#23 Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks (20-13) UCM Multipurpose Warrensburg, Mo. Thurs., Nov. 19 2:30 p.m.

#5 West Texas A&M Lady Buffs (34-3) UCM Multipurpose Warrensburg, Mo. Fri., Nov. 20 6 p.m.

#22 Truman State Bulldogs (24-12) UCM Multipurpose Warrensburg, Mo. Fri., Nov. 20 6 p.m.

Complete Game Notes

For Tournament website click HERE

Previewing Washburn
    The No. 8-ranked Washburn Lady Blues enter the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament hosted by Central Missouri as the No. 2 seed. WU will take on seventh-seeded Nebraska-Omaha (20-13) on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. in the first round. The winner advances to play the winner of No. 3 seeded West Texas A&M (31-3) and sixth-seeded Truman (24-12) on Friday. The winner of that semifinal will advance to the Regional final to face one of Central Missouri, Dallas Baptist, Pittsburg State or Emporia State.

Scouting the Mavericks
    Nebraska-Omaha enters the South Central Regional with a 20-13 overall record and the No. 7 seed. The Mavericks finished 10-10 and in sixth place in the MIAA. UNO has three players with at least 325 kills, led by Ellen Thommes with 390 and a 3.22 kills/set average. Setter Emily Myers has 1,374 assists on the year and averages 10.90 assists per set. Angie Reicks leads the Maverick defense with a 4.58 digs/set average (577 digs in 126 sets played). Thommes also leads the team in blocks with 123 total and 1.02 per set.

The Series: Washburn vs. Nebraska-Omaha
    The Mavericks hold a 4-3 lead in the overall series with Washburn, but the series is tied 2-2 since UNO joined the MIAA last season. The Mavericks handed WU its first loss of the season, a 3-2 thriller, back on September 23 in Omaha, while the Lady Blues swept the Mavericks 3-0 on October 28 in Lee Arena. The two teams split last season's series with each team winning on their own home floor.

Scouting the Lady Buffs
    West Texas A&M comes into the South Central Regional as the No. 3 seed with a 34-3 overall record and having won 18 straight matches. The Lady Buffs have not lost since a 3-1 setback against the Lady Blues during the Lady Blues Fall Classic in October. Laura Prinsen leads WTAMU with 467 kills and a 3.51 kills/set average, while Melissa Harper averages 3.21 kills/game (417 kills in 130 sets played). Katie Rickwartz leads the Lady Buffs with an 11.69 assists per set average (1,578 assists). Four players have at least 322 digs, led by Lauren Beville with 512 and a 3.79 digs per set average.

The Series: Washburn vs. West Texas A&M
    Washburn holds a 2-0 series lead over the Lady Buffs. The Lady Blues defeated West Texas A&M 3-1 during the Lady Blues Fall Classic in October and 3-0 during last year's Fall Classic.

Scouting the Bulldogs
    Truman State comes in as the No. 6 seed with a 24-12 overall mark. TSU finished 12-8 and in fifth place in the MIAA. Megan Sharpe and Lauren Graybeal lead the team with 381 and 352 kills, respectively. Ashley Petak has a team-high 880 assists, while Casey Bruno leads the Bulldogs with 543 digs and a 4.64 digs per set average.

The Series: Washburn vs. Truman State
    Truman State holds a 34-10 edge in the all-time series. Washburn swept the season series dropping just one set to TSU. The Lady Blues have won three straight and five of the past six against the Bulldogs. Washburn is 1-1 against Truman in South Central Regional play, losing 3-0 in 2005, while winning 3-1 in the 2007 Regional Final.

The Series: Washburn vs. Rest of South Central Region
    The Lady Blues are 1-0 all-time against Dallas Baptist. UCM holds a 44-9 lead in the series after sweeping both games this year. Washburn is 1-3 against Central Missouri in the NCAA Tournament.
    Emporia State holds a 76-26 series lead over the Lady Blues after the teams split the regular season series.
    Washburn holds a 48-21 lead in the all-time series with the Gorillas after sweeping the season series.

The Opposing Coaches:
    Rose Shires is in her 20th season leading the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks program. Her career mark stands at 407-228. UNO is 37-22 since joining the MIAA last season. Shires is the winningest coach in Maverick history and ranks 21st all-time in NCAA Division II history in wins.
    Jason Skoch is in his first season at West Texas A&M after leading
MIAA foe Truman State for four years. His career record now stands at
171-25. He was 137-22 in his four years in Kirksville.
    Ben Briney is in his first season at the helm of the Bulldog program. Briney was an assistant coach under Jason Skoch for four seasons before taking the reigns this season. He is 24-12 in his first season as a head coach.

