Missouri Southern Lions (9-8, 2-2 MIAA) Lee Arena Topeka, Kan. Tues., Oct. 6 7 p.m.

Southwest Baptist Bearcats (9-12, 2-3 MIAA) Meyer Sports Center  Bolivar, Mo.. Fri., Oct. 9 7 p.m.

Pittsburg State Gorillas (14-7, 4-3 MIAA) John Lance Arena  Pittsburg, Kan. Sat., Oct. 10 6 p.m.

Complete Game Notes

Previewing Washburn
    The No. 7-ranked Washburn Lady Blues return to conference action with three MIAA games this week. The Lady Blues will host Missouri Southern on Tuesday at 7 p.m. before hitting the road for two games. WU will travel to Southwest Baptist on Friday night to take on the Bearcats at 7 p.m. and then head to Pittsburg, Kan. for a Saturday matchup with the Gorillas.

Scouting the Lions
    Missouri Southern enters the week with a 9-8 overall record and a 2-2 mark in the MIAA. Junior outside hitter Jeanna Feldmann leads the Lions with 242 kills on the season (3.51 kills per set). Elin Skei is averaging 10.47 assists per set, while Kari Hammerbacher is averaging 4.33 digs per set.

The Series: Washburn vs. Missouri Southern
    Missouri Southern leads the all-time series 34-27, but Washburn has won the last 15 meetings between the two schools.

Scouting the Bearcats
    Southwest Baptist enters the week 9-12 overall after going 2-2 at the Lady Blues Fall Classic. SBU has a 2-3 conference record. Alex Smith and Ashley Jurgensmeyer lead the Bearcats with 233 and 232 kills, respectively. Brianna Wallace has 762 assists on the season, while four players have recorded at least 170 digs on the season. Marcy Greenwade leads the team with 267 digs, good enough for 3.38 digs per set.

The Series: Washburn vs. Southwest Baptist
    The Lady Blues hold a 34-4 series lead over the Bearcats and have won 19 straight in the series.

Scouting the Gorillas
    Pittsburg State enters the week of play with a 14-7 overall mark and a 4-3 record in MIAA play. Pamela Cartegena leads the team with 317 kills on the year and is averaging 4.12 kills per set. Corrinne Stringer is averaging 2.99 kills per set as well. Emily Vosseler is averaging 11.01 assists per set, while Cassie Wilson is averaging 4.59 digs per set.
The Series: Washburn vs. Pittsburg State
    Washburn holds a 46-21 lead in the all-time series with the Gorillas. The two teams split last season's games and Washburn has won seven of the past nine meetings

The Opposing Coaches:
    Chris Willis in in his sixth year leading the Lions of Missouri Southern. His record at Missouri Southern stands at 82-99, while his career record stands at 96-125.
    Kelly Richardson is in her third year at the helm of the Southwest Baptist program. Her career mark stands at 30-56.
    Ibraheem Suberu is in his 11th year at Pittsburg State and his 13th season overall. His mark at PSU stands at 197-164, while his career record is 227-199.

Last Time Out:
    The ninth-ranked Washburn Lady Blues finished up the 2009 Holiday Inn/Lady Blues Classic with a pair of 3-0 victories on Saturday at Lee Arena. Washburn beat Tarleton State 25-14, 25-15, 25-20 then closed out the tournament with a 25-14, 25-17, 25-21 win over Angelo State.
    Mollie Lacy and Hillary Hughes led the WU attack in game one with 11 kills each. Kate Hampson had 28 assists to go along with nine digs, while Tessa Brophy led the Lady Blues with 11 digs.
    In game two, Ashley Shepard led a balanced attack with eight kills. Five players recorded at least five kills and 11 players had at least one. Hampson had 34 assists and Molly Smith led WU with 14 digs.
    Hampson, Hughes and Lacy were all named to the All-Tournament team for the Lady Blues.

Hampson named MIAA Specialist of the Week
    Washburn senior setter Kate Hampson was named the MIAA's Specialist of the Week after leading the Lady Blues to a 4-0 record at the Holiday Inn/Lady Blues Fall Classic last week. Hampson averaged 41.25 assists per match and 11.8 assists per set. Against SE Oklahoma State she recorded a double-double with 52 assists and 12 digs. In the 3-1 win over No. 6 West Texas A&M, Hampson had 51 assists to go along with nine digs and three kills.

