Complete notes in PDF


Week 8 Game Notes
No. 5 Washburn (25-1, 6-0 MIAA)

Match 27 No. 7 Central Missouri (20-3, 6-2 MIAA) Date: Wednesday, October 10, 2007 Time: 7:00 p.m. Place: Lee Arena Live Stats | Live Video

Match 28 Southwest Baptist (8-15, 2-5 MIAA) Date: Saturday, October 13, 2007 Time: 3:00 p.m. Place: Bolivar, Mo.

After setting numerous team and individual milestones in four non-conference matches last weekend, the Lady Blues can return their focus to remaining undefeated in the MIAA. No. 5 Washburn (25-1, 6-0 MIAA) will host No. 9 Central Missouri Wednesday night at 7 in Lee Arena and then head to Southwest Baptist Saturday for a 3 p.m. match.
   
The Lady Blues started last week by defeating No. 6 Truman in five games and then sweeping all four opponents in their own Lady Blues Fall Classic over the weekend. In the process they set a school record with their 19th straight win (now 20) and Chris Herron became Washburn's career leader in coaching wins. Mandi Cox and Monica Miesner each reached 1,000 career kills during the classic and Miesner became the seventh Lady Blue to reach 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.
   
Washburn is first in the MIAA West Division, undefeated with seven matches remaining. Central Missouri is second in the East Division at 6-2 and SBU is fourth at 2-4.

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 Friday. He won three more times after that and is currently 171-35 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 over the weekend she became the 13th member of the 1,000 kills club. Now with 1,012 kills and 1,117 digs, she is Washburn's seventh member of the 1,000 kills/1,000 digs club. Miesner is currently 13th at Washburn in career kills and 13th in digs.

Cox becomes 12th member of 1,000 kills club
Senior Mandi Cox joined an elite group of Lady Blues with her ninth kill Saturday against Dallas Baptist, giving her 1,000 in her career and making her the 12th member of the 1,000 kill club at Washburn. Cox ended the weekend with 1,013 kills, putting her in 12th all-time at WU, one kill ahead of teammate Monica Miesner and 95 kills away from 11th in school history.
   
Cox is Washburn's career leader in attack percentage, swinging at .328 in her four years and .338 this year. She is also 11th in total blocks with 320, needing 39 to move into the top 10.

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 349 this year, she now has 1,203, 10th most at WU, and she is 21 kills away from ninth. Jones is fourth all-time in kills per game with 3.72 and third with 4.42 points.

Lady Blues set school record winning streak
Washburn's 3-0 win Saturday against Dallas Baptist set the school winning streak record at 19 matches. The Lady Blues won once more Saturday to move the streak to 20 and they have not lost since a 3-1 setback August 31 against Nebraska-Kearney. The previous 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.

Lady Blues get past Truman to start 6-0 in MIAA play
Truman has been the team to beat for Washburn in MIAA matches and this year the Lady Blues got past the Bulldogs to set a school record by opening the season 6-0 in conference play. 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 fourth all-time in the MIAA with 2,118 in her fourth year. She is three digs away from moving into third in MIAA history.
   
After setting the Washburn career record with her 80th career double-figure dig match, senior libero Erica Cowhick grabbed hold of every dig record at Washburn. She now has 93 matches in her career with 10 or more digs and she is also Washburn's career leader in total digs and digs per game (5.44). She also holds the top two single-season total digs and digs per game records at Washburn.

Washburn earns 46th straight ranking in AVCA poll
The top six teams in Monday's AVCA national poll remained unchanged, leaving the Lady Blues at No. 5 for the second consecutive week. Washburn has now been ranked 47 straight weeks and has been in the top 10 in 22 of those weeks, including the last five.
   
The Lady Blues will put their ranking on the line against a top-10 team for the third time this year when they host No. 9 Central Missouri Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Lee Arena. The Jennies dropped two spots in the poll after a loss to Pittsburg State.
   
The Gorillas moved from 13th to 11th in the poll while Truman stayed put at No. 6 and Emporia State jumped to 21st.

Lady Blues look to go 6-0 against ranked opponents
The Lady Blues are 5-0 against ranked opponents this year with two wins against top-10 teams. They will get their third chance this week when they host No. 9 Central Missouri at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
  
Washburn has defeated at least one ranked team in each of the last weeks. Last week the Lady Blues topped then-No. 17 West Texas A&M Saturday after beating No. 6 Truman Tuesday. They also have wins over No. 23 Emporia State, No. 12 Pittsburg State and No. 5 Florida Southern.
   
In Chris Herron's sixth year the Lady Blues are 22-24 against ranked teams and 5-13 against the top-10. At home they are 13-10.

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, 16.57 kills per game and 15.22 assists per game.
   
The Lady Blues have out-hit their opponents in 23 of their 26 matches and in all 10 of their home matches. Tessa Jones is fifth in the MIAA with 4.48 points per game and fourth with 3.92 kills while setter Kate Hamspon leads the conference with 13.26 assists a game. The Lady Blues have two hitters in the top three with Stephanie Nitz second with a .340 percentage and Mandi Cox third at .338.

Net Notes
• This year the Lady Blues have started every match but two with a win and are 23-1 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 153-9 in Chris Herron's six years as coach.
• Senior Tessa Jones and junior Monica Miesner were named to the Rockhurst Classic all-tournament team played August 31 and September 1. Jones averaged 3.88 kills per game and hit .281 while Miesner had 2.67 kills and 3.67 digs per game in the four matches.
• 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.

Coming up next
The Lady Blues will play two more MIAA matches next week when they host Fort Hays State Thursday at 7 p.m. and then Missouri Western Saturday at 4:30 p.m. in Lee Arena.