Complete notes in PDF


Week 10 Game Notes
No. 5 Washburn (29-1, 10-0 MIAA)

Match 31 Rockhurst (17-9) Date: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 Time: 7:00 p.m. Place: Lee Arena Live Stats

Match 32 at No. 18 Pittsburg State (24-6, 6-4 MIAA) Date: Friday, October 26, 2007 Time: 7:00 p.m. Place: Pittsburg, Kan.

Match 33 at Missouri Southern (14-14, 1-9 MIAA) Date: Saturday, October 27, 2007 Time: 2:00 p.m. Place: Joplin, Mo.

After hosting Rockhurst Tuesday at 7 p.m., the Lady Blues will play a pair of MIAA matches on the road this weekend with a chance to clinch first place in the MIAA West Division. Washburn will play at Pittsburg State Friday at 7 p.m. and then play Saturday afternoon at 2 at Missouri Southern.
   
The Lady Blues are 10-0 in the MIAA  with three matches left. They can clinch the divisional title over No. 2 Emporia State (8-2 MIAA) with two wins and clinch a share with one win.
   
Washburn's 29-1 overall record is the highest winning percentage in NCAA Division II and is tied for the most wins in all of NCAA. The Lady Blues have won 24 straight matches and have swept their last eight opponents to win 27 straight games. The have not lost a game since overcoming a 2-0 deficit against Truman on October 2 and they have not lost a match since August 31 against Nebraska-Kearney.

Lady Blues are near the top of the NCAA in winning percentage
Washburn is 29-1 overall with a .967 winning percentage. The total wins is tied for the most in all of the NCAA and the winning percentage leads all of NCAA Division II. A pair of schools are still undefeated to lead all of the NCAA in winning percentage. Division III Wittenberg is 29-0 and DI Nebraska is 16-0. The Lady Blues are right behind them in third in winning percentage.

Herron moves to the top of the list in coaching victories
WU head coach Chris Herron became Washburn's all-time leading coach by wins when the Lady Blues defeated Panhandle State on October 5. He has not lost since then and is currently 175-35 in his sixth year at Washburn. He moved past Linda Moley, Washburn's coach from 1982-86 who went 167-108 in five seasons.

Herron is already Washburn's leader in winning percentage, entering the year with an .811 mark in five full seasons. Counting his three years at Benedictine, Herron entered the year with a .778 career winning percentage, which was 10th most in NCAA Division II among active coaches.

Miesner joins 1,000 digs/1,000 kills club
Junior Monica Miesner became the 16th member of  Washburn's 1,000 career digs club earlier in the year and then she became the 13th member of the 1,000 kills club. Now with 1,068 kills and 1,182 digs, she is Washburn's seventh member of the 1,000 kills/1,000 digs club. Miesner is currently 12th at Washburn in career kills and 12th in digs.

Miesner named MIAA hitter of the week
A pair of double-doubles and a .500 attack percentage helped junior outside hitter Monica Miesner earn the MIAA hitter of the week award after the Lady Blues swept a pair of matches last week. Miesner averaged 5.00 points per game with 4.83 kills and 5.12 digs.

She hit .500 with 16 kills and 20 digs against Fort Hays State Thursday and then in a sweep of Missouri Western Saturday she hit .500 with 13 kills and 11 digs.

Miesner won the award after the third week of the season and this is the sixth time a Lady Blue has been named an MIAA player of the week.

Cox becomes 12th member of 1,000 kills club
Senior Mandi Cox joined an elite group of Lady Blues on October 6 when she reached 1,000 kills in her career to make her the 12th member of the 1,000 kill club at Washburn. Cox is currently 13th in career kills at Washburn, 30 away from teammate Monica Miesner.

Cox is Washburn's career leader in attack percentage, swinging at .325 in her four years and .327 this year. She is also 11th in total blocks with 331, needing 28 to move into the top 10. With 261 career block assists, she is ninth at WU and five away from moving into eighth.

Jones joins Washburn's 1,000 kill club
Senior All-American rightside hitter Tessa Jones became the 11th member of Washburn's 1,000 kill club earlier this year. With 405 this year, she now has 1,259, 9th most at WU, and she is 51 kills away from eighth. Jones is fourth all-time in kills per game with 3.76 and third with 4.48 points.

