Complete notes in PDF


Week 5 Game Notes
No. 7 Washburn (16-1, 1-0 MIAA)

Match 18 vs No. 12 Pittsburg State (15-1, 2-0 MIAA) Date: Friday, September 21 Time: 7:00 p.m. Place: Lee Arena; Topeka, Kan. Video Webcast Live Stats

Match 19 vs Missouri Southern State (9-7, 0-3 MIAA) Date: Saturday, September 22 Time: 6:00 p.m. Place: Lee Arena; Topeka, Kan. Video Webcast Live Stats

The Lady Blues will take an 11-game winning streak and their highest-ever national ranking into a pair of MIAA matches this weekend in Lee Arena. No. 7 Washburn (16-1, 1-0 MIAA) will host No. 12 Pittsburg State at 7 p.m. Friday and then take on Missouri Southern State Saturday at 6 p.m.
   
Washburn started the week with a 3-1 win at Northwest Missouri State Tuesday after jumping one spot to No. 7 in the CSTV/AVCA national poll released Monday. The Lady Blues are 2-0 at home this year with a sweep against Missouri-Rolla and a 3-1 win against then-No. 5 Florida Southern last week.
   
Along with tying its school-best national ranking this week, Washburn also received additional national honors when senior All-American rightside hitter Tessa Jones was named the Sports Imports/AVCA national player of the week for her efforts last week. Jones, also the MIAA player of the week, averaged 4.71 kills and 5.57 points per game in a pair of Lady Blues wins last week.

Jones named national and conference player of the week
Senior rightside hitter Tessa Jones was named the Sports Imports/AVCA national player of the week and the MIAA hitter of the week for her efforts in a pair of wins last week. Jones had a season-high 24 kills and 28 points in the 3-1 win over then-No. 5 Florida Southern Friday night. She added nine kills and 11 points at Fort Hays State last Wednesday to finish the week averaging 4.71 kills and 5.57 points per game.

Jones had eight kills in the opening game against FSC and seven in the match-clinching fourth. In game two against FSC the Lady Blues were down 26-19, but went on an 11-1 run to win the game. She assisted on three blocks and had one kill during the run. She finished with six blocks in the match and two at FHSU to average 1.14 per game.

Jones, an All-American the last two years, is the second WU player to ever earn the honor and first since Emily Foster did in 2004. She is the second Lady Blue to earn MIAA player of the week honors this year after Kate Hampson was named specialist of the week last week.

Herron moves to 2nd in career wins, nears all-time mark
WU head coach Chris Herron moved into second in career wins at Washburn, passing former coach Kelly Stauffer-Osburn who posted 155 wins from 1987-96. With a 162-35 record in his sixth year, Herron is five wins away from tying Linda Moley, the all-time leader with 167 wins in five years.
   
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 nears 1,000 digs and 1,000 kills
Junior Monica Miesner is  just 15 digs away from becoming the 16th member of Washburn's 1,000 career digs club. After achieving that feat she will look to become the seventh player to reach 1,000 digs and kills as six others have done so already. She currently has 886 kills and 985 digs.

Cox edges near 1,000 career kills
Senior Mandi Cox has 920 kills in her senior year as she looks to join teammate Tessa Jones as the latest members of the 1,000 kill club. This year she has 150 and is averaging 2.63 per game.

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 231 this year, she now has 1,085 and is 23 kills away from moving into the top 10.
   
Jones is fourth all-time in kills per game with 3.74 and third with 4.47 points. She entered the week third in the MIAA with 4.15 kills per game this year and second with 4.85 points.

Cowhick sits atop every dig record at Washburn
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 86 matches in her career with 10 or more digs and she is also Washburn's career leader in total digs (1,947) and digs per game (5.45). She also holds the top two single-season total digs and digs per game records at Washburn.

Washburn earns 44th straight ranking in AVCA poll
After topping then-No. 5 Florida Southern last week to win their 10th straight match, the Lady Blues jumped another spot to No. 7 in the CSTV/AVCA national poll, released Monday. Washburn's ranking this week tied its school-best after debuting at No. 7 last year and also receiving the same ranking three times in 2005.
   
Three other MIAA teams are ranked in the poll, all in the top 15. Central Missouri is fifth, Truman is eighth and Pittsburg State is 12th. Future opponent Rockhurst is 23rd.
   
