By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 21 nationally-ranked Washburn University volleyball will be home Friday and Saturday to host Central Missouri and Missouri Southern in 6 p.m. MIAA matches in Lee Arena.
No. 21-ranked Washburn volleyball will be at home for MIAA matches on Friday and Saturday. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn will be looking to bounce back from a 3-1 road loss to No. 8 Nebraska-Kearney on Tuesday night.
Washburn enters its weekend matches 13-5 on the year and 7-4 in the MIAA
Tuesday's loss ended a three-match winning streak for the Ichabods and was the first loss to a ranked team this season.
Jalyn Stevenson had a double-double and tied for the team lead with 17 kills against UNK. She hit .229 and nearly matched her kill count with 16 digs.
Rachel Schwensen also had 17 kills against the Lopers while hitting .361. She also helped assist with three blocks in the match.
Corinna McMullen had a double-double in Tuesday's match with a team-high 32 assists and 10 digs.
Taylor Rottinghaus led the Ichabods with 19 digs and also chipped in with three assists.
Washburn hit .206 as a team in the Nebraska-Kearney match with more kills, digs and assists than the Lopers. It was the first time this season the Ichabods have won all three categories and not won the match.
McMullen leads the MIAA in aces per set at .55 and is also first in the conference in total aces with 35.
Stevenson is fourth in the MIAA in kills per set at 3.23 as well as fourth in points per set with 3.74.
Stevenson leads Washburn with 207 kills on the year while hitting .220. She is second on the team with 190 digs (2.97 per set) and has combined for 16 blocks.
Schwensen is up to 186 kills (2.91 per set) and is hitting a team-high .325 with only 38 errors on 456 attempts. She is also third on the team with 46 total blocks.
McMullen leads the Ichabods with 395 assists (6.17 per set) and is third with 181 digs (2.83 per set).
Shawnee Heights product Rottinghaus leads Washburn with 257 digs (4.36 per set) while adding 59 assists and holding a .948 percentage on 233 receptions.
Ichabod coach Chris Herron is one win away from the 600-win milestone at Washburn.
Central Missouri is 13-7 on the year after winning a Tuesday matchup against Missouri Western and is 10-2 in the MIAA.
Missouri Southern is 12-9 overall on the year with a 5-7 record in MIAA play.
Washburn begins a three match stretch of road matches next week, beginning with Fort Hays State on Tuesday.
No. 8 WU soccer on the road
No. 8-ranked Washburn soccer begins its final road swing of the season, beginning with matches against Central Oklahoma at 4 p.m. Friday and Newman at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Washburn is 12-1-1 so far in the 2023 season after an 11-6-2 campaign in 2022. With 12 wins Washburn has the second most wins in program history.
The Ichabods have not lost in 12 straight matches, matching the longest streak in program history.
WU is currently tied for first in the MIAA with Fort Hays State through seven conference matches.
Washburn recorded back-to-back shutouts last weekend, defeating Missouri Southern 2-0 and No. 8 Central Missouri, 1-0
Ichabod star senior goalkeeper Raegan Wells recorded her seventh and eighth solo shutouts of the year.
Riley Wells and Khloe Schuckman connected with each other on two goals last weekend, with Schuckman dishing to Wells in Friday's match and Wells setting up Schuckman in the first half of the match on Sunday. Ana Muruzabal scored the other goal on a PK against MSU.
Central Oklahoma is 4-4-6 on the year after a 3-0 road loss to Northwest Missouri on Oct. 15.
Newman is 2-11-1 on the year following a 2-1 road loss to Missouri Western on Sunday.
Ichabod tennis to host Washburn Invitational
After deep runs in the ITA Cup on both sides with one national championship, Washburn tennis is back in Topeka hosting the Washburn Invitational at the Kossover Tennis Center this weekend.
Doubles action kicks off the tournament at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday and the tournament will be completed on Sunday.
Teams from Washburn, Emporia State, Rockhurst, Northwest Missouri State and Nebraska-Kearney will participate.