Against Ranked Opponents
     The Lady Blues are 2-2 this season and 34-34 under Chris Herron when facing ranked opponents. Washburn defeated then-No. 6 West Texas A&M 3-1 last weekend at the Holiday Inn/Lady Blues Fall Classic to even the season record at 2-2.
    Washburn was 5-5 against ranked teams last season. The Lady Blues were 5-2 against ranked teams at one point in 2008, but dropped their final three matches of the season against ranked foes.
   
Lady Blues climb two spots in AVCA Rankings
    The Lady Blues jumped up two spots to No. 7 in this week's AVCA national poll. Washburn has now been ranked in the top 10 of the AVCA poll 29 of the last 33 polls.
    Central Missouri moved up one spot to number four and is the highest ranked MIAA school. Emporia State dropped two spots to eighth. Nebraska-Omaha stayed put at 15th, while Truman dropped one spot to 21st and Pittsburg State dropped out of the rankings to give the MIAA five teams in the top 25.
    The Lady Blues defeated sixth-ranked West Texas A&M on Friday, but the Lady Buffs remained ahead of WU in the rankings.

300 Wins
    Washburn head coach Chris Herron recorded career win No. 300 with Washburn's 3-0 win over Eastern New Mexico at the Rockhurst Fall Clasic. His career mark now stands at 308-75 in this, his 11th season as a college head coach. Herron is 233-46 in his eighth season at Washburn.

History in the making
    Senior setter Kate Hampson broke into the MIAA top 10 for career assists over the weekend. She has 5,184 career assists, which is good for 10th place all-time in the MIAA. She is 136 assists shy of ninth place on the all-time list.
    Hampson is also Washburn's all-time leader in service attempts with 1,935. She is nearing the top-10 at Washburn in matches played, currently in a tie for 10th place with 132 and she is 12th with 108 career service aces.

Herron in midst of eighth season at Washburn
    Washburn head coach Chris Herron is 233-46 (.835) in his eighth season at Washburn after moving into first in career wins at WU in 2007. He is a three-time MIAA coach of the year and was named AVCA South Central Region coach of the year in 2007
    Herron has been a huge part of the Lady Blues program turn-around. Before he came to WU in 2002 the Lady Blues had never gone to the NCAA national tournament and they had a .389 winning percentage in 12 years as an NCAA-II school. Herron has won 83 percent of his games and has led WU to the NCAA postseason six of his seven years, including the last five in-a-row, and he has led WU to its first two MIAA titles.

Notes of Interest:
• The Lady Blues have 10 players with at least 35 kills
• The Lady Blues set a school-record by winning nine matches to open the season without dropping a set. WU dropped the first set to Upper Iowa before rallying for a 3-1 win. The longest streak before was five matches in 2005.
• Washburn is ranked No. 7 in this week's AVCA national poll. The Lady Blues finished the 2008 season ranked 13th in the nation. It was the first time Washburn had been ranked outside the top 10 since the week one poll of the 2007 season.
• This is the 75th straight week that Washburn has been ranked in the AVCA Top 25.
• All 16 active players have played in at least 10 sets, with 14 seeing action in at least 24.
• Chris Herron is 8-0 in season openers and WU has won its last 12.
• Washburn is 32-0 in eight season-opening tournaments under Herron. The Lady Blues have lost just 14 sets in those 32 matches and only one set in the past two seasons (3-1 win over Dixie State in 2008 season-opener).
• The last time Washburn lost its season-opener was a 3-1 defeat to Mesa State in 1997.
• Washburn opened the season with 13-0 with 13 straight matches away from Lee Arena, the most to start a season in school history. Last season, the Lady Blues started the season 11-0 with 11 straight road contests.

Coming up next
    The Lady Blues continue MIAA play with games on Wednesday and Friday. Fort Hays State will travel to Topeka on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. match, then WU will hit the road to Emporia State for the turnpike tussle at 7 p.m.