Friday, Oct. 15
No. 1 Washburn at No. 9 Northwest Missouri State, 6 p.m. | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS
 
Saturday, Oct. 16
Emporia State at No. 9 Northwest Missouri State, 3 p.m. | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS
 
Hughes Fieldhouse will play host to a titanic volleyball matchup Friday at 6 p.m. featuring No. 1-ranked Washburn and No. 9-ranked Northwest Missouri State. Northwest will also take on the Emporia State Hornets Saturday at 3 p.m. in Hughes Fieldhouse.
 
Ticket price at the door is $5, with Northwest students receiving free admission.
 
The No. 9-ranked Bearcats (14-2 overall, 7-1 MIAA) will enter Friday's action riding a seven-match win streak. The No. 1-ranked Ichabods (17-1 overall, 9-0 MIAA) have won nine matches in a row. The Ichabods have also won seven straight road matches entering Friday.
 
Washburn owns a 50-23 lead in the all-time series with Northwest. Washburn is 19-10 vs. Northwest in matches played in Maryville. The teams have split the last four official matchups. This past spring, Northwest went 2-1 against Washburn including a five-set win in the first round of the MIAA Tournament in Topeka, Kan.

Northwest's last two matchups against a No. 1-ranked foe came against Truman State in 2005 and 2006. Truman State scored wins over Northwest in both matchups (3-0 on Sept. 24, 2005; 3-1 on Oct. 28, 2006).
 
Emporia State (4-12 overall, 2-7 MIAA) holds a 43-18 advantage in the series with Northwest. However, Northwest has held the upper hand of late having won seven of the last eight meetings.
 
Northwest picked up a 3-0 sweep of Missouri Western Tuesday night in Hughes Fieldhouse. Jaden Ferguson netted 12 kills, Payton Kirchhoefer tallied 11 kills and Alyssa Rezac recorded a double-double with 35 assists and 10 digs as the Bearcats won their seventh straight match.
 
The first set result has not been a tell-tale sign for the Bearcat volleyball team this season. Northwest has dropped the first set seven times, but has gone on to win six of the seven matches. Northwest is 8-1 when winning the initial set.
 
The Bearcats moved up a slot to No. 9 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches' Association Division II Top 25 rankings. It marks the 29th time in program history that Northwest has been ranked in the AVCA Top 25. Northwest's all-time highest ranking came at No. 8 in the Sept. 6, 2021 poll.

Northwest in AVCA Top 25
Sept. 19, 2016 – No. 22
Sept. 26, 2016 – No. 20
Oct. 3, 2016 – No. 18
Oct. 10, 2016 – No. 17
Oct. 17, 2016 – No. 17
Oct. 24, 2016 – No. 16
Oct. 31, 2016 – No. 21
Nov. 7, 2016 – No. 25
Nov. 14, 2016 – No. 25
Sept. 9, 2019 – No. 18
Sept. 16, 2019 – No. 15
Sept. 23, 2019 – No. 11
Sept. 30, 2019 – No. 10
Oct. 7, 2019 – No. 10
Oct. 14, 2019 – No. 14
Oct. 21, 2019 – No. 14
Oct. 28, 2019 – No. 14
Nov. 4, 2019 – No. 14
Nov. 11, 2019 – No. 19
Nov. 18, 2019 – No. 20
Nov. 25, 2019 – No. 21
Dec. 16, 2019 – No. 25
2021 Preseason – No. 17
Sept. 6, 2021 – No. 8
Sept. 13, 2021 – No. 12
Sept. 20, 2021 – No. 13
Sept. 27, 2021 – No. 13
Oct. 4, 2021 – No. 10
Oct. 11, 2021 – No. 9
 
The Bearcats have recorded a pair of top-10 wins this season. Northwest posted a five-set win over then No. 5-ranked Tampa on Sept. 4. Northwest recorded a 3-1 win at No. 10-ranked Nebraska-Kearney on Oct. 1. It marks the third straight season that Northwest has knocked off a top-10 ranked opponent. Northwest scored a 3-0 win over No. 9-ranked Central Missouri in the 2018 season. In 2019, Northwest recorded a 31- victory over No. 7-ranked Northern State.
 
Sophomore Alyssa Rezac (Wahoo, Neb.) leads Northwest in assists (571 – 11.20 assists per set). She ranks No. 2 in the MIAA in the No. 8 in the nation in assists per set. Rezac regaled the UCO Bronchos with a career-high 66 assists and 16 digs in a five-set triumph in Edmond, Okla. She posted a phenomenal 48-assist, 24-dig effort in a five-set win over No. 5 Tampa (Sept. 4). Rezac sparked the No. 13 Bearcats to a 3-1 win over Pittsburg State. Rezac tallied a career-high 54 assists and added 19 digs in the four-set win against the Gorillas. She has eight double-doubles this season and nine for her career.
 
MIAA Assists Per Set Leaders (through Oct. 12)
1. Maddie Squiers (Neb.-Kearney)     11.53
2. Alyssa Rezac (Northwest)               11.20
3. Brianna Richard (Pittsburg State)   10.00
4. Allison Sadler (Washburn)              9.65
5. Ally Offerdahl (Central Missouri)    9.64
 
Freshman Payton Kirchhoefer (Omaha, Neb.) leads the squad in kills (212 – 3.48 kills/set). She ranks No. 3 in the MIAA in total kills and No. 4 in the MIAA in kills per set. Kirchhoefer posted a season-best 26 kills in a four-set match with Michigan Tech (Sept. 10). She has tallied 10 double-digit kill matches this year, including 14 in the four-set win over No. 10-ranked Nebraska-Kearney. She has tallied 11 double-figure kill matches, including five straight heading into Tuesday's match with Missouri Western.
 
