By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University volleyball coach Chris Herron will never forget the three-day run his fifth-seeded Ichabods put together last week en route to the Central Region championship in Warrensburg, Mo.
Herron's only regret is that the Ichabods didn't have more time to savor -- and recover from -- that tournament before taking aim on an even bigger prize in the 2021 NCAA Division II National Tournament Thursday through Saturday in Tampla, Fla.
Washburn, which is making its third appearance in the Elite Eight and looking for its first national championship, returned to Topeka late Saturday night after claiming the regional title with a 25-22, 25-20, 25-19 win over Concordia-St. Paul and, after just a couple of days back on campus, the Ichabods departed for Tampa before daybreak Tuesday morning.
"It's very hectic,'' Herron said. "The turnaround is just crazy, trying to get everything done in two days and really just one day.''
Washburn, the No. 3 seed in the Eite Eight, will take a 29-5 record into Thursday's 11 a.m. quarterfinal match (Topeka time) against No. 6 seed West Texas A&M (26-4) at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center on the campus of the University of Tampa.
Washburn's volleyball celebrates its NCAA Division II Central Region championship last Saturday in Warrensburg, Mo. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn benefitted from a week off between the MIAA Tournament and the Central Regional, but won't have that luxury this week, playing the very first match in the Elite Eight.
"It did us so much good,'' Herron said of the earlier break. "Our bodies got to recup and so on and so forth. Now it's just a battle of attrition -- who can stay the most not hurt. That's what it amounts do.''
West Texas A&M earned a trip to the NCAA national tournament with wins over No. 8-ranked Colorado School of Mines, No. 22 Texas-Tyler and No. 3 Metropolitan State-Denver. In the regional championship match, the Lady Buffs dropped the first two sets before bouncing back to take an 18-25, 23-25, 25-20, 25-18 and 15-8 victory.
Washburn is 2-2 all-time in the national tournament and advanced to the semifinals in 2007 and 2018.
All four national quarterfinals will be played on Thursday, followed by the semifinals on Friday and the championship match on Saturday.
Other quarterfinal matches will pit No. 7 Daemen vs. No. 2 Western Washington at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, followed by No. 4 Hillcrest vs. No. 5 Gannon at 4 p.m. and No. 8 Augusta vs. No. 1 Tampa at 6:30 p.m.
Herron knows that the Ichabods face a loaded field but just wants his team to be at its best.
"Really we've just got to take care of ourselves right now,'' Herron said. "We're going to watch film and obviously we have to slow down some people on (West Texas A&M's) team, on anybody's team, and if you can do that and then you run your stuff you'll be successful, so worry about what's going on on your side of the net that night.''
Allison Maxwell, a senior middle hitter, is third in the nation with a .422 hitting percentage for Washburn and has hammered down 361 kills this year. She also ranked second in the conference with 1.13 blocks per set and her 3.11 kills per set ranked ninth in the league.
Genna Berg, a senior outside hitter, leads Washburn with 434 kills and averages 3.74 kills per set. She has recorded double-figure kills in 25 of the 34 matches played and in 18 of those matches, she has had 13 or more kills. She also averages 1.69 digs per set and has seven double-doubles on the year.
Rottinghaus, a senior Shawnee Heights product, averages 6.59 digs per set (third in Division II) and has 764 total digs (fourth in Division II). She has had 22 matches with 20 or more digs and has a .978 reception percentage, making just eight errors in 362 total reception attempts.
Ichabod senior setter Allison Sadler has compiled 1,237 assists on the season with 283 digs.
