Record: 26-2 Overall, 11-2 MIAA
Current Streak: Won 12
AVCA National Ranking: No. 7

Day	Date	Opponent	Time	Location	Arena	Series Record	Video	Live Stats
Wed	Oct. 29	at Nebraska-Omaha (12-12, 8-5 MIAA)	7 p.m.	Omaha, Neb.	Sapp Fieldhouse	tied 2-2	Here	Here
Fri	Oct. 31	Central Missouri (24-6, 11-2 MIAA)	7 p.m.	Topeka, Kan.	Lee Arena	UCM 40-8	Here	Here

Lady Blues play a pair of matches this week as conference race tightens
The seventh-ranked Lady Blues will play their first match at Nebraska-Omaha since 2003 when they take on the Mavericks Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Sapp Fieldhouse. They will then return home to host No. 14 Central Missouri Friday at 7 p.m. in their seventh match against a ranked team in as many weeks.
   
Washburn is 26-2 and is in a tie with UCM for second in the MIAA at 11-2. The Jennies are 24-6 overall while UNO is 12-12 overall and fifth in the MIAA at 8-5. The Lady Blues and their two opponents all went undefeated last week. WU and UNO went 3-0 while UCM went 2-0.
   
Washburn enters the weekend on a 12-match winning streak and has not lost since September 26 at Central Missouri. The Lady Blues are 11-0 at home this year and 33-3 in sets.   

Notes of Interest
• Washburn has not allowed an opponent to hit better than .200 in the last 10 games.
• Monica Miesner is six kills away from moving into the top five in WU history. She is looking to become one of two WU players in the top five in kills and digs.
• Washburn's opponents are hitting .122 during the current 12-match winning streak.
• The Lady Blues are 25-0 this year when opening the match with a win.

About this week's opponents
Nebraska-Omaha evened its overall record at 12-12 and went to 8-5 in the MIAA after its current three-match winning streak. The Mavericks are led by Sara Kampschnieder with 3.28 kills per set and Ellen Thommes leads the team with a .354 attack percentage, second best in the MIAA.
   
Central Missouri has won six straight and is 24-6 this year and tied with Washburn at 11-2 in the MIAA. The Jennies are led by Jacquelyn Williams with a .335 attack percentage and by Allie Huffman with 3.44 kills per set. Freshman Paula Harris is second in the MIAA with 3.99 points per set.

Washburn remains No. 7 in national poll
The Lady Blues remained No. 7 in the nation in the AVCA Division II poll released Monday. Washburn went 3-0 last week with a win over No. 10 Truman and improved to 26-2 overall and moved into a tie for second in the MIAA at 11-2.
   
After the Lady Blues play Wednesday at Nebraska-Omaha they will return home Friday to host No. 14 Central Missouri at 7 p.m. in Lee Arena. It will be the seventh straight week Washburn has played a ranked team. The Lady Blues are 4-2 against ranked opponents this year.
   
Washburn remains the top-ranked MIAA team. Emporia State moved to eighth, Truman is 11th, Central Missouri is 14th and Pittsburg State is 18th.
   
This is the 22nd straight week WU has been in the top 10 and the 64th straight time being in the top 25, dating back to week one of the 2004 season.
    
Hampson breaks Washburn's career assists record
With her seventh assist in WU's 3-1 home win over No. 13 Pittsburg State on October 11, Hampson surpassed Lindsey Kersting (1999-2002 -- 3,915) as the school's career leader. The junior has 935 this year and is averaging 10.10 per set. Hampson now has 4,135 in her career and she needs 929 to move into the MIAA's career top 10.
   
Hampson also broke another WU record when she got her 74th career match with 30 or more assists. Kersting held the record with 73 30-plus assist matches until Hampson got 33 assists at Northwest Missouri State last week.

Lady Blues continue dominance in Lee Arena
Washburn went 17-1 in home matches last year and is 11-0 this year. The Lady Blues went 52-12 in sets at home last year with 11 three-set sweeps. The only loss was a four-set defeat from Western Washington in the NCAA national semifinal.
   
This year Washburn is 33-3 in sets at home this year. The Lady Blues are hitting .268 while opponents have a .134 attack percentage. Ashley Shepard leads the team in home matches with 3.65 kills per set and Stephanie Nitz is hitting .356 with 1.16 blocks a set.
   
The Lady Blues are 41-4 in the last three seasons in Lee Arena and 87-12 in the building in seven seasons under Chris Herron.
   
