By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No matter what happens this week, Washburn University has put together a highly-successful 2024 volleyball season, hitting the 20-win mark on the year while topping last season's win total by three victories and earning a No. 25 national ranking.
No. 25-ranked Washburn volleyball will open its MIAA Tournament bid on Thursday night against Northwest Missouri in St. Joseph, Mo. [File photo/TSN]
But Ichabod coach Chris Herron knows there's work to do in the MIAA Tournament if Washburn is going to extend its season.
The fourth-seeded Ichabods (20-6 overall, 11-5 in the MIAA) will face No. 5 seed Northwest Missouri (15-11, 9-7) at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday in a tournament quarterfinal inside the St. Joseph, Mo. Civic Arena, with Washburn looking to enhance its chances for an NCAA Tournament berth.
Washburn volleyball remained No. 6 in the final NCAA Central Regional Rankings released Wednesday. WU is 19-5 inside the region that is led by St. Cloud State in the top spot with a 24-2 overall record and a 20-1 in-region mark. Nebraska-Kearney is second in the region, followed by Concordia-St. Paul, Missouri Western and Central Oklahoma. Behind the Ichabods are Southwest Minnesota State, Wayne State, Northern State and Emporia State.
Automatic bids are granted to the winners of the MIAA, GAC and NSIC postseason tournaments, with the remaining five spots awarded on an at-large basis. The bracket will be revealed on Monday at 6:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.
While the clear path to a NCAA berth would be an MIAA championship, Washburn can help itself the further it advances in the conference tourney.
With a win Thursday Washburn will advance to a 7:30 p.m. semifinal match on Friday to face the winner of the quarterfinal beween top seed Nebraska-Kearney and Fort Hays State. The championship match is set for 6 p.m. on Saturday.
The Ichabods split regular-season matches with the Bearcats, with WU dropping a 3-2 road decision and sweeping Northwest in Lee Arena.
"If we play like we've been playing it will be a great game,'' Herron said. "And if not, we're going to come home early because they're good.''
Herron said he feels like WU needs a win over Northwest to give itself an opportunity to make the NCAA field.
"We have to win at least this first match for us to have a chance,'' Herron said. "And if we can win two, I think we're in. I'd probably say for sure, so winning is important.''
Washburn had six players selected to All-MIAA teams released by the conference on Wednesday.
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 named to the all-conference 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 honorable mention.
Stevenson is the team leader with 286 kills while hitting .196 across her 26 starts. She is also second on the squad in digs with 298 and in aces with 31. She has 11 double-doubles on the year and four double-digit kill matches in the last five.
Dvorak leads the Washburn defense at the net with 126 blocks on the year while starting all 26 matches. She sits second on the team in kills with 215 and leads the team with a .381 hitting percentage. The junior is second in the MIAA in both total blocks and blocks per set.
Rottinghaus has a team-high 498 digs across 26 matches. She has chipped in 80 assists and served 26 aces. She has 20-plus digs in four of the last six matches.
McMullen paces Washburn with 620 assists through 26 matches with 24 starts. She is also third on the team with 231 digs while serving a team-high 41 aces. She has a team-high 13 double-doubles on the year, including six of the last seven matches.
Abby Brunssen leads Northwest Missouri with 303 kills while starting all 26 matches. She also hits a team-high .299 while also leading the team with 104 blocks including. She ranks fourth in the MIAA in total blocks and eighth in total kills.
Payton Kirchhoefer is second on the team with 255 kills across 25 matches and 24 starts. She has added 231 digs 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. She has added 191 digs with 54 blocks and 65 kills. She ranks sixth in the MIAA in both total assists and assists per set.
Washburn leads Northwest Missouri 51-25 in the all-time series but the Ichabods are 5-8 in neutral-court contests against the Bearcats.
