Game Notes | Live Stats of NWMSU match

Previewing Washburn
The No. 3-ranked Washburn Lady Blues will kick-off the MIAA portion of their schedule with three conference games this week. The Lady Blues will host Northwest Missouri on Tuesday night before hitting the road to Truman State on Friday and Missouri Western on Saturday.  All-American Mollie Lacy leads the Lady Blues in kills with 57.  Right behind her is freshman standout Aubri Renshaw with 56 kills on the season along with a team leading 2.80 kills per set average.   Amanda Guess leads the team with 205 assist  on the season while senior Molly Smith leads the team with 93 digs.
   
Scouting the Bearcats
    The Bearcats enter tonight's MIAA opener with a 4-4 record on the year having won their last two matches against Dallas Baptist and Texas A&M-Kingsville.  Alex Hanna leads the Beartcats with 99 kills on the season and is averaging 3.30 kills per set.  Sara Falcone has also been key to their success with 83 kills this season.  
The Series: Washburn vs. Northwest Missouri
    The Lady Blues hold a 32-18 advantage in the series with the Bearcats. Washburn has won seven straight in the series and 17 of the past 18 meetings.

Scouting the Bulldogs
    Truman enters the week with a 7-1 record.  The Bulldogs are in action tonight down in Emporia and will head home to host Washburn on Friday.  Molly Sinclair leads the team with 95 kills which is good for a 3.39 kills per set average.  Megan Sharpe has chipped in 76 kills while Ashley Petak leads the team with 167 assist.
The Series: Washburn vs. Truman
    The Bulldogs lead the overall series 34-10, but Washburn has won three straight meetings and five of the past six.

Scouting the Griffons
    The Griffons enter this week with a 4-4 record on the year.  They open up MIAA play in Hays on Wednesday and return home Friday to host Emporia State and Washburn over the weekend.  This balanced Western team is led by Tahler Johnston's 76 kills and Kelli Sicner's 75 kills. Stephanie Hattey averages 5.03 assist per set.
The Series: Washburn vs. Missouri Western
    The Griffons lead the overall series with Washburn 43-29, but the Lady Blues have won the last 16 meetings and 17 of the past 18 meetings.

Opposing Coaches
    Jessica Rinehart is in her first season leading the Northwest Missouri program.  She looks to get the Bearcats above .500 for the first time since 2000. 
    Ben Briney is in his second season as the head coach of Truman State.  He has a career record of 24-13.
    Cory Frederick is in his second year as the head man of the Griffon volleyball program.  Frederick has had a successful career in the sport of volleyball.  Before coming to Missouri Western he led Park University to the 2008 NAIA Mens Volleyball National Championship.  He looks to build off of the 11 wins a year ago. 

Last Time Out
    Friday - ST. Louis, Missouri-- The No. 4-ranked Lady Blues volleyball team continued their early season success with four victories at the UMSL Triton Classic.  Breanna Lewis was named the MVP of the tournament while Mollie Lacy joined her on the first team. 
    The first match of the weekend was Washburn's toughest match.  They went up against Arkansas-Fort Smith winning the match 3-1 (25-21, 25-11, 20-25, 25-21).      Freshman standout Aubri Renshaw led the Lady Blues with 17 kills in the match while Mollie Lacy chipped in 14 kills and Breanna Lewis added 15 kills. 
    The next match saw the Lady Blues roll past the Harding Lady Bison in 3 sets (25-18, 25-20, 25-15).  Breanna Lewis led the way for Washburn in their second match of the day with 10 kills and only one attacking error.  Jessica Fey had nine kills while Mollie Lacy had eight kills. 
    Saturday the Lady Blues started off with a sweep of the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles.  The Lady Blues cruised in the first two sets 25-15 and25-13, but struggled in the third game winning 26-24.  Mollie Lacy led the way with 10 kills and a .471 attacking percentage.  Hillary Hughes added seven kills along with five service aces.
    The last game saw Washburn jump out early and cruise 3-0 (25-13, 25-12, 25-18) by Illinois-Springfield.  Jessica Kopp led the way with 13 kills to  only one error.  Kelci Wigger chipped in with nine kills and Courtney Wallman added six kills. 

Lady Blues jump one spot to No. 3 in rankings
    An 8-0 start has pushed the Lady Blues up to No. 3 in the national rankings in the lates AVCA coaches poll. The Lady Blues received 704 points and tallied four first-place votes, which was one more than last week. Central Missouri moved up one spot as well to No. 8, while Emporia State remained at No. 13. Truman fell from No. 15 to No. 16 and Pittsburg State fell out of the poll this week giving the MIAA four teams in the poll top 25 rankings. This is the 85th straight week that Washburn has been ranked in the AVCA top 25.

Washburn picked second in MIAA preseason coaches poll
    The Lady Blues were picked to finish second in the MIAA in the preseason coaches poll. Washburn returns 12 letterwinners and six starters from a team the went 33-5 last year and advanced to the school's sixth straight NCAA tournament. Defending champion Central Missouri was the choice to repeat this year. UCM received 10 of 11 first-place votes and tallied 100 points. WU received the other first-place tally (coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams) and had 91 points total. Emporia State was picked third, followed by Pittsburg State and Truman State.

Herron in ninth season at Washburn
    Washburn head coach Chris Herron is 255-49 (.839) in his ninth 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 seven of his eight years, including the last six in-a-row, and he has led WU to its first two MIAA titles.

Notes of Interest:
• Chris Herron improved to 9-0 in season openers and WU has won its last 13 dating back to 1997.
• The last time Washburn lost its season-opener was a 3-1 defeat to Mesa State in 1997.
•The Lady Blues improved to 36-0 in season-opening tournaments under Chris Herron.
• Washburn is ranked No. 3in the AVCA coaches' poll. The Lady Blues finished the 2009 season ranked No. 8 in the nation. The Lady Blues have been ranked in the top 25 in 84 straight polls.
• The No. 3 ranking is Washburn's highest since being ranked No. 2 early in the 2008 season.
• Washburn opens the season with eight straight matches away from Lee Arena, the Lady Blues started the 2009 campaign with 13 straight matches away from home, going 13-0 in those contests.

Coming up next
    The Lady Blues return to Lee Arena for their first home and MIAA match of the season against Northwest Missouri on Tuesday, September 14. Washburn will then hit the road on the weekend to take on Truman State on Friday and Missouri Western on Saturday.