 digs per set ranking 31st in the nation and eighth in the conference. 

Milestone Markers

>> Jalyn Stevenson ranks 14th in program history with 1,287 career kills. She will move into 13th with seven 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 2,070. 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 1,480 career assists, putting her 15th in Washburn history. She needs 35 assists to move up to 14th. 

>> With 958 career digs Taylor Rottinghaus is climbing the all-time charts and currently ranks 27th. 

>> Austin Broadie ranks in the top-40 in Ichabod history in both blocks and kills sitting 33rd and 37th respectively. 

>> Posting a .373 attacking percentage, Alex Dvorak currently has the 6th best mark in a single-season in program history. She is 8th in blocks per set with 1.29.

>> Bella Limback's .352 hitting percentage ranks as the 13th most efficient hitting season in program history. 

Scouting the Opposition

About the Nebraska Kearney Lopers

>> Nebraska Kearney enters the national tournament ranked as the No. 3 seed in the central region with a 30-2 mark overall. They went 15-1 in the MIAA regular season and came up short in the MIAA Championship falling to Central Oklahoma 3-1 on Nov. 23. 

>> The Lopers went 14-0 in matches played in the Health & Sports Center while going 10-1 on the road and 6-1 in neutral court contests. 

>> UNK is ranked No. 5 in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll from November 25. 

>> Rick Squiers is in his 26th season as the head coach at Nebraska Kearney. He has a 804-113 record with the Lopers and has 1,010 career collegiate coaching victories. 

>> Assistant coaches Samantha Hammond and Maddie Squiers along with graduate assistant Jaden Ferguson complete the coaching staff. 

>> On the year the Lopers average 14.8 kills per set while hitting .262. They also carry averages of 14.0 assists per set with 18.6 digs and 2.4 blocks. They are first in the nation in assists per set, 2nd in kills per set and 11th in digs per set. 

>> Mia Berg is second on the team with 313 kills (3.19 per set) while hittin .327 and starting all 31 matches. She also leads the team with 112 total blocks and has added 52 digs.  She is 84th nationally in hitting percentage while ranking 54th in blocks per set. 

>> Peyton Neff has 1,291 assists (12.41 per set) to pace the Lopers while starting all 31 matches. She has made 268 digs (2.58 per set), second most on the team. She is second in the nation in assists per set and 4th nationally in total assists. Both are tops among the MIAA.

>> Alli Wiese averages 5.44 digs per set for 566 total digs to lead Nebraska Kearney. She has played all 31 matches and added 82 assists with a team-high 31 service aces. She is second in the MIAA in both digs per set and total digs and ranks top-15 nationally in both categories. 

>> Asha Regier leads the team in kills with 320 (3.33 per set) while hitting .257. She has played in 30 matches and started 27 while adding 41 blocks and 80 digs. She is 4th in the MIAA in total kills. 

>> Abby Rose has the highest hitting percentage among qualified hitters at .351 while playing in 27 matches and starting 26. She has tallied 173 kills on the year (2.08 per set). 

>> Nebraska Kearney leads the all-time series 33-14. They are 13-2 against Washburn in neutral court matches. 

>> The Lopers have won the last three matches in the series including a 3-0 win at home this season and a 3-2 win over the Ichabods in Lee Arena most recently on Nov. 8. 

>> Nebraska Kearney has won the only meeting between the two teams in the NCAA Tournament on Nov. 29, 2012 in St. Paul, Minn. 

Take a Look Ahead

>> With a win, Washburn would face the winner of the match between No. 2 Central Oklahoma and No. 7 Southwest Minnesota State at 4 p.m. on Friday. The regional championship will be held at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7.