Washburn finished third in the nation last year with 688 fans per match and second with 12,381 total fans. Those totals were the highest in the MIAA. This year Washburn is averaging 516 fans through nine matches.

Defense strong during winning streak
The Lady Blues have won 12 straight matches, equaling the season-opening win streak of 12. They have held opponents to a .122 attack percentage during their current winning streak. Only Midwestern State has managed to hit better than .200 (.203) and five of the 12 opponents hit lower than .100 during the streak.
   
The Lady Blues are averaging 18.54 digs per set during the streak and Molly Smith is leading with 4.92 per set. Stephanie Nitz is averaging 1.20 blocks per set and Mollie Lacy is averaging 1.03.
   
On offense Ashley Shepard is leading with 3.51 kills per set and Lacy is leading with a .348 attack percentage. Washburn is hitting .255 as a team during the streak.

Herron earns 200th win at Washburn
Washburn head coach Chris Herron is 210-40 in his seventh season with the Lady Blues, making him the third active coach in the MIAA with at least 200 wins. He got his 200th win on October 3 against Midwestern State. He is already the school's career leader in wins and his .840 winning percentage is also the school's highest.
   
Overall, Herron is 285-69 in 10 seasons with an .805 winning percentage. He is currently the third winningest active coach in the MIAA and the 34th winningest coach among active NCAA II coaches. Herron went 75-29 in three seasons at Benedictine.
   
Only two other active MIAA coaches have more than 200 wins at their school. Peggy Martin, in her 33rd and final year at Central Missouri, has over 1,000 and Rose Shires, the 19-year coach of MIAA newcomer Nebraska-Omaha, has over 375 wins.

Miesner six kills from top five in WU career history
Monica Miesner is sixth in career kills at Washburn, now with 1,485. She's six kills away from tying Dani McHenry in fifth with 1,491 total kills. Miesner is 247 kills away from the school record, held by Jill Gassen with 1,732 from 1998-01.

Earlier in the year Miesner moved to second in career digs at Washburn and she currently has 1,761. Erica Cowhick is the school's leader with 2,464 from 2004-07.
   
Miesner has 60 career double-doubles and needs seven more to tie assistant coach and All-American Dani (McHenry) Schmidt for first in WU history. She also has 92 double-figure dig matches, the second most in school history, and she's third with 73 career double-figure kills matches.
  
The two-time All-American became Washburn's seventh member of the 1,000 kills/1,000 digs club last year. She is looking to become one of two Lady Blues to be in the top five in both kills and digs at WU, joining Angie (Simon) Bittner.
   
Miesner earned AVCA second team honors in both 2007 and 2005. She also earned first team all-MIAA honors those two years.

Freshman Lacy near the top amongst MIAA hitters
Freshman middle hitter Mollie Lacy is leading the Lady Blues with a .348 attack percentage and that total is the third highest in the MIAA. Lacy also led the Lady Blues during the Fall Classic with a .439 percentage, the third highest amongst the tournament field, and she got a spot on the all-tournament team.
   
Lacy has started every match and is averaging 2.68 kills per set. In MIAA matches she is averaging 2.85 kills with a .326 attack percentage. Lacy has led Washburn in attack percentage 11 times this year
   
Lacy was named an AVCA High School Senior All-American her final year at Lincoln Pius High School (Neb.) and her team won two state championships her final two years. He club team, NVA 17 Red, was the 2007 national champion and she was named to the all-tournament team.

Shepard leading the team in kills
Sophomore outside hitter Ashley Shepard leads the team with 3.13 kills per set. She has been the team leader in points 10 times and in kills 10 times this year, including in the last three matches. Shepard has 10 double-figure kill matches this year and four double-doubles.

Net Notes
• Stephanie Nitz moved to 12th at WU with 338 career blocks. She needs 26 more to move into the top 10. Friday against Truman she had a eight, a season-high for her and the team.
• The Lady Blues are 25-0 this year when opening with a win and they have 20 three-set sweeps.
• Washburn has had a higher attack percentage than its opponents in all but one match and more kills in all but two.
• Washburn has 246 wins this decade. The school's winningest decade was the 1980s when the Lady Blues won 249 matches. However, WU had a .487 winning percentage that decade.

Coming up next
    Washburn will play three time next wee. November 4 the Lady Blues host Missouri Southern State, November 7 they play at Southwest Baptist and then November 8 they play at Pittsburg State.