By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 13-ranked Washburn University volleyball travels to Missouri this weekend for a pair of MIAA road matches, with the Ichabods facing Missouri Southern at 6 p.m. Friday and Central Missouri at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
No. 13-ranked Washburn volleyball will play MIAA road matches at Missouri Southern and Central Missouri Friday and Saturday. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn wrapped up a six-match homestand last weekend with sweeps over No. 7 Nebraska-Kearney and Fort Hays State to open up the first weekend of MIAA competition.
Washburn is now 8-1 on the year and 2-0 in the MIAA entering the weekend. The Ichabods are tied with Central Missouri and Central Oklahoma for first in the conference as the only undefeated teams remaining.
WU moved up in the AVCA Coaches Poll for a second consecutive week, jumping up two spots to No. 13 after being ranked No. 15 last week.
The Ichabods defeated No. 7 Nebraska-Kearney 25-22, 25-22 and 25-15 last Friday in Lee Arena before taking a 25-17, 25-12, 25-20 win over Fort Hays State on Saturday.
Washburn is now 3-0 against ranked opponents after defeating Nebraska-Kearney. All three victories have come in sweeps. Washburn is now 6-0 in Lee Arena this season.
The Ichabods have swept three straight opponents and have won 3-0 six times on the year.
Washburn has won its last 12 sets going back to winning the final three against Oklahoma Baptist.
Northern Colorado transfer Rachel Schwensen, a graduate student at WU, had a historic offensive day against the Lopers, knocking down 17 kills on just 27 attempts with one error, good 539 hitting. She also added three blocks.
The performance was the 15th best hitting percentage recorded by a player with at least 20 attacks in program history. Of the 14 higher only two tallied more than 17 kills in the match.
Schwensen was named the MIAA Offensive Player of the Week
The Ichabods hit over .300 as a team iCon both matches last week (.307 and .303 respectively).
Jalyn Stevenson notched a double-double against the Lopers with 10 kills on .292 hitting and 12 digs. She had nine and nine against Fort Hays State, leading WU in kills.
Shawnee Heights product Taylor Rottinghaus, a freshman, grabbed 23 digs against the Lopers in just three sets while also adding five assists.
Corinna McMullen is second in the MIAA in aces per set at .55 while Stevenson is fifth in the MIAA in kills per set at 3.16 and sixth in points per set wiht 3.68.
Rottinghaus has climbed to fifth among conference players at 4.23 digs per set.
Stevenson leads Washburn with 98 kills on the year while hitting .213. She is second on the team with 90 digs and has made 195 receptions with only four errors.
Schwensen is up to 82 kills and is hitting .292 with only 19 errors on 216 attempts. She is also tied for second on the team with 23 total blocks and leads with five solos.
Rottinghaus leads Washburn with 110 digs while adding 23 assists and holding a .978 reception percentage on 89 receptions.
Missouri Southern is 8-3 overall on the year with a 1-1 record in MIAA play while the Jennies are 5-5 on the year after losing a Tuesday non-conference matchup against No. 25 Rockhurst. UCM is 2-0 in MIAA play.
Washburn returns home to host Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri on Sep. 29-30.