MIAA Total Kill Leaders (through Oct. 12)
1. Courtney Lane (Central Okla.)        219
2. Genna Berg (Washburn)                 217
3. Payton Kirchhoefer (Northwest)    212
4. Meg Auten (Pittsburg State)          203
5. Salome Romp (Newman)               197
 
Junior Hannah Koechl (Innsbruck Austria) has posted a team-best 284 digs (4.66 digs/set) through the first 16 matches of the season. She ranks fourth in the MIAA in total digs (269). She has reached double-figure dig totals in 12 of the 5 matches. She registered a season-high 38 digs in a five-set win over Grand Valley State (Sept. 10). Koechl recorded a match-high 34 digs in a four-set win over Pittsburg State in Hughes Fieldhouse. Koechl added four assists and a service ace vs. the Gorillas. Koechl averaged 5.44 digs per set as Northwest picked up road wins at Newman and at Central Oklahoma. Koechl tallied 49 total digs in nine sets played over the weekend. Koechl tallied 15 digs in a 3-1 win at Newman. She was also perfect in serve reception in 15 attempts. Koechl recorded a match-high 34 digs and added five assists in a 3-2 win at Central Oklahoma.
 
MIAA Total Dig Leaders (through Oct. 12)
1. Faith Rottignhaus (Washburn)       371
2. Katie Le (Central Oklahoma)          357
3. Rylie Fornelli (Emporia State)         319
4. Hannah Koechl (Nothwest)            284
5. Jessica Sachen (Missouri Western) 282
 
Junior Rachel Sturdevant (Kansas City, Mo.) is hitting a team-best .328, which ranks No. 7 in the MIAA. Sturdevant put together back-to-back 14-kill performances against Newman and Central Oklahoma. Sturdevant hit .370 against the Jets and .333 against the Bronchos. She has posted six double-figure kill totals this season.
 
Sophomore Jaden Ferguson (Omaha, Neb.) is hitting .304 and ranks No. 2 in the team in kills (177 – 2.90 kills/set). Ferguson notched a season-best 18 kills vs. Grand Valley State (Sept. 10). Ferguson has had at least eight kills in 14 of Northwest's 16 matches this season. Ferguson was credited with a career-high seven blocks in a five-set win over No. 5-ranked Tampa (Sept. 4). Ferguson netted 30 kills (3.33 kills/set) and hit .342 as Northwest won road matches at Newman and at Central Oklahoma. Ferguson hit .300 with 11 kills in a 3-1 triumph at Newman on Friday night. Ferguson kept on rolling Saturday as she recorded 19 kills and hit .367 with only one attack error in a five-set win at Central Oklahoma. Ferguson tallied five of her kills in the fifth set vs. the Bronchos. Ferguson added four blocks in Northwest's first win ever over UCO in Edmond, Okla.
 
Redshirt freshman Abby Brunssen (Atkins, Iowa) leads the Bearcats in blocks (50). Brunssen produced a season-high seven blocks in Northwest's 3-1 win at No. 10-ranked Nebraska-Kearney. She is credited the eighth-best attack percentage in a four-set match in Bearcat history against Missouri Western. Brunssen tallied a .562 attack percentage with 11 kills and two errors on 16 attacks in the four-set win over the Griffons. Brunssen went for back-to-back six-block matches at Newman and at Central Oklahoma. She also produced a career-high 13 kills in the five-set triumph over UCO.
 
Senior setter Maddy Ahrens (Appleton, Wis.) ranks No. 6 in Northwest history with 2,787 career assists. Ahrens notched first-team all-MIAA honors in 2018 and followed up with second-team all-MIAA status in 2019.
 
Northwest Career Assists
1. Jennifer Pittrich – 5,428 (1993-1996)
2. Megan Danek – 5,064 (1999-2002)
3. Sarah Dannettell – 3,949 (2014-2017)
4. Laira Akin – 3,600 (2009-2011)
5. Abby Wilms – 3,104 (1997-1998)
6. Maddy Ahrens – 2,787 (2017-pr.)
 
Tenth-year head coach Amy Woerth ranks No. 3 in Bearcat coaching history with 149 career victories, trailing only Sarah Pelster (1991-2002) with 199 wins and Pam Stanek (1977-1981) with 176 triumphs. Woerth is 149-111 as the Bearcats' head coach.
 
The Bearcats posted a 14-3 mark this past spring during an abbreviated schedule of MIAA foes.
 
The Bearcats have named Hallie Sidney, Alyssa Rezac and Maddy Ahrens as their team captains for the 2021 season. Sidney will miss the 2021 season as she recovers from an injury.

Northwest has been perfect on the road this season putting together a 6-0 mark. The Bearcats have produced a record of 11-1 in road/neutral matches this year.
 
Most Road Wins – Single-Season
1. - 1994 - 10
2. - 1980 - 9
3. - 1999 - 8
      2018 - 8
5. - 2019 – 6
6. - 2005 - 6
       2016 - 6
       2017 – 6
       2021 – 6
10. - 1993 - 5
       1997 - 5
       1998 – 5