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Gene Cassell/Assistant Athletic Director for Communications

Five non-conference matches up next for No. 5 Lady Blues

9/26/2011 4:20:00 PM

Game Notes
Newman Match Live Stats | Live Video
Ramada Inn Lady Blues Fall Classic Live Stats | Tournament Home Page

The fifth-ranked Lady Blues will play their final non-conference matches of the year as they travel to Newman for a 7 p.m. match Tuesday. They then return home to host the Ramada Inn Lady Blues Fall Classic on two courts in Lee Arena Friday and Saturday.

Washburn head coach Chris Herron, 10 wins away from 300, will coach against a former player, three-year All-American Tessa Jones as she is in her first year with the Jets (1-9).

The Lady Blues will then play Dallas Baptist (7-5) at 2 p.m. Friday and Abilene Christian (8-7) at 6:30 in the first day of the Fall Classic. They'll host Tarleton State (9-5) at 1 p.m. Saturday and then No. 20 Angelo State (15-1) at 5 to wrap up the event.

Lady Blues earn 31st straight top-10 vote
Washburn moved up a spot to fifth in the AVCA national poll released Monday.  The Lady Blues are the top one-loss team in the nation as the four teams ahead of them are unbeaten. They have now been in the top 10 in the AVCA national poll 31 straight weeks. They stayed that way all last year being ranked as high as second and as low as ninth throughout the year. They were also in the top 10 every week of the regular season in 2009 after a No. 11 spot in that preseason poll.

Washburn has been in the top 10 in 56 of the last 60 AVCA polls. They have been ranked in the poll every week since the start of the 2004 season and there have only been 10 weeks that they weren't ranked since Chris Herron began in 2002, including his first seven weeks.

Washburn joins two other MIAA schools in this week's poll. Central Missouri is No. 7 and Emporia is back in at 25th. Truman fell out but earned votes.

Concordia St. Paul remained No. 1, Metro State is No. 9 and Lady Blues Classic opponent Angelo State is No. 20.

Herron 10 wins from 300 wins in 10th season of complete turnaround at Washburn
Head coach Chris Herron, in his 10th year at Washburn, is 10 victories short of 300 on the Lady Blues bench. Already the school's all-time leader in wins, he is looking to become the only active MIAA coach to reach that milestone.

Herron has already coached a team to 300 wins in his career. He coached Tonganoxie High School to a 366-88 record in 13 seasons.

Herron inherited a Washburn program that had just three winning seasons in its first 13 years as an NCAA II school and member of the MIAA. Right away, Herron turned Washburn into a contender by winning the league in 2002, his first year. (Herron's Complete Bio)

Washburn went .389 in its first 12 years of DII and since then, Herron has led the Lady Blues to an .844 winning percentage, winning at least 26 matches every year. That winning percentage is the highest amongst all MIAA schools since he started.

At 290-53 (.845) in his 10 years, he holds the school records for total victories and winning percentage. He's 365-82 (.817) in his career including three years at NAIA Benedictine (Kan.).

Herron started the year seventh with an .814 winning percentage among active NCAA II coaches with at least five years experience. He was 30th in career victories with 279. Herron's winning percentage was 17th amongst all coaches in all divisions with at least five years experience.

Herron's win total is highest in the MIAA. He is the second-highest tenured coach in the MIAA behind Pittsburg State coach Ibraheem Suberu who has coached the Gorillas for 13 years.

Herron faces former Washburn All-American Jones at Newman
Washburn will be facing one of its own when it travels to Newman Tuesday.  Lady Blues head coach Chris Herron will go up against Tessa Jones, now the coach of the Jets. Jones was an All-American all three years at Washburn from 2005 to 2007. the rightside hitter was a first-teamer in 2007 when she set a school record with 657 kills, a record that still stands.  She is fifth in school history with 1,511 career kills and fourth with 1,770.0 career points. Prior to coming to Newman, Jones coached two seasons as an assistant at Drury.

Jones is in her first year at Newman and the Jets are 1-9. They went 14-16 last year. Haley Dotson leads the team with .297 kills a set and Karol Marins is hitting .348 with 2.23 kills a set.

Washburn in the Lady Blues Classic
  • Washburn has hosted the Lady Blues Fall Classic every year since 2006 and is 20-0 in the event.
  • 14 of the matches were 3-0 sweeps and six have gone four sets.