Washburn has been in the poll every week since the start of the 2004 season, a total of 44 consecutive weeks. In that time the Lady Blues have been in the top 10 19 times, peaking at No. 7 now five times.

Lady Blues look for another win against ranked opponent
The No. 7 Lady Blues will host another top opponent when No. 12 Pittsburg State comes to town Friday. Washburn is 1-0 against ranked teams this year after a 3-1 win against then-No. 5 Florida Southern last week. Washburn played nine matches last year against ranked opponents and won four times. In Chris Herron's sixth year the Lady Blues are 18-24 against ranked teams and 4-13 against the top-10. At home they are 10-10 and against PSU they are 1-2. This is the highest either team has been when they have matched up.

Lady Blues picked to win MIAA championship
Picking up six of the 10 first-place votes, the Lady Blues were chosen by the MIAA coaches to win the league in the preseason poll. Washburn edged Truman, last year's champions, by four points in the voting with Central Missouri coming in third.
   
The Lady Blues went 9-4 last year to finish first in the West Division. They hosted the postseason tournament and defeated Northwest Missouri State and Central Missouri before falling to No. 1 Truman in the final.

Solid attack key to Lady Blues success
The Lady Blues have out-hit their opponents in 15 of their first 17 matches and enter the week second in the MIAA with a .257 attack percentage. They lead the league in kills per game with 16.43 and assists with 15.02 per game. Tessa Jones is second in the MIAA with 4.85 points per game and third with 4.15 kills while setter Kate Hamspon leads the conference with 12.92 assists a game. The Lady Blues have three hitters in the top 10 with Mandi Cox fifth at .322, Tessa Jones sixth at .320 and Stephanie Nitz eighth with a .310 percentage.

Miesner provides offensive and defensive spark
Junior outside hitter Monica Miesner is averaging 2.81 kills and 4.00 digs per game this year, both second best totals on the team. With her ability to both attack and defend, she has seven double-doubles this year and she is third at Washburn with 34 career double-doubles, needing one more to tie for second. She is also fourth with 51 career double-figure dig matches.
   
Miesner earned second team All-America honors in 2005, her sophomore year, after averaging 4.07 digs and 3.85 kills per game.

Hampson climbing up career assists chart, leads MIAA
Sophomore setter Kate Hampson leads the MIAA with 12.92 assists per game and is helping to lead an offense that is first in the MIAA in kills and assists and second in attack percentage.
   
Hampson has climbed from ninth at the beginning of the season to seventh all-time at Washburn with 1,946 assists in just her second year. Last year she finished with 1,272 assists and if she repeats that this year she will move into the top five. She is also third all-time at WU with 11.79 assists per game.

Strong attack pushes Mandi Cox towards the top in the MIAA
Senior middle hitter Mandi Cox is the school's career leader with a .327 attack percentage and this year she is near the top in the MIAA. She entered the week fifth best in the MIAA with a .322 percentage and she currently leads the team with a .339 percentage after hitting .538 at Northwest Missouri State. She has hit .500 or better four times now this year and has six double-figure kill matches.

Nitz leads Lady Blues above the net
Junior middle hitter Stephanie Nitz leads the team with 1.14 blocks per game and she entered the week fifth in the MIAA in that category. She leads the team with 13 solo blocks, 51 assists and 64 total blocks. Nitz is also in the top 10 in attack percentage, entering the week eighth in the conference and she is currently second on the team with a .328 percentage after a .611 performance Tuesday at Northwest Missouri State to pass .500 for the sixth time this year.

Net Notes
• Washburn is looking to go 3-0 in conference play for just the third time since joining the MIAA in 1990. The Lady Blues started the conference season 5-0 last year and went 4-0 to start 1997.
• This year the Lady Blues have started every match with a win and are 16-1 with the lone loss coming to Nebraska-Kearney. They went 24-3 last year when winning the first game of a match and they are 146-9 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 started Stephanie Nitz and Mandi Cox at middle hitter, Tessa Jones at rigthside hitter and Erica Cowhick at libero in every match this year. Setter Kate Hampson and outside hitter Monica Miesner have both started in all but one match.
• Freshman Caitlin Conley has started for the Lady Blues at outside hitter in nine of the last 11 matches. She is averaging 2.11 kills per game with a .200 attack percentage.
• 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
Washburn will continue a four-match home stand with an MIAA contest against Emporia State on September 26 and then Northwest Missouri State on September 29.


hof