Last Time Out:
    The eighth-ranked Washburn Lady Blues dropped the first set, but rattled off three straight set wins en route to a 3-1 (20-25, 25-9, 25-22, 25-14) victory over No. 9 Emporia State in front of a season-high 1,564 fans on Senior night in Lee Arena. The Lady Blues next match will be in the NCAA South Central Regional next week.
    Washburn (32-4, 16-4 MIAA) led early in set one, before Emporia State took the lead for good at 14-13. The Lady Blues steamrolled to a set two win 25-9. WU led 10-6 early before an 11-1 run put the set out of reach.
    Set three was a back-and-forth battle with the Hornets (28-5, 15-4 MIAA) gaining the early advantage. Washburn rallied from three points down to tie the game at 18, then closed the match on a 5-2 run after a 20-all tie.
    The Lady Blues jumped out to an early 3-0 in set four and led 10-4 before ESU closed to within three at 10-7. Washburn closed the set and the match on a 15-7 run.
    Senior Kate Hampson, playing possibly her final game in Lee Arena, recorded a double-double with a match-high 43 kills and 16 digs. Freshman Jessica Kopp led the Washburn attack with 12 kills, while Breanna Lewis and Mollie Lacy chipped in 11 and 10, respectively. Molly Smith led the Lady Blues defensively with 18 digs.
    Brittney Miller led the Hornets with 15 kills.

Lady Blues in the NCAA Tournament
    The Lady Blues are making their sixth straight trip to the NCAA's and seventh overall under Chris Herron. Washburn is 6-6 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 5-5 in South Central Regional play. Washburn fell to Central Missouri in the first round of last year's South Central Regional. WU was 4-1 in 2007 making it all the way to the Final Four. The Lady Blues recorded wins over Central Missouri and Truman during the South Central Regional Tournament.

Against Ranked Opponents
     The Lady Blues are 6-4 this season and 38-36 under Chris Herron when facing ranked opponents after beating ninth-ranked Emporia State 3-1 last Friday. Washburn beat No. 22 Pittsburg State 3-1 two weeks ago and also split a pair of games against No. 20 UNO and No. 4 UCM. The Lady Blues beat No. 19 Truman 3-0 in Kirksville. WU dropped a 3-2 decision to No. 8 Emporia State on October 16. Washburn defeated then-No. 6 West Texas A&M 3-1 at the Holiday Inn/Lady Blues Fall Classic to even the season record at 2-2. Washburn beat then-No. 19 Truman 3-1 on September 19 before dropping consecutive 3-2 decisions to then-No. 18 Nebraska-Omaha and then-ninth-ranked Central Missouri.
    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 holding down 8th in AVCA Rankings
    The Lady Blues remained in eighth in this week's AVCA national poll after going 2-0 last week, including a 3-1 win over then-No. 9 Emporia State. Washburn has now been ranked in the top 10 of the AVCA poll 35 of the last 39 polls.
    Central Missouri moved up one spot to No. 4 and is the highest ranked MIAA school. Emporia State fell dropped to 10th, while Pittsburg State came in at 21 and Truman (22) and Nebraska-Omaha (23) round out the MIAA teams in the top 25.

Climbing the charts
    Senior setter Kate Hampson continues to move up the MIAA top 10 list for career assists. She has 5,816 career assists, which is good for second place all-time in the MIAA.
    Hampson is also Washburn's all-time leader in service attempts with 2,171. She is fourth all-time at Washburn in matches played with 147 and eighth all time having played in 495 sets. She is also 10th in career service aces with 119.

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 321-77 in this, his 11th season as a college head coach. Herron is 246-48 in his eighth season at Washburn.
Herron in midst of eighth season at Washburn
    Washburn head coach Chris Herron is 246-48 (.837) in his eighth season at Washburn after moving into first in career wins at WU in 2007. Herron recorded his 100th MIAA win against Pittsburg State on Saturday. 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 are playing in their sixth straight NCAA Tournament and seventh overall, all under coach Chris Herron.
• The Lady Blues have nine players with at least 61 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. 8 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 81st straight week that Washburn has been ranked in the AVCA Top 25.
• All 16 active players have played in at least 19 sets, with 14 seeing action in at least 32.
• 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
    It's survive and advance for the Lady Blues. If they navigate through the South Central Regional then they will advance to the NCAA-II Elite Eight at a campus site to be determined.