About the Lady Blues Classic opponents
  • Dallas Baptist is 7-5 and will play a Heartland Conference match at St. Edward's before coming to the Lady Blues Classic. The Patriots took five sets to defeat Newman last Saturday.
  • Krystal Wunderlich leads the team with 3.07 kills a set and a .270 attack percentage.
  • Washburn is 2-0 against the Patriots, recording wins in last year's LBC and in 2007.
  • Abilene Christian in 8-7 overall this year and has lost three of its last four.
  • The Wildcats went 27-6 last year and finished second in the Lone Star Conference. Their season ended in the second round of the NCAA tournament against Washburn.
  • Jennie Hutt leads the Wildcats with 3.92 kills a set and she's second with 2.75 digs.
  • Washburn is 3-1 against ACU with three wins under Herron and the loss coming in 1995.
  • Tarleton State is 9-5. The Texanns started 4-5 but have won five straight Lone Star Conference matches and they are 5-1 in the league.
  • Washburn beat Tarleton State in each of the last two years and is 2-1 in the all-time series with the loss coming in 1998.
  • Angelo State is 15-1 after dropping its first match of the year to West Texas A&M Saturday. The Rambelles are ranked 20th in this week's AVCA poll.
  • Chelsea Gibson leads the team with 3.29 points a set off 2.80 kills and 0.85 blocks a set.
  • The Lady Blues are 4-0 against ASU with three wins coming under Herron.

Wrapping up last week's MIAA action
  • Washburn swept three straight conference teams last week to move to 4-0 in the MIAA and sit atop the standings.
  • Saturday against Missouri Western Hillary Hughes led Washburn with nine kills and Mollie Lacy added five and led the Lady Blues with six blocks.
  • The Lady Blues used their height late in the third set to avoid giving Missouri Western a set win. The Griffons led by five, 22-17 before Washburn went on a 5-0 run to tie the set. The final three points in the run came off blocks from Fey, Breanna Lewis and Jessica Kopp.
  • Friday against then-No. 20 Truman the Lady Blues got strong performances off the bench as Jessica Fey had 11 kills and a block while Marissa Cox added nine kills with no errors to hit .600 on the night.
  • The Lady Blues were out-blocked, 8-3 with Emily Briseno getting a hand on five of them for the Bulldogs. She hit just .182, though and the Bulldogs hit just .123 as a team. Washburn had a .206 attack percentage.
  • The teams stayed close in set two Washburn got to set point first at 24-23. Meghan Zimmerman got a kill for the Bulldogs to tie it but Cox and then Hughes got kills to finish the set and give WU a two-set lead.
  • On the road Tuesday at Northwest Missouri, Hughes led Washburn with nine kills and she hit .364 in the match as WU hit .295 as a team. Fey had eight kills and led the team with four blocks.
1,000 kills and school record attack percentage for Lacy
With her 10th kill September 9 against Colorado-Colorado Springs in the opener of the Colorado Premier Challenge, Mollie Lacy became Washburn's 14th member of the 1,000 kill club. She now has 1,051 to sit in 14th in school history. She needs 1,108 to catch Debbie McCormick (1992-95) in 13th.

With 267 total blocks, she needs 33 to join the 1,000 kills/300 blocks club. Only seven Lady Blues have earned that distinction. (Lacy's Career Statistics)

The last time a Lady Blue reached 1,000 kills was when Monica Miesner, Tessa Jones and Mandi Cox all reached 1,000 in 2007. Cox is the last to also total 300 blocks.

Lacy is also at the top of the WU career chart with a .373 attack percentage. Her first three single-season totals are in the top four in school history and she set a school record with a .405 percentage in 2009 to become the only Lady Blue to hit .400 or better. Mandi Cox is second on the career chart with a .326 attack percentage.

Lacy was an honorable mention All-American her sophomore year and she's earned all-MIAA all three years, including first team honors her sophomore and junior year.

Net Notes
  • Washburn has swept four straight opponents and is hitting .270 during the streak and holding opponents to a 0.73 attack. Hillary Hughes is averaging 2.84 kills and 2.93 digs and Marissa Cox is hitting .478 with just three errors in 46 tries.
  • Breanna Lewis is on pace to reach 1,000 kills before her career is over. The senior has 820 total. With 102 this year, she needs 180 more to join teammate Mollie Lacy on the list.
  • Washburn is 47-40 all-time against ranked opponents under Herron, 16-19 against top-10 teams and 2-3 against No. 1 teams after the loss to Concordia and victory over Metro State.

Coming up next
The Lady Blues will play October 7 at Southwest Baptist and then October 8 at Pittsburg State to resume MIAA action.
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