Lady Blues set school record winning streak
Washburn's 3-0 win October 6 against Dallas Baptist set the school winning streak record at 19 matches. The Lady Blues have not lost since then and have won 24 straight matches. They have also swept their last eight opponents and have not lost a game since coming back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Truman October 3, a streak of 27 straight games. Washburn's match winning streak, game winning streak and sweep streak are all school records. The previous match winning streak record was 18 straight wins in 2005 when WU finished out the regular season and went to the second round of the MIAA tournament before losing.

Another 30-win season is in sight for Lady Blues
At 29-1, the Lady Blues are one win away from their sixth 30-win season in school history and only the second since joining NCAA II and the MIAA in 1989. Washburn last reached 30 wins when it went 35-3 in 2005 and the school win record is 45 wins in 1985 when the Lady Blues played 63 matches.

Washburn getting things done in a hurry
The Lady Blues have swept their opponent 20 times this year, including in each of the last eight matches. The school record for three-game sweeps in a season is 22, set in 2005.

Perfect start to MIAA season sets school record
Washburn entered the year having never started the conference season better than 5-0. The  Lady Blues raced off to a 5-0 start and then came back to beat Truman in five games on October 3 to set the school record at six straight MIAA wins to start the seasons. They have not lost since then and are 10-0 in the league. Truman defeated Washburn in the sixth MIAA match last year to snap WU's 5-0 start and the Bulldogs have been Washburn's first MIAA loss in each of the last five years leading up to this season.

Cowhick sits atop every dig record at Washburn, climbs MIAA chart
Senior libero Erica Cowhick became the first Lady Blue to reach 2,000 digs and just the fourth in MIAA history. She holds every digs record at Washburn and is third all-time in the MIAA with 2,190 in her fourth year. She is 136 digs away from moving into second in MIAA history.

After setting the WU career record with her 80th career double-figure dig match, Cowhick grabbed hold of every dig record at Washburn. She now has 96 matches in her career with 10 or more digs and she is also Washburn's career leader in total digs and digs per game (5.46). She also holds the top two single-season total digs and digs per game records at Washburn.

Washburn earns 49th straight ranking in AVCA poll
For the fourth straight week the Lady Blues retained their school-record No. 5 ranking as the AVCA weekly poll was released Monday. Washburn (29-1, 10-0 MIAA) remained the highest ranked team in the conference after winning its 24th straight match and sweeping its eight straight opponent.

Washburn has now been ranked 49 straight weeks and has been in the top 10 in 24 of those weeks, including the last seven.
  
Right behind the Lady Blues in the poll is No. 6 Truman and No. 8 Central Missouri. Fellow MIAA West schools Pittsburg State (18th) and Emporia State (19th) are also ranked.

Lady Blues are 6-0 against ranked teams
The Lady Blues are 6-0 against ranked opponents this year with three wins against top-10 teams. They will look to improve that number when they face No. 18 Pittsburg State Friday. They are 1-0 against ranked teams on the road this year with the win coming at No. 6 Truman.
   
In Chris Herron's sixth year the Lady Blues are 23-24 against ranked teams and 6-13 against the top-10. At home they are 14-10.

Solid attack key to Lady Blues success
Washburn entered the week as the MIAA leader in all three offensive categories. The Lady Blues led with a .270 attack percentage, 16.74 kills per game and 15.35 assists per game.
   
The Lady Blues have out-hit their opponents in 27 of their 30 matches and in all 13 of their home matches. Tessa Jones is fifth in the MIAA with 4.66 points per game and third with 4.01 kills while setter Kate Hampson leads the conference with 13.32 assists a game.

Net Notes
• This year the Lady Blues have started every match but two with a win and are 27-1 when doing so. Their one loss when opening with a win came against Nebraska-Kearney. They also lost game one against Truman and Pittsburg State but rallied to beat those teams in five games. They went 24-3 last year when winning the first game of a match and they are 157-9 in Chris Herron's six years as coach.
• The Lady Blues have been to the NCAA tournament three straight years and four times in the last five years.
• Washburn finished second in NCAA II last year in total attendance with 9,195 total fans. The 575 fans per game was sixth most in the nation. The total figure led the MIAA and the average was the second best. This year the Lady Blues are averaging 468 fans a game.