Record: 27-3 Overall, 12-3 MIAA
Current Streak: Won 1
AVCA National Ranking: No. 7

Day	Date	Opponent	Time	Location	Arena	Series Record	Video	Live Stats
Tue	Nov. 4	Missouri Southern (8-19, 3-12 MIAA)	7 p.m.	Topeka, Kan.	Lee Arena	MSSU 34-25	Here	Here
Fri	Nov. 7	at Southwest Baptist (12-16, 4-11 MIAA)	7 p.m.	Bolivar, Mo.	Meyer Sports Center	WU 33-4	None	None
Sat	Nov. 8	at No. 19 Pittsburg State (23-7, 9-6 MIAA)	2 p.m.	Pittsburg, Kan.	John Lance Arena	WU 45-20	None	None

Lady Blues play three this week looking to close in on MIAA top spot
The seventh-ranked Lady Blues will play three times this week as they look to hang on to their No. 2 spot in the MIAA and No. 1 spot in the South Central Region. Washburn hosts Missouri Southern Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Lee Arena before playing at Southwest Baptist Friday at 7 p.m. and at No. 18 Pittsburg State Saturday at 2 p.m.
   
The Lady Blues went 1-1 last week with a loss at Nebraska-Omaha and win at home against then-No. 14 Central Missouri. MSSU (8-19, 3-12 MIAA) went 2-1 after a five-set win against Missouri Western Saturday, SBU (12-16, 4-11) went 1-2 and PSU (23-7, 9-6) went 2-0.
   
PSU is sixth in the region and SBU is 10th. The top eight teams with a winning record get in the NCAA South Central Region tournament with the top seed given the chance to host.
    
Notes of Interest
• Monica Miesner moved to fifth in career kills at Washburn and she's 22 away from third. She is one of two players in WU history currently in the top five in career kills and digs at WU.
• The Lady Blues are three wins away from making the 2000s the winningest decade in WU volleyball history. Washburn has 247 wins this decade and the record is 249 wins in the 1980s.
• The Lady Blues are 26-1 this year when opening the match with a win and 24-0 when opening with two wins.
• Mollie Lacy is on pace to have the second highest single-season attack percentage in school history and the highest for a freshman.

Lady Blues top latest region poll
The Lady Blues entered last week with a 21-2 record in the region and were coming off a win against previous No. 1 Emporia State. For their efforts they were the No. 1 team in the NCAA South Central Region poll, released last Wednesday.
   
Washburn lost that day to seventh-ranked Nebraska-Omaha then defeated No. 5 Central Missouri Friday. The next region poll comes out November 12.
   
The Lady Blues play two teams ranked in the region this week, both on the road. Friday they are at No. 10 Southwest Baptist and Saturday they are at No. 6 Pittsburg State.

Washburn remains No. 7 in national poll
The Lady Blues remained No. 7 in the nation in the Bison/AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll released Monday. Washburn went 1-1 last week with a win over No. 14 Central Missouri and moved to 27-3 overall and moved all alone at second in the MIAA at 12-3.
   
For the first time this year the Lady Blues aren't the top ranked team in the MIAA. Emporia State jumped from eighth to fifth in the nation. Truman is 10th, UCM is still 14th and Pittsburg State fell one spot to 10th.
   
This is the 23rd straight week WU has been in the top 10 and the 65th 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 1024 this year and is averaging 10.34 per set. Hampson now has 4,224 in her career and she needs 840 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.  Hampson now has 78 30-plus assist matches.

Lady Blues continue dominance in Lee Arena
Washburn went 17-1 in home matches last year and is 12-0 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 36-3 in sets at home this year. The Lady Blues are hitting .269 while opponents have a .132 attack percentage. Ashley Shepard leads the team in home matches with 3.62 kills per set and Stephanie Nitz is hitting .356 with 1.15 blocks a set.
   
The Lady Blues are 42-4 in the last three seasons in Lee Arena and 88-12 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 500 fans through nine matches.

Herron earns 200th win at Washburn
Washburn head coach Chris Herron is 211-41 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 .837 winning percentage is also the school's highest.

Overall, Herron is 286-70 in 10 seasons with an .803 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 second player in top five in kills and digs at Washburn, eyes third in career kills
Monica Miesner moved to fifth in career kills at Washburn last week to make her one of two players in school history currently in the top five in kills and digs. She has 1,504 kills and is already second in WU history with 1,786 digs.

Miesner moved to the top 10 in MIAA history in digs and is 28 away from moving into seventh.
   
Miesner is seven kills away from tying student assistant coach Tessa Jones for fourth in career kills at Washburn and she's 22 away from third. Miesner is 228 kills away from the school record, held by Jill Gassen with 1,732 from 1998-01.
   
Miesner has 61 career double-doubles and needs six more to tie assistant coach and All-American Dani (McHenry) Schmidt for first in WU history. She also has 93 double-figure dig matches, the second most in school history, and she's third with 74 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.
   
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, on pace for 2nd highest percentage in WU history
Freshman middle hitter Mollie Lacy is leading the Lady Blues with a .349 attack percentage and that total is the third highest in the MIAA. Her attack percentage is on pace to be the second highest single-season total in school history and the highest for a freshman. Mandi Cox holds the record with a .373 effort in 2005 and the current No. 2 mark is .340 by Dani McHenry in 2003. The freshman record was set by Andi Moran with a .318 mark in 2005.
   
Lacy has started every match and is averaging 2.71 kills per set. In MIAA matches she is averaging 2.79 kills with a .340 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 3.14 kills per set. She has been the team leader in points 10 times and in kills 14 times this year. Shepard has 12 double-figure kill matches this year and five double-doubles.'
   
During MIAA matches she is averaging 3.39 kills to lead the team.

Net Notes
• Stephanie Nitz moved to 12th at WU with 341 career blocks. She needs 18 more to move into the top 10. October 24 against Truman she had a eight, a season-high for her and the team.
• The Lady Blues are 26-1 this year when opening with a win and they have 21 three-set sweeps. They are 24-0 when opening with two set wins.
• Washburn has had a higher attack percentage than its opponents in all but one match and more kills in all but two.
• Washburn has 247 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
The Lady Blues will play twice during the final week of the regular season. November 12 they will host Fort Hays State during Senior Day and November 14 they will wrap up the regular season at Emporia State.