KANSAS CITY, Mo.— The Pittsburg State University volleyball team is headed to the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) Tournament as the No. 7 seed Thursday (Nov. 21). The Gorillas will open the single-elimination tournament at Noon (CST) Thursday against No. 2 seed Washburn University at Hy-Vee Arena at Kansas City, Mo.

For more information on the MIAA Tournament visit the Tournament Championship page. To see the complete bracket, click here.
 
Scouting the Gorillas
The Gorillas completed regular season action with a 14-15 overall record and a 9-11 mark in MIAA play. This will be Pitt State's sixth berth into the MIAA Tournament. The Gorillas earned four straight berths from 2003-06 (the MIAA did not sponsor a postseason tournament from 2008-11) and qualified again in 2013.

In 2018, the Gorillas tied for eighth place in the MIAA standings but Pitt State lost the tiebreaker and missed qualifying for the postseason tournament.

Statistically, the Gorillas are hitting .176 and averaging 12.6 kills per set. Pitt State has three players with 200-plus kills on the season:  senior OH Erike Ivkov (293), sophomore MB/RS Morgan Henning (282) and sophomore OH Meg Auten (269).

Ivkov averages a team-leading 2.87 kills per set as well as 3.71 digs per set. She also has posted a team-leading 31 service aces while generating 3.25 points per set. Ivkov ranks ninth in the MIAA in kills and 11th  in the conference in digs.

Henning has a team-best .334 attack percentage. She averages 2.61 kills and 3.08 points per set. She ranks third in the MIAA in attack percentage and 16^th in the league in kills.
Sophomore DS Marissa Bates has averaged a team-leading 4.01 digs per set, while junior MB/RS Emily Regier has contributed 1.84 kills per set and a team-leading 72.0 total blocks (0.70 bps).
Sophomore S Brianna Richard has averaged 5.98 assists per set, while freshman Laura Willoughby has added 5.29 assists per set.
 
Scouting the Ichabods
Washburn is 26-2 overall and finished the regular season 18-2 in MIAA play. The Ichabods are ranked No. 3 in this week's AVCA/NCAA Division II Top 25 poll with their only two losses of the season coming at the hands of No. 2 ranked University of Nebraska Kearney.

On the season the Ichabods are attacking .239 and averaging 14.46 kills per set. Junior OH Genna Berg paces the WU offense by averaging 3.80 kills per set. She also contributes 3.30 digs per set.

Junior MH Allison Maxwell contributes 2.98 kills per set, while senior OH Erica Montgomery chips in with 2.71 kills per set. Maxwell also has posted a team-leading 80 total blocks (0.89 bps).
Junior DS/L Faith Rottinghaus has made a team-high 5.45 digs per set, while junior S Allison Sadler has posted 11.11 assists per set.

Earlier Meetings
The Ichabods are 2-0 on the season in head-to-head match-ups against the Gorillas. WU swept Pitt State in both matches.

In the first meeting on Oct. 12 in Pittsburg, the Ichabods defeated the Gorillas by scores of 27-25, 25-20 and 25-10.  WU claimed a 25-15, 25-12, 25-13 victory over Pitt State on Nov. 9 at Topeka.
The winner of the Pitt State – Washburn match-up advances to the MIAA Tournament semifinals Friday (Nov. 22) where they will meet the winner of the match-up between No. 3 seed University of Central Missouri and No. 6 seed University of Central Oklahoma at 7:30 